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2016 Penn Law Teaching Awards

The A. Leo Levin Award for Excellence in an Introductory Course

Jacques deLisleJacques deLisle is the Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law, a professor of political science and the co-director of the Center for Asian Law. He is an expert on contemporary Chinese law and politics, including issues such as legal reform, the international status of Taiwan and US-China relations. This year, he taught Torts and International Law.

One student said, “Professor deLisle was extremely knowledgeable about the subject and very enthusiastic about teaching it.” Another said, “Professor deLisle effectively clarifies and elucidates general principles of the law as well as nuances through very engaging class discussion. He presents interesting and humorous hypotheticals, and his enthusiasm for the material is contagious.”

The Robert A. Gorman Award for Excellence in Teaching

Jean GalbraithJean Galbraith is an assistant professor of law and a scholar of US foreign relations law and public international law. Her work focuses on the allocation of legal authority among US governmental actors and between domestic actors and international regimes. This year, she taught Contracts, Foreign Relations Law and International Legal Regimes.

One student said, “Professor Galbraith created a class that was intellectually stimulating and enlightening. She taught me how to think about subjects and interwove readings and materials in a way that clarified each one further.” Another said, “Professor Galbraith is excellent at really challenging students to think through their ideas, and pushing them to be able to provide a thorough explanation of their idea. This allows students to really engage with the material and realize its ambiguities and nuances. She is also hilarious, which helps.”

The Adjunct Teaching Award

Casey CogutCasey Cogut, L’73, is a lecturer in law and a member of the Penn Law Class of 1973. He is senior M&A counsel at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. For many years, he has been a leader of STB’s M&A and private equity practices. This year, he taught Transactional Lawyering.

One student said, “Professor Cogut knows this stuff inside out. He provides interest context from his own practice and picks pretty interesting assignments.” Another said, “Casey definitely stimulates interest in the material as he has practiced in the M&A space for decades and has been a part of many huge deals.”

 

The LLM Teaching Award

Jill FischJill Fisch is the Perry Golkin Professor of Law and co-director of the Institute for Law & Economics. She is an internationally known scholar whose work focuses on the intersection of business and law, including the role of regulation and litigation in addressing limitations in the disciplinary power of the capital markets. This year, she taught Corporations, the Strategic Equity Seminar and the Global Research Seminar on Comparative Corporate Governance & Financial Regulation.

One student said, “Professor Fisch is very good at stimulating interests in this subject. She asks sharp questions and gives inspiring answers. It it also a great experience to learn from other students’ answers and questions.” Another said, “Fisch is incredibly brilliant that you hang onto her every word. I loved this class so much. It was incredibly challenging and there was so much material, but I definitely got my money’s worth.”

The Harvey Levin Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence

David RudovskyBy democratic vote, the Penn Law 2016 graduating class selected David Rudovsky, senior fellow, to receive this award for Teaching Excellence. Mr. Rudovsky is one of the nation’s leading civil rights and criminal defense attorneys and practices public interest law with the firm of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg. This year, he taught Evidence and Constitutional Criminal Procedure.

One student said, “An expert in every sense—it is hard not to appreciate Professor Rudovsky’s commitment to the course.” Another said, “Professor Rudovsky is just great. He’s friendly, accessible outside of class, willing to talk about life, the law, and new lawyers’ places in an evolving legal world.”

José Bauermeister: Presidential Professor

Jose BauemeisterPenn President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price are pleased to announce the appointment of José Arturo Bauermeister as the tenth Presidential Professor, effective July 1, 2016. An expert in the prevention and care of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD) among sexual minority populations, Dr. Bauermeister will be Presidential Associate Professor of Nursing.

“To save lives through better treatment and prevention of HIV and similarly challenging diseases, we must first meet people where they live,” President Gutmann said. “José exemplifies this approach by grounding his prolific scholarly work in the specific needs of individuals and diverse populations. As a Presidential Associate Professor in Penn Nursing, José will join his expertise and energetic leadership with that of our superb faculty to further strengthen the educational experience of our students and to benefit our community and the world.”

Dr. Bauermeister had been an associate professor of health behavior & health education and the founding director of the Center for Sexuality & Health Disparities in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan, where he has taught since 2009. His research focuses on advancing innovative, multilevel HIV/STI prevention and care strategies, especially for high-risk adolescent and young adult men. These approaches target diverse social settings, use new technologies and develop interdisciplinary methodologies to promote sexual health. A member of the International Academy of Sex Research and several major editorial boards, Dr. Bauermeister is an author of more than a hundred peer-reviewed articles and his work has been funded by, among others, the NIH, the CDC and the Ford Foundation.

“José Bauermeister is not only a deeply innovative and influential researcher,” said Provost Price. “He is also renowned as a caring and committed teacher, mentor and colleague. We look forward to the great impact that he is sure to have on the Penn community in the years ahead.”

Dr. Bauermeister earned a PhD (2006) and MPH (2004) in health behavior & health education from the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan and a BA magna cum laude in psychology (2002) from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. From 2007-2008, he was the NIH Postdoctoral Fellow of the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at the Columbia University Medical Center.

“José Bauermeister is an accomplished researcher, teacher and community advocate,” said Antonia Villarruel, the Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Penn’s School of Nursing. “I have witnessed his dedication to ensuring that the most vulnerable groups have access to prevention and treatment to reduce HIV infection, improve care and decrease stigma, as well as his inclusive partnerships with students and communities. We are so fortunate José will be coming to Penn and Penn Nursing, where he will join a community of scholars who share his interests and commitment.”

Presidential Professorships, originating in the Action Plan for Faculty Diversity & Excellence first issued in 2011, are awarded to exceptional scholars, at any rank, who contribute to faculty eminence through diversity across the University.

$4 Million for Penn to Continue Musculoskeletal Disorders Research

Louis Soslowsky
The Center conducts investigations in many areas of musculoskeletal biology and medicine: bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and discs. The funding will support research aimed at improving the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, low back pain and rotator cuff tears.

Penn is one of only five institutions nationally to receive funding for a Musculoskeletal Center and is already the longest running of these Centers nationally. The Penn Center began its NIH funding in 2006.

According to the NIH review panel, the Center features “a strong leadership team and well-organized administrative structure; state-of-the-art technologies and an exceptional education and enrichment program. Furthermore, the reviewers consider the overall environment and the institutional commitment to be outstanding.” Additionally, they cite the “high level of success in operation and productivity of the existing center over the past ten years.” They concluded that “this is an exceptional application with high impact to the field of musculoskeletal research.”

“We are grateful to the NIH and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Special Emphasis Panel for this important funding,” said Louis J. Soslowsky, the Fairhill Professor in the department of orthopaedic surgery and founding director of Penn’s Center. “Whether through injury, work, sports or intrinsic bodily features, millions of Americans are affected by musculoskeletal disorders. The resulting pain and reduction in quality of life affect families, friends and co-workers, as well as the sufferers themselves. These trends will grow as the baby-boom generation ages and people live longer with chronic conditions. The Center brings together Penn’s globally recognized experts to expand our research and understanding of these debilitating afflictions.”

Penn’s Musculoskeletal Center will provide funds for three cores of musculoskeletal research:

• Micro-computed Tomography Imaging Core, which offers a wide range of imaging approaches to evaluate musculoskeletal tissue injury and repair. (Micro-CT is akin to 3-D x-ray imaging on a small scale with extremely increased resolution.)

• Biomechanics Core, which develops and provides a large array of biomechanical approaches to evaluate musculoskeletal tissue injury and repair.

• Histology Core, which uses and develops a wide range of approaches for the microscopic study of the structure, composition and function of tissues and bones.

In addition to Dr. Soslowsky, other investigators participating in the grant include Maurizio Pacifici, Felix Wehrli, X. Sherry Liu, Robert L Mauck and Robert Pignolo. The Center has 128 faculty members, 112 from five Penn schools and 16 from local institutions.

“This new funding will allow the rich collaborations that have been occurring at the Center over its ten-year history to expand and flourish,” Dr. Soslowsky said. “We will continue to work diligently on behalf of the many millions of people worldwide with musculoskeletal disorders.”

Vernon and Shirley Hill: $1 Million Scholarship Fund for VMD-MBA Training at Penn Vet and Wharton

caption: (left to right) Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett, Shirley Hill, Vernon Hill, Robert Marshak, Margo Marshak and Penn Vet Dean Joan Hendricks.

With a $1 million gift from Vernon and Shirley Hill, Penn Vet will establish the Robert Marshak-Vernon Hill Scholarship Fund. In collaboration with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the fund will support the training of leaders and entrepreneurs with the vision to advance both the science and business of food animal production in order to help ensure global food security.

The scholarships will support qualified individuals in the Penn Vet community who will pursue the combined VMD-MBA degree at Penn Vet’s Center for Animal Health and Productivity and Penn’s Wharton School. Marshak-Hill scholars will be required to develop projects that explore the applications of economic and business principles to the health and productivity of livestock industries.

Vernon Hill, a 1967 undergraduate alumnus of the Wharton School, and his wife, Shirley, are long-time supporters of Penn Vet. They have named the scholarship in honor of Dr. Robert Marshak, Penn Vet Dean from 1973 to 1987. Dr.  Marshak’s passion for research and teaching in animal health and production has been instrumental in providing opportunities for Penn Vet students to impact world health and global food security. 

“Dr. Marshak transformed veterinary medicine, and we are pleased to partner with him as Penn Vet and the Wharton School take the next big step,” said Mr. Hill. The Hills’ generosity to Penn Vet also includes a gift of $10 million in support of the Vernon and Shirley Hill Pavilion, a teaching and research center that opened in 2006, and the establishment of the Penn Vet World Awards in 2007, an innovative program that encouraged and rewarded visionary thinking and life-changing accomplishments in veterinary medicine.

“Vernon and Shirley Hill’s generous gift comes at a time when increasing numbers of veterinary students are expressing interest in how veterinarians can apply their special skills and knowledge to help address the inter-related problems of world hunger, poverty, and food-security,” said  Dr. Marshak. “It is our hope and expectation that the VMD-MBA combined-degree program, coupled with mentoring by superb faculty at the Center for Animal Health and Productivity at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center, will inspire graduates to seek careers in food safety and security in the global landscape.”

The integrated training will emphasize innovative solutions to the complex business, health, environmental and societal challenges associated with intensive and small-scale livestock and poultry production in a global environment with a rapidly increasing demand for animal-sourced protein. Qualified individuals will benefit from the joint curriculum at two of the nation’s top educational institutions, where they will receive experience in veterinary medicine and business platforms on leadership, economics, finance, competitive strategy and marketing.

Those completing the multi-year program will obtain their veterinary and MBA degrees and a certificate in food animal production medicine. Marshak-Hill graduates will have unique qualifications for leadership roles in food animal agribusiness, government, non-governmental organizations, public health, research and academia.

“At Penn Vet, we benefit from our close proximity to other renowned schools on the University of Pennsylvania campus,” said Joan C. Hendricks, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “We are incredibly grateful to Vernon and Shirley Hill for making this unique interchange of knowledge possible, and for helping us ensure that veterinarians have an important voice in issues of global significance.”

“The value of a Wharton education lies not just in the traditional foundations of business, but in how we apply those principles to other disciplines,” said Dean Geoffrey Garrett, Reliance Professor of Management & Private Enterprise and professor of management at the Wharton School. “These applications directly impact the critical issues that face our nation and world. With this gift, Vernon and Shirley Hill demonstrate their understanding of how Penn is uniquely suited to address these concerns.”

The combined VMD-MBA degree program at Penn Vet and the Wharton School was established in 1981. David Galligan, professor of animal health economics and director of the Center for Animal Health & Productivity at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center, will oversee the updated program and will mentor the Marshak-Hill scholars.

Penn Vet’s Center for Animal Health & Productivity serves the agricultural community by developing innovative animal management tools and strategies for promoting economic efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Penn Alexander School Principal: Michael Farrell

Michael Farrell

Michael Farrell

The School District of Philadelphia announced the appointment of Michael T. Farrell as principal of Penn Alexander School.  Mr. Farrell will take over the position that had been held by founding principal Sheila A. Sydnor, who retired at the end of the school year. Ms. Sydnor will assist in the transition process.

“Penn Alexander School is one of the brightest spots in The School District of Philadelphia as a result of Sheila Sydnor’s stellar leadership,” said William R. Hite, superintendent. “For more than four decades, she has led Philadelphia students towards excellence, both inside and outside of the classroom. We are excited that Michael Farrell will build on the school’s tradition of success and wish Ms. Sydnor well in retirement.”

Mr. Farrell was selected by Superintendent  Dr. Hite in consultation with a committee of teachers; School Advisory Council, Home and School, and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers representatives; and University of Pennsylvania and School District officials. The selection process took place over three months. Candidates participated in rigorous interviews, data and observation feedback exercises and school site visits. The committee provided information and feedback throughout the process.

Mr. Farrell is the founding principal of Mastery Charter Schools Thomas Elementary in South Philadelphia, where he has served since 2013. He was previously an assistant principal, school leader, special education coordinator and teacher at various Philadelphia, including Science Leadership Academy. 

In 1975, Ms. Sydnor began her career as a teacher in the School District. She was selected from a national search in 2001 to lead Penn Alexander, formally known as the Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School (Almanac October 15, 2002). Ms. Sydnor previously served as principal of M.H. Stanton Elementary School in North Philadelphia.

Penn Alexander was nominated this year as a US Blue Ribbon School by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for its success in closing the achievement gap. The school was also a City Leader among kindergarten through eighth grade schools on the 2014-2015 School Progress Report.

Penn Libraries’ New MOOC: “The History of Medieval Medicine through Jewish Manuscripts”

The Penn Libraries is proud to announce the launch of the first Massive Open Online Course Collaboration (MOOC) from the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries: “The History of Medieval Medicine through Jewish Manuscripts.”

Launched on June 1, this online mini-course is a introduction both to medieval medicine and to the value of manuscript study taught by Y. Tzvi Langermann, professor of Arabic at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University and last year’s Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies-Herbert D. Katz Center Jewish Manuscript Studies Fellow (Almanac July 14, 2015). Dr. Langermann presents a case study that builds from a unique manuscript codex produced in the 15th century containing three important medical manuscripts in Judeo-Arabic (Arabic in Hebrew characters). Compiled in Sicily by a physician identified as David ben Shalom, the manuscript bears witness to the rich cultural exchanges among Latin, Jewish and Arabic communities during this time, especially in the sciences. This course, walks the student through the basics of medical knowledge training and practice in the Jewish Middle Ages and beyond, and shows how clues gleaned from elements of a particular manuscript (such as marginal notes, mistakes and handwriting) shed light on the purpose, use and readership of these texts. The course includes eight 5-7 minute long video lectures that explore the highlights of this extraordinary manuscript.

“The History of Medieval Medicine through Jewish Manuscripts” is offered free to anyone with an internet connection at www.edX.org (search the term “Langermann”). The course is self-paced and takes about two hours to complete. The content will not be inaccessible to the novice, but the nature of the material and the level of scholarship should interest graduate students and colleagues from a range of disciplines. There is an active discussion forum and a link to the full manuscript in digital form. The course will initially be monitored by a TA with specialties in medieval Jewish history and Hebrew and Judeo Arabic language. Dr. Langermann himself will also occasionally participate in the discussions and respond to student queries.

Mobile CPR Project: Bringing Life-Saving Skills to Philadelphia Residents

The Mobile CPR Project van outside The Philadelphia Museum of Art.Three years ago, Radnor Township Police Officer Anthony Radico, at 46 years of age, was just finishing a routine workout at a gym in Upper Darby when suddenly, he went into cardiac arrest. His sister, who was at the gym with him, ran for help. Luckily for Mr. Radico, Amanda Beal was also at the gym that day. Upon seeing that Mr. Radico was unresponsive and had no pulse, Ms. Beal, who had learned cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) just one year prior as part of a master’s program in occupation therapy but had never used the technique in a real life scenario, began administering chest compressions. Ms. Beal continued CPR until paramedics arrived. Before being resuscitated with an automated external defibrillator (AED), Mr. Radico was “down” for 7-8 minutes—a certain death sentence had Ms. Beal not been there to help. Today, Mr. Radico, a father of three, is back to work on the police force.

Cardiac arrest kills more than 1,000 Philadelphia residents every year, yet there is a therapy that people can learn that can double a victim’s chance of survival. CPR can be done by anyone, yet the percentage of people who receive bystander CPR in Philadelphia is half the national average.

To tackle the issue and help overcome this health disparity, experts from Penn Medicine’s Center for Resuscitation Science and department of emergency medicine officially launched Philadelphia’s Mobile CPR Project, a public health initiative that aims to educate as many Philadelphia residents as possible in hands-only CPR, free of charge using an innovative video learning approach that takes less than 30 minutes per training. Funded by Independence Blue Cross, project organizers will host training sessions in at community centers, shelters, schools, religious organizations and community health fairs. Certified health care providers will travel to a training sessions in the Mobile CPR van, bringing all of the necessary presentation materials, and providing CPR Anytime® kits that participants can bring home with them to show their families or use to practice their skills. The overall goal of the initiative is to bring vital, life-saving training to those who might not seek such training on their own.

In 2012, Penn Medicine piloted the Mobile CPR Project in Hartford, Connecticut. The initiative resulted in more than 5,000 Hartford residents trained in delivering CPR.
The Mobile CPR Project launch is part of the Philadelphia Regional CPR Awareness Coalition’s CPR Ready campaign, an initiative that also launched last month, designed to increase the number of people in the region who are qualified and willing to perform bystander hands-only CPR, as well as use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Penn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty (PASEF): President’s Annual Report for 2014-2015

Jack Nagel, PASEF President 2014-2015 and Professor Emeritus of Political Science

Since its founding in 2004, PASEF has served Penn’s retired and senior (age 55 and over) standing faculty by providing information useful to those planning to retire or already retired, and by organizing programs that encourage retired faculty to maintain connections among themselves and with the intellectual and social life of the University. Although PASEF’s membership encompasses faculty from all Penn schools, the Perelman School of Medicine has its own Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty (ASEF-PSOM), with which PASEF cooperates.

Events and Activities

PASEF regularly sponsors programs that offer members opportunity for intellectual stimulation and social interaction. As was also the case last year, most of these events were planned by a joint PASEF/ASEF-PSOM Program Committee (Lynn Lees, chair, Janice Bellace, Howard Goldfine and Peter Wilding).  
Monthly luncheon talks: The Committee organized seven talks by Penn faculty; an eighth was cancelled due to a snowstorm. Attendance ranged between about 20 and 40. For a list of speakers, see www.upenn.edu/emeritus under “Previous Events.”

Featured speakers: The Committee also recommended speakers for the Fall Lecture preceding the 25-year Club Dinner in October and the Spring Lecture and Reception in April. This year’s lecturers were PIK professors Adrian Raine and Sarah Tishkoff. Their well-received talks attracted audiences of about 60 and 50, respectively.

Spring outing: In May each year, PASEF organizes an excursion to a site of outstanding aesthetic, cultural and historic significance in the Philadelphia area. This year’s outing was an exploration of the Wissahickon Valley initiated and planned by David Pope, a PASEF Council member and former President of the Friends of the Wissahickon, leaders of which generously guided our tour. 

Facilitating the Transition to Retirement

For senior (not-yet-retired) members, PASEF offers informational resources to help in planning the transition to retirement and events assuring them that life after retirement can be stimulating and fulfilling.

Reception for newly emeritus faculty: Each fall, ASEF-PSOM and PASEF jointly sponsor a reception to honor faculty who have retired in the previous year. This year’s reception, organized under the leadership of Jeanne Myers, attracted 58 guests, including 11 honorees.

Road to Retirement programs: In March. four retired faculty spoke candidly about their own decisions to retire and their experiences in retirement. In April two staff experts on retirement, Vicki Mulhern and Hilary Lopez, explained Penn’s retirement options, benefits for retirees and other nuts-and-bolts aspects of the transition to retirement. About 50 people attended each event.

Hitchhiker’s Guide: Thanks to the editorship of Martin Pring, PASEF annually updates its Hitchhiker’s Guide to Faculty Retirement. Besides posting the Guide on our website, we also printed copies to distribute at Road to Retirement programs.

Information and advocacy about benefits: Members frequently contact the PASEF office with questions about health and other benefits. When a University policy is at issue, the PASEF president and David Balamuth, our representative to the University Council Committee on Personnel Benefits, take up the question with appropriate officials. 

New Initiatives

Report on retirement communities: Last year, a joint PASEF/ASEF-PSOM group led by Howard Goldfine and James Saunders gathered information on 14 continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) in the Philadelphia area where one or more retired Penn faculty reside. Tables summarizing their findings are posted on the PASEF website, providing a starting point for members who are thinking about moving to a CCRC.

Lifelong learning: In July 2014, a PASEF committee (Anita Summers, chair, Roger Allen, Peter Kuriloff and Howard Rosenberg) recommended that Penn establish a non-credit lifelong learning program that would involve (but not be restricted to) retirees as instructors and attendees. The committee developed their plan after studying similar programs at 15 universities. Following consultations, Vice Provost Allen proposed that PASEF operate a one-year pilot program and offered funding for added staff time and expenses. After careful consideration, the PASEF Council in January 2015 voted to decline Dr. Allen’s offer. PASEF had not envisaged assuming operational responsibility for the program; and the experience of other universities suggested that a larger budget, longer initial commitment and full-time director would be needed for a successful launch.

Speakers bureau: As a more modest alternative, the Council authorized a new committee to develop a plan for a speakers bureau—a list of retired faculty interested in speaking if invited by retirement communities, religious congregations, civic groups, etc. Vice Provost Allen subsequently authorized additional funds, if needed, to establish and maintain the speakers bureau. Our Speakers Bureau Committee is still at an early stage in the process of identifying speakers and community organizations. 

Library Tech Tools workshops: Working with Kimberly Eke and Anu Vedantham of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, the PASEF Library Committee (Vivian Seltzer, chair, Steve Dunning and Rob MacGregor) sponsored a program of training sessions for retired faculty on such topics as Google tools, PowerPoint and iPad tips. The first four workshops were over-subscribed, so the Library offered a second series. The enthusiastic response to this initiative suggests that technology workshops should become a regular part of our programming, in cooperation with the Library.

Governance

Bylaws Revision: During the organization’s first decade, PASEF’s practice diverged from its Bylaws in several areas. To resolve those differences, a Committee on Bylaws Revision (Skip Rosoff, chair, Martin Pring and Neville Strumpf) submitted recommendations in December. Council adopted a final set of amendments in March 2015. The following decisions are particularly noteworthy:

  • PASEF’s governing body, formerly the Executive Committee, is now called the Council.
  • Council includes all chairs of standing committees and also chairs of active ad hoc committees.
  • Council no longer automatically includes former presidents as voting members, except for the immediate past president and any others who have been elected to new offices or appointed to chair committees. Former presidents are welcome to attend Council meetings and contribute to deliberations.
  • The Steering Committee consists of the President, Past President and President-elect.
  • The potential role of Council in nominations and elections has been enhanced.
  • Any of three groups may propose amendments to the Bylaws. Adoption of proposed amendments requires a two-thirds vote of Council.

Elections: Following procedures in the revised Bylaws, a Nominating Committee (Janice Bellace, chair, Lynn Lees, Martin Pring and Anita Summers) proposed a slate of candidates, which was approved by Council and then submitted to all PASEF members for an email vote. Although no positions were contested, 141 members cast votes—an increase from 120 in 2014 and 109 in 2013. All nominees were overwhelmingly approved: 

  • President-elect: Paul Shaman (Wharton)
  • Secretary: David Pope (SEAS)
  • Representative to SEC: Martin Pring (PSOM)
  • Council for 3-year terms: Joan Goodman (GSE), Roberto Mariano (SAS), Larry Palmer (PSOM)
  • Council for a 2-year term (replacing Peter Dodson): Ann Matter (SAS)
  • Council for a 1-year term (replacing Paul Shaman): Roger Allen (SAS)

Administrative Foundations

Administrative oversight and support: PASEF reports through the Vice Provost for Faculty, Anita Allen, and has benefited from her sympathetic attention. Besides speaking at the October receptions, Dr. Allen has met each year with the Council and confers with the Steering Committee when the need arises. We have also enjoyed excellent help from members of the Provost’s staff, especially Gearline Robinson-Hall, Julie Shuttleworth and Kathy Swartz.

Facilities: PASEF operates from a small but centrally located office in the Duhring Wing. The office is adequate as a workspace for our part-time coordinator and for meetings of four or fewer, but all other functions depend on locations elsewhere. The most important of these is the University Club, where we hold our monthly luncheon talks and Council meetings. Dennis Daly of the University Club and Daria DiCicco of the Inn at Penn have been consistently supportive. For larger events, we are grateful to Tanea Blake and Joseph Policarpo for their help in making arrangements at the Library and Law School, respectively. Thanks are also due Brian Anders of the Sweeten Alumni Center for enabling the October reception to be held again in that fine space.

Webmaster: For several years, the crucial task of managing PASEF’s website was ably handled by member-volunteers: Alan Myers and then Mitchell Marcus. It became evident, however, that the need for regular updates imposed an excessive burden. In March, Kayvon Nikoo agreed to work part-time as PASEF’s webmaster. Mr. Nikoo, a full-time employee of the Perelman School, knows PASEF well; he previously served as our staff person, and his current duties at PSOM include supporting ASEF-PSOM. The new arrangement is working well.

Coordinator: PASEF is supported by a half-time coordinator. From November 2012 through May 2015, Heidi George held that position. She served the organization with exceptional devotion, diligence and effectiveness. In April, to our regret, Ms. George announced that she would be resigning for personal reasons, effective June 1. Early in June, Jocelyne Waller began work as PASEF’s coordinator. Although new to Penn, Ms. Waller has substantial administrative experience at universities in the US and Canada. During the coming year, she will be working closely with PASEF’s President for 2015-2016, Anita Summers.

Deaths

John Andrews-Labenski, Psychology

John Andrews-LabenskiJohn Andrews-Labenski, a retired electronics engineer and an instructor in Penn’s department of psychology for more than three decades, died on May 2 at Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, Pennsylvania, from complications of surgery for lung cancer. He was 68 years old.

Dr. Andrews-Labenski was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He graduated from State College Area High School, then went on to earn his BS in electronics engineering from Thomas Edison State College, his PhD in education from Madison University in 1995 and his MSEd in culture & society from Penn’s Graduate School of Education in 2000.

Dr. Andrews-Labenski joined Penn’s department of psychology in 1982. He served as electronics engineer, designing and building equipment that facilitated scientific progress by researchers in several departments within the School of Arts & Sciences and the Perelman School of Medicine. For about 15 years, he also taught graduate students in these two schools in a well-regarded course, Electronics for Scientists, for which he converted a part of his shop into a technological learning environment. His skills extended from electronics to working in wood, plastic and metal, and the technologically up-to-date shop that he maintained was much used by students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty, often under his guidance.

In 2012, Dr. Andrews-Labenski was accepted as a senior member of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers. In 2013, he retired.

He is survived by his wife, Beth Ann Johnson; his brothers, James P. Labenski and Richard Labenski (Sue); his son, Ben Watson (Kim); and two grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be directed to Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 26, Huntingdon, PA 16652.

Jerome Fisher, Emeritus Trustee

Jerome FisherJerome Fisher, W’53, Honorary Emeritus Penn Trustee, died June 23 in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 85.

Through his leadership and philanthropy, Mr. Fisher helped the University of Pennsylvania both honor its past and innovate for the future.

Mr. Fisher served the Penn Board of Trustees and its Development Committee during his tenure, 1996-2000. He was also a member of the Penn Medicine Board, the Wharton School’s Undergraduate Executive Board and Board of Overseers and the College House Advisory Board.

He made many gifts to transform Penn’s physical and academic landscape. The Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, which he endowed in 1995, is a renowned model of interdisciplinary learning that paved the way for signature Penn programs such as the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business and the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management.

His gift to name the Jerome and Anne Fisher Fine Arts Library, a national historic landmark (Almanac October 20, 1992), helped restore the grandeur of the University’s first library building and secure its vitality for future generations.

As one of the lead donors of the four-year Quadrangle Renewal Project, he helped Penn transform the Quad into a vibrant neighborhood of College Houses designed to build community and foster learning outside the classroom. As a result, the Fisher-Hassenfeld College House and the Fisher-Hassenfeld Gate are now a lasting testament to his generosity.

He impacted students and faculty on an even more personal level by spearheading a Trustee Challenge program for scholarship donations, creating the Anne Fisher Graduate Fellowship in Architecture, supporting the Arthur H. Rubenstein MBBCh Professorship at Penn Medicine, and the Jodi Fisher-Horowitz Professorship in Leukemia Care Excellence at the Abramson Cancer Center in memory of his late daughter, Jodi, who predeceased him in 2009.

Mr. Fisher, along with his wife, Anne, was a well-known philanthropist who championed many organizations. Mr. Fisher worked with his daughter, Jodi, to co-found the Fashion Footwear Association of New York’s Shoes on Sale gala and shoe sale to support breast cancer research. It became the shoe industry’s largest fundraising event, and they were honored by FFANY as Humanitarians of the Year in 2003 for their efforts. That annual event has provided significant to advance the work of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center.

Mr. Fisher had long been a leader in America’s shoe industry. The son of a successful shoe manufacturer, he worked in his father’s factories as a teenager, sold shoes while he attended Wharton and wrote a thesis on the demise of the New England shoe manufacturer. He went on to co-found Nine West, which he developed into one of the country’s leading shoe designers and retailers. 

He is survived by his wife, Anne, a former PennDesign Overseer, his sons, Marc and Jeffrey, and his grandchildren, Elizabeth, C’10, Alexandra, C’01, Jared, C’13, Adam, C’06, Amanda, C’08, Samantha, Harrison, Lauren and Tate.

Qi He, Penn Graduate Student

Qi HeThe body of missing Penn graduate student Qi He was found in Washington on Sunday, July 2. Mr. He had been missing since June 5. He had been glissading down Aasgard Pass, a hiking area near Seattle, Washington, when he slid into a waterfall hole. His body was found under snowpack in the Enchantment Wilderness.

He was 24 years old.

Mr. He, a Chinese citizen, was a student in the master of computer information technology program in Penn’s School of Engineering & Applied Science. In 2014, he earned his BA in mathematics from Penn’s School of Arts & Sciences and his BS in economics and finance from the Wharton School.

Donations in his memory may be made at https://www.gofundme.com/qihefamily

George J. Merva, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

George Merva

George J. Merva, CCC’55, a retired laboratory administrator of nearly 60 years in the department of pathology & laboratory medicine in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, died on March 11. He was 88 years old.

Mr. Merva was born in Morrisdale, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the Marines toward the end of World War II; after the war ended, he was stationed at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard. He joined the Penn staff in 1953 while still in the reserves and finished his service as a second lieutenant. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Penn in 1955.

A polymath for the laboratories in the John Morgan Building, Mr. Merva served on the Penn Med staff for 58 years, assisting in research administration and the education of medical students. For many years, he put together the course guide for Pathology 101. Known to hundreds of medical students and many researchers and faculty, he was instrumental in creating the student course-evaluation forms (HAMSTER). Before the advent of computers, he collated all of the statistics by hand. He was a medical history buff: he was responsible for salvaging 19th-century wax anatomy models that are now part of the Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians. He retired from Penn at age 84 on Veterans Day in 2011.

Mr. Merva is survived by six children, Mary Ellen Kenworthey, Nu’76, George J. Merva, Jr., Michael Merva, FA’82, GFA’88, Jean M. Bulmer, Nu’80, GNu’85, John R. Merva, W’85, and David Merva; three grandchildren, Beau, Claire and Grace Anne; and a brother, John Edward, “Ed.”

Donations may be sent in his name to the Friends of Black Moshannon State Park, c/o Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation, 1845 Market Street, Suite 202, Camp Hill, PA 17011.

Valerie A. Peña, Penn Libraries

Valerie Ann PenaValerie Ann Peña, a retired staff member who spent her career of nearly 40 years within the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, died on June 1. She was 74 years old.

Ms. Peña was born in Philadelphia. She received her BA in Spanish in 1965 and her MA in Romance languages in 1973, both from Penn. She earned her MS in library science from Drexel in 1973. She joined Penn Libraries in 1971 and became a department head within the Vet School Library in 1973. In 1987, she became the chief medical librarian.

While at Penn, she served on the Almanac Advisory Board; the University Council; the Administrative Assembly, which she chaired; and the staff grievance panel. She was a member of the Library Diversity Team, which received a 2006 Models of Excellence Award (Almanac February 21, 2006). She retired in 2008.

She is survived by her daughter, Alethea, who works in Penn Medicine, and her partner, Kim Mollo; her companion, Patrick McCarney; and her former husband, Aniano (Cindy Creekmore).

Governance

Penn Trustees: June Meeting Coverage

When the University of Pennsylvania Trustees met June 16-17 they passed a memorial resolution for David M. Silfen (Almanac December 8, 2015), whose memorial was held after the meetings. They re-elected David L. Cohen as chair and Andrea Mitchell as vice chair for another year. They also elected the following trustees to be on the executive committee with Mr. Cohen and Ms. Mitchell: Lee Spelman Doty, Perry Golkin, James H. Greene, Amy Gutmann (ex officio), Janet Haas, Andrew R. Heyer, Robert M. Levy, Marc F. McMorris, Julie Beren Platt, Andrew S. Rachleff and Ann Reese.

The following were elected to serve on the investment board: Mr. Cohen (ex officio), Scott L. Bok, Judith Bollinger, Perry Golkin, Dr. Gutmann (ex officio), Robert S. Kapito, Mr. Levy (chair); Mr. McMorris and Mr. Rachleff (vice chair).

Marc Rowan was elected for a five-year term as a term trustee. A resolution of appreciation for Raymond Ch’ien was approved. Resolutions of appreciation for Gilbert F.  Casellas and Mark O. Winkelman and designation as emeritus trustees for both of them was approved.

A resolution of appreciation for Marilyn Jordan Taylor who had been PennDesign’s dean since 2008 was passed and then one to appoint Frederick Steiner as the school’s new dean was also approved.

President Amy Gutmann mentioned Penn’s 10th Presidential Professor (see page 1). Dr. Gutmann said that Alumni Weekend drew an unprecedented turnout of some 12,000 alumni and guests. She also expressed appreciation for Eric Furda’s leadership of Undergraduate Admissions, which had nearly 39,000 applicants for the Class of 2020, nine percent of whom were admitted.

In recognition of Afaf Meleis’s extraordinary leadership as dean of Penn Nursing from 2002-2014, she was designated dean emerita.

The Bylaws of PennPraxis, established in 2001 as a not-for-profit 501(c)3 affiliate of PennDesign, were amended to keep pace with its expanded mission.

The School of Arts & Sciences will establish the ranks of lecturer in critical writing and senior lecturer in critical writing.

The trustees authorized the FY2017 operating budget of $2.990 billion for the University, the capital plan of $228.4 million as well as the health system’s budget and capital plan of $745.9 million. Other resolutions paved the way for a joint venture by Lancaster General Hospital and a freestanding behavioral health hospital; a Chester County Hospital procedural platform and a new patient pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  They also approved the Next Generation Student System Pennant Aid and Pennant Records, $51.85 million, and the Museum Garage 7 repairs, $9.3 million.

The trustees previewed Perry World House, which Provost Vincent Price called Penn’s centerpiece for globally oriented gatherings.

Supplements

OF RECORD: Patent and Tangible Research Property Policies and Procedures & Consulting and Outside Activities Policies and Procedures

Download the supplement as a PDF.

Policies

OF RECORD: FY 2017 Postdoc Stipend Levels

Note: A Revised Version of FY2017 Postdoc Stipend Levels was published on September 13, 2016. See here: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v63/n05/post-doc-stipends-increased.html

The Office of the Vice Provost for Research, in consultation with the Provost Council on Research, is responsible for setting minimum stipend levels for postdoctoral trainees across the University. In recent years, the University has adopted the National Research Service Awards (NRSA) stipend scale: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-16-047.html

The NIH indicated that it will increase NRSA postdoctoral stipends to at least $47,476, effective December 1, 2016. As a result, the University, effective December 1, will also increase postdoctoral stipend levels to at least this amount.

Stipend levels both before and after December 1 are indicated below. Please note that these stipend levels represent minimums. Schools and departments may establish their own guidelines as long as stipend rates meet or exceed those established by the University. Penn investigators are also expected to comply with any postdoctoral stipend guidelines promulgated by their sponsors, if these sponsor-specified guidelines exceed the Penn minimum stipend levels.

Note: Stipends should be adjusted upwards at the time of the annual postdoctoral reappointment, at the time of the annual grant renewal or at the beginning of the NIH fiscal year.

Years of Experience

Scale effective 7/1/16-11/30/16

Scale effective 12/1/16-6/30/17

00

$43,692

$47,476

01

$45,444

$47,476

02

$47,268

$47,476

03

$49,152

$49,152

04

$51,120

$51,120

 

—Dawn Bonnell, Vice Provost for Research

Note: A Revised Version of FY2017 Postdoc Stipend Levels was published on September 13, 2016. See here: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v63/n05/post-doc-stipends-increased.html

OF RECORD: Sexual Violence, Relationship Violence and Stalking Policy and Sexual Harassment Policy

The recently revised versions of two policies, effective July 1, 2016, appear online at http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/between/2016/070116-supplement.pdf as a supplement. The Sexual Violence, Relationship Violence and Stalking Policy as well as the Sexual Harassment Policy will be published as a supplement in print in an upcoming issue of Almanac after the beginning of the fall semester.

OF RECORD: Policy on Unused PennNet Wallplates

The Network Policy Committee, IT Roundtable and the Vice President for ISC announce the new Unused PennNet Wallplates Policy. This policy was approved on May 20, 2016. 

This policy describes the circumstances under which PennNet wallplates (jacks) may be considered unused and the process by which they can be disabled and deactivated in an effort to reduce customer costs, improve accuracy of billing and improve the security of PennNet in a programmatic way. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that customers are billed only for PennNet wallplates that they are using while ensuring the best use of capital assets such as switches and router interfaces that are necessary to support active wallplates.

The Network Policy Committee’s charge and policy approval process are at http://www.upenn.edu/computing/group/npc/

Faculty and staff may wish to contact their Local Support Provider (https://www.isc.upenn.edu/get-it-help) if they have concerns about specific wallplates that may be affected by this policy. For other questions related to this policy, contact the Network Policy Committee at network-policy@isc.upenn.edu

The text of the policy can be found online at http://www.upenn.edu/computing/group/npc/approved/20140920-unusedwallplate.html

Honors

ICA's Endless Shout: Pew Center Project Grant

In June, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) received a project grant of $295,400 for the production of Endless Shout, a multi-artist performance project exploring the impact of collectivity and improvisation on contemporary performance as introduced by the African-American avant-garde of the 1960s. Endless Shout will be organized by Anthony Elms, associate curator, along with five individual artists and one artist-duo: Raul de Nieves, Danielle Goldman, George Lewis, Fred Moten, the Otolith Group and taisha paggett [sic].

The project will take place in the fall of 2016 alongside ICA’s presentation of The Freedom Principle: Experiments in Art and Music, 1965 to Now. Organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, this touring exhibition investigates the influences of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists (AfriCOBRA), seminal artist-driven movements in music and art that originated in Chicago in 1965 and 1968, respectively.

Kathryn Bowles: National Advisory Council for Nursing Research

Kathryn BowlesKathryn H. Bowles, the van Ameringen Professor in Nursing Excellence and professor of nursing in the department of biobehavioral health sciences at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, has been appointed to the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research (NACNR).

NACNR is the National Institute of Nursing Research’s principal advisory board. It provides recommendations on the direction and support of the research that forms the evidence base for nursing practice.

Dr. Bowles’s program of research examines decision-making supported by information technology to improve care for older adults. Her most recent study focuses on the development of decision support to determine the best site of care for those needing post-acute care.

Mary Naylor: AcademyHealth Distinguished Investigator

Mary NaylorMary D. Naylor, the Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology and director of the NewCourtland Center for Transitions & Health in the department of biobehavioral health sciences at Penn Nursing, is the recipient of the 2016 AcademyHealth Distinguished Investigator Award. She is only the second nurse to receive this award since its founding in 1985.

Dr. Naylor is the architect of the Transitional Care Model (TCM), designed to positively impact the care and outcomes of chronically ill older adults who are navigating fragmented systems of care. In collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of clinical scholars and health services researchers, she has tested the TCM and translated the evidence within health systems and communities throughout the US and across the globe.

Sparky Lok: Dean’s Distinguished Service Award

Sparky LokSparky Lok, a professor of parasitology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, is the recipient of the Penn Vet Dean’s Distinguished Service Award.

According to Joan Hendricks, the Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Penn Vet, “The fundamental criterion for the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award, which Sparky meets and exceeds, is that he has contributed beyond our ability to thank him throughout his long career at Penn Vet. He is a creative, committed and passionate researcher in important areas of global health. He has won every possible teaching award, especially notable because his research interest—parasitic worms—is difficult and not readily accessible—or cute. But more than anything, it is who he is. He is just plain one of the best humans ever. He has been on every important committee, working group or task force, including some he really hates—like the Committee on Academic Status of Students—and he excels at all of them.  

“His impact is perhaps best captured by the response every student, faculty or staff member had when I told them he was getting this award—they said, emphatically, ‘I love Sparky!’” added Dean Hendricks.

Dr. Lok received his PhD in medical entomology from Cornell University in 1981 and did postdoctoral training in parasitology at Penn. In addition to his appointment at Penn Vet, he is an active member of the microbiology/virology/parasitology component of the cell & molecular biology graduate group at Penn.

Adriana Petryna: Wellcome Medal

Adriana PetrynaAdriana Petryna, the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Anthropology, received the biennial Wellcome Medal from the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for “a body of published work which makes, as a whole, a significant contribution to research in anthropology as applied to medical problems.”

Dr. Petryna specializes in the social and political dimensions of science and medicine in the United States and Eastern Europe, focusing particularly on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and on clinical research and pharmaceutical globalization. She is the author of When Experiments Travel: Clinical Trials and the Global Search for Human Subjects and of Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl, which won the New Millennium Book Award from the Society for Medical Anthropology and the Sharon Stephens First Book Prize from the American Ethnological Society. She coedited When People Come First: Critical Studies in Global Health with Joao Biehl and Global Pharmaceuticals: Ethics, Markets, Practices with Andrew Lakoff and Arthur Kleinman.

Gwyn Roberts and Tempesta di Mare: 2017 Pew Grant

Tempesta di Mare, a baroque orchestra founded and directed by Gwyn Roberts in Penn’s department of music, received a major grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage for a 2017 project, Reclaiming Telemann. This award of $195,000 (plus a 20% administrative supplement) is Tempesta di Mare’s seventh Pew project grant. It will fund the orchestra’s 11th CD for Chandos Records. It will also fund the Tempesta di Mare’s multidisciplinary week of events, planned for October 2017, exploring of the life, times and oeuvre of German baroque composer Georg Philipp Telemann.

Ms. Roberts is also the director of Penn Early Music Ensembles in the School of Arts & Sciences at Penn.

 

 

2016 Education Business Plan Competition Winners

The University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Penn GSE) and the Milken Family Foundation recently announced the winners of the sixth annual Milken-Penn GSE Education Business Plan Competition (EBPC). As the largest competition of its kind, the EBPC awards prizes in two categories: idea-stage companies that are just getting started, and ventures, which already have revenues, grants, customers or investments.

Venture Path Winners:

Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize ($40,000) and American Public University System Prize ($20,000):

Tassl LLC, of Philadelphia, an alumni engagement technology solution that helps universities and their alumni groups engage with graduates in more meaningful ways outside of donations.

ACT Prize ($20,000):

Pivot Interactive, SBC, of Afton, Minnesota, which develops interactive resources for science learning, including Direct Measurement Videos and Pivot Player.

ChanceLight Behavioral Health and Education Prize ($10,000 each):

Communication APPtitute, of Towson, Maryland, an educational technology company filling a void in the literacy market by creating two unique, visual methods for teaching vocabulary and semantic skills.

OgStar Reading LLC, of Owings Mills, Maryland, an app that provides a self-correcting, multisensory reading game for dyslexic students, English language learners and those with limited language exposure using the Orton-Gillingham approach.

McGraw-Hill Education Prize ($20,000):

Caseworx, of Long Beach, California, which takes case study learning off the page and into a video-based, interactive collaboration space for all types of learners.

Voter’s Choice Prize ($1,000):

TalkingPoints, of San Francisco, a multi-lingual texting platform that educators use to communicate with families via text messages with automatic translation.

Idea Path Winners:

Milken Family Foundation Grand Prize ($10,000):

Torus Teens, of New York, a marketplace that connects teens with afterschool and summer programs so they can explore interests and develop skills outside of formal schooling.

Additional Idea Prizes ($2,000 each):

URead, of Rydal, Pennsylvania, a mobile app designed to help adults reading at the fourth-grade level equivalent and above improve their reading skills.

Toolbox for Teachers, of Philadelphia, a series of workshops and resources designed to promote educator resiliency and trauma sensitivity in urban and low-income schools.

Mindright, of Palo Alto, California, a mobile app and data platform service that helps youth overcome the impacts of trauma and empowers schools to meet students’ needs arising from trauma.

Kids Code, of Charlottesville, Virginia, an interactive board game that teaches children to think like computer programmers and practice programming skills. Kids Code also won the Voter’s Choice Prize ($1,000).

Features

U.S. Presidents, Vice Presidents and First Ladies Who Have Given Commencement Addresses at Penn

American FlagFranklin D. Roosevelt

The upcoming Democratic National Convention (DNC), which will be held this July 25-28 at the Wells Fargo Center, will be the third time the convention is held in Philadelphia. The first time the DNC came to Philadelphia was in 1936 and the convention resulted in the nomination of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, who gave his acceptance speech on Penn’s campus at Franklin Field.

President Roosevelt returned to campus for the University of Pennsylvania Bicentennial Celebration on September 20, 1940 and received an honorary degree.

The Republican National Convention (RNC) has been held six times in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1856, 1872, 1900, 1940, 1948 and 2000).

A total of 18 American Presidents have visited the University of Pennsylvania’s campus sometime in their lives; some of them have given commencement addresses.

Several First Ladies and Vice Presidents have also visited campus as commencement speaker.

For more information on Presidential visits to Penn’s campus, visit the University Archives http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/alum/99_1.html

 

Presidential Flag
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter

The Flag of the President

Former President Ronald Reagan delivered the first of three Plenary Session addresses at the University’s 250th Anniversary celebration in May 1990; he was accompanied by his wife, Nancy Reagan. 
See Almanac May 29, 1990.

Gerald R. Ford, the 38th President of the United States, gave the 219th Commencement Address on May 18, 1975. Jimmy Carter, the 39th 
President of the United States, gave the 242nd Commencement Address on May 18, 1998. See
Almanac May 19/26, 1998.
 

 

Flag of the Vice President
Hubert H. Humphrey
Joseph Biden

The Flag of the Vice President

On February 14, 1996, Vice President Al Gore gave a speech at Penn’s celebration of ENIAC’s 50th anniversary and received Penn’s Medal for Distinguished Achievement. 
See Almanac February 20, 1996.

Hubert H. Humphrey, the 38th Vice President of the United States, gave the 221st Commencement Address on May 22, 1977. Joseph R. Biden, Jr., the 47th Vice President of the United States, gave the 257th Commencement Address 
on May 13, 2013. See Almanac May 21, 2013.

 

The Shield of the University of Pennsylvania
Barbara Bush
Hillary Rodham Clinton
The Shield of the University of Pennsylvania Barbara Bush, the then First Lady of the United States, gave Penn’s 234th 
Commencement Address 
on May 14, 1990.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, the then First Lady of the United States, gave the 237th Commencement Address 
on May 17, 1993. 
See Almanac May 18, 1993.
 

Hillary Clinton’s Commencement Address at the University of Pennsylvania on May 17, 1993

caption: 2016 Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is shown with Ben on the Bench in 1993 when she was First Lady.

Thank you. Thank you very much. It is indeed an honor for me to be part of this celebratory commencement at one of the premier and oldest institutions of education in our country. I want to thank President Hackney, the regents, the other honorary degree recipients, faculty, alumni, family members, citizens, but most of all, those of you who graduate this year from the end of your various degree programs whom I had the privilege to watch march by me just 15 minutes ago. I wish everyone in this stadium and indeed everyone in this great city could have stood there with us and watched not only the faces of individuals—many of you look like you've been celebrating already—but the diversity, the excitement, the hopefulness, the enthusiasm and the sense of moving forward into a future that none of us can predict but for which each of you has been well-prepared.

Commencements are a time to stop and think about the past, to celebrate this present moment and to look forward into the future. There is no way that any commencement speaker at any campus this spring could stand before you and tell you what will happen. Not tomorrow, not next year, not for the rest of any of your lives. But part of the reason commencement speeches have a certain similarity and familiarity to them is because when one does stand in front of a group like this, impressed by your accomplishments and achievements, remembering one's own past, it is an opportunity to talk about some of the ideals and values that have withstood the test of time and which can be guiding principles in lives well-led.

I started my morning on campus here sitting on the park bench with Benjamin Franklin and I hope each of you has had that same opportunity. The way that he sits there, in this relaxed manner, the way he looks at you as you look back at him as though he were making yet again an important point that needed to be repeated, gives one a sense of the continuity of time and life and history in this institution, which is very reassuring. And then when I opened the program for this commencement and saw the quotation from Benjamin Franklin that I had intended to use as well, I was struck by how at this moment what he began all those years ago, before we were even a country, had special meaning.

Franklin was, as the program says, an advocate of good citizenship. "We may make these times better if we bestir ourselves," he wrote. "The noblest question in the world is, 'What good may I do in it?'" That is the question for this commencement. That will be, I hope, the question you ask yourselves as you journey through your lives. That journey will not always be an easy one, it will not always have clear directions attached to it. As we are here in this magnificent stadium, we can remember the many Penn Relays that have been held here and think often about the different kinds of events that take place. And although I am always impressed by every one of them, sprints and hurdles and other track and field events, for me life is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It is something you prepare for and often you keep going through when times are tough, when you may not even know where you are heading. And one of the questions to ask yourself is Franklin's, because often by asking, "What good may I do in it?" you end up giving yourself that direction and not only doing good but feeling good about it.

There are many people in this stadium today who are responsible for your being here, who believed in your journey, who believed that as parents and family members they had responsibilities to you and worked every day, often through hard times, to try to fulfill them. Because a college degree is a collective achievement; because for every person dressed in black here in front of me, I know there are people in the stands who are proud and often thinking back to when their checking accounts looked more red than black as they sacrificed to make this day happen.

And speaking of sacrifice, I just need to get this out of way. A reporter asked me about my new haircut. I know it’s been on all of your minds; it is after all the number one issue. I had a friend call me from Japan who saw it on CNN. So I told him the truth, that when the President called for sacrifice and asked everybody at the White House to get a 25% cut, I decided to go for a 50% cut to do my part.

When I graduated from college in 1969, I too had dreams for my life and I also hoped to be able as I fulfilled those dreams to think about what good I might do if I bestirred myself. I gave a speech at my commencement and I have had an occasion in the last year to go back and re-read that. I see the idealism, I see the excitement and I see some of the naïveté that marked me and marked many who are at the beginning of their adulthood. I know that at 21, I did not fully appreciate the political and social restraints that one faces in the world. I know that I assumed that we could overcome a lot of these obstacles that are still with us, despite the progress we have made. But I am glad that I felt idealistic at 21 because I think it is important to feel that way, and I have tried to maintain that feeling as I have grown older.

My father, if he were here today, would tell you that the reason I changed from being a Goldwater Girl to a Democrat is because I went to college. Not that he didn't approve of my going to college, he always believed in education, but that I came out different than what he had sent. Some of you may have had those conversations with your parents. What is it you learned and why do you feel that way now? But always during my growing up years and through college and beyond, what I loved and respected about my father is that he always took what I believed and cared about it seriously, even when he disagreed very strongly. And there was always in our home an opportunity for the kind of discourse, one might say arguments, that mark people who care deeply and who have ideals. Being 21 is a license to be idealistic, and I encourage all of us, no matter what age, to keep renewing that license because our world needs us to do that.

The sixties were a time of momentous change in our country, but so are the nineties. Our world has changed dramatically from the days of assassinations, of wars, of riots. But yet, as we look around us today and we see all of the positive changes that we have lived with, we know that there is still much to be done in this, the most powerful nation on earth. Too many people work too hard without ever getting ahead. The Philadelphia Inquirer, in its Pulitzer Prize-winning series of a year or so ago, in talking about what has happened to the American Dream, made that point forcefully. Many of the people in this stadium who have worked hard for a living have seen the security they thought they were working for be endangered because the world around us is presenting new economic challenges that we have to be prepared to face. Too few of our people today can meet those challenges and take advantage of our new opportunities. They have not been prepared to negotiate this new world because in too many cases, families are not offering the kind of stability and structure that builds skills and confidence in children. And other institutions, including our schools, are not setting high expectations and working hard to assure that children achieve those expectations. We have to learn how to make change, our friend, because no one can repeal the laws of change or tell you it will turn around and be the way that it once was. So today more than ever, we need to focus our attention on our children, give them the stability and structures they need and once again make education the passport to the American dream that it used to be. Because as we look around us, we see that there is a lot of work to be done.

We can look at places that are now on our front pages that we never heard of a few years ago, with names like Bosnia or Somalia. We can watch the spread of ethnic hatred, nuclear proliferation, starvation, and the kinds of problems that come into our living rooms whether we want them or not. And here at home we watch our cities crumbling under the dual assault of drugs and guns that create a level of violence that is unacceptable. Within a few miles from this campus on this beautiful day, we know that there are children whose parents are afraid to let them play outside, who cannot faithfully walk to school. We know there are young people who are beset by hopelessness and despair. How can we claim to be civilized when our children cannot even leave their homes in safety? How much longer will we permit those kinds of conditions in which drugs and guns determine the quality of life to continue?

Now is a good time for us at this commencement to take a deep breath and decide how each of us will deal with these challenges, because if you do not shape your life, circumstances will. Like generations of Americans, you will look for the right balance in your lives; a balance of work, and family and service; a balance between your rights as individuals and your responsibilities to yourselves, your families, your communities, your country and our world. I hope your experience here at this university will serve as a guide. Here you have met people from diverse backgrounds. You've had your ideas and beliefs tested. You've had to learn what you're willing to stand for and stand against. You have been part of a microcosm of the restless and diverse country we call America. You have seen people from every kind of background, every religion, every continent on this earth. You know well that you have had an opportunity to argue about what you think should happen and you've even had the chance to argue seemingly contradictory positions, because if your college years were anything like mine, you have probably been in a position to take different positions even more than once in an evening's discussion, to try out these new ideas and to try out what your real values and beliefs are.

What we have to do here at this university and in this country is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities. We must always uphold the idea of our colleges as incubators of ideas and havens for free speech and free thought. And our country and our colleges must also be communities: communities of learning, not just book learning, but people learning. Where every person's human dignity is respected. Freedom and respect are not values that should be in conflict with each other. They are basic American values that reinforce each other. But we cannot debate our differences nor face our mutual challenges unless and until we respect each other, men and women, young and old, across the ethnic and racial lines that divide us. I know that you share the general distress that any acts of hate, hateful acts, hateful words, hateful incidents that occur too frequently today in our communities and even on our college campuses. In a nation founded on the promise of human dignity, our colleges, our communities, our country should challenge hatred wherever we find it. But we should listen as well as lecture, confront problems, not people, and find ways to work together to promote the common good. We must be careful not to cross the line between censuring behavior that we consider unacceptable and censoring, that's u and o. For the all the injustices in our past and our present we have to believe that in the free exchange of ideas, justice will prevail over injustice, tolerance over intolerance and progress over reaction.

And we have seen that in our own history in the struggles over civil rights, worker's rights, women's rights, human rights. We have seen how movements armed only with the power of their ideas have prevailed over ingrained prejudices and entrenched injustices. That is why is it always time for a free and open discussion in every college and every community throughout our country about how we can live together, bring out the best in each other, make our diversity a source of strength and not weakness. We are all in this together and we have to recognize that, because as the President has said, we don't have a person to waste in this interdependent world in which we live.

Now, how do we strike the right balance between individual rights and responsibility? How do we create a new spirit of community given all of the problems we are so aware of? Regrettably, the balance between the individual and the community, between rights and responsibilities, has been thrown out of kilter over the last years. Throughout the 1980s we did not hear too much about individual gain and the ethos of selfishness and greed. We did not hear enough about how to be a good member of a community, to define the common good and to repair the social contracts. And we also found that while prosperity does not trickle down from the most powerful to the rest of us, all too often indifference and even intolerance do.

One eloquent description of the interconnection between individual identity and the individual's responsibility to society comes from Vaclav Havel, the playwright who is now the President of the Czech Republic. He went to prison during the communist regime in Czechoslovakia because he could neither be free as an individual nor responsible as a member of a community, because the community in which he found himself suppressed thought, speech, religion and the other rights we cherish, and undermined individual responsibility and respect among citizens. Havel wrote to his wife Olga from prison, "Everything meaningful in life is distinguished by a certain transcendence of individual human existence beyond the limits of mere self-care toward other people, toward society, toward the world. Only by looking outward, by caring for things that in terms of pure survival, you needn't bother with at all, and by throwing yourself over and over again into the tumult of the world with the intention of

making your voice count, only thus will you really become a person."

Each of you will be defining the meaning of your own life by your actions from this day forward just as you have, consciously or unconsciously, to this point. How you make those decisions and those turning points as to what you believe in and who you are will at the end sum up the life you have lead. There are many opportunities and some of you have already seized them. This campus has an extraordinary number of people who have committed themselves to public service while they are here. This country is about to be committed to national service because it is time for us to once again create opportunities for all people, but particularly young people, to be of service. Just as in my generation, with the help of people like Senator Wofford, President Kennedy challenged young people to be of service to the country and the world. Today we have a new call to responsibility. A domestic Peace Corps that will help young people pay for college or job training by performing community service, helping children learn to read and write, working in hospitals, helping the homeless, cleaning up the environment, helping yourselves, finding meaning by helping others.

There is also a great opportunity that some of you are already seizing. Because of part of my husband's "Summer of Service" proposal, a grant has already been awarded to a program here in Philadelphia, "Immunize Children At Early Risk, ICARE." It will put 150 college-aged students from throughout Philadelphia to work this summer. They will immunize more than 5,000 children, they will earn money for college, they will make a contribution to the community, and I would argue they will have an opportunity to find some meaning in their lives that teaches them about who they are. When they come home from this immunization effort and look into their mirrors, they will see people who have been changed by that experience.

We also have a great opportunity as a country to face a problem that is not only one of finance and delivery systems and buzz words like that, but which challenges really, again, who we are as a people. And that is the challenge of health care. The first medical school in our country started at the University of Pennsylvania. The issue of health care bounded onto the national agenda because of the election of Harris Wofford. And it is time now as a nation to recognize that we have a chance to provide health care to all of our people and to do so in a more economical and humane way than we have up until now. I have traveled all over this country and I can tell you, based on personal experience, that antidote after antidote, that although we are the richest country in the world and we have the best of medical care available in the world, we spend more money on health care and take care of fewer people than our competitors who provide health care to all of the people and have better outcomes for the money that they spend on it. What we have instead is a patchwork non-system. People who are employed but without insurance, people who have pre-existing conditions and cannot get insurance, people who thought that they were part of an employment contract and would always have their health care being taken care of who are now watching that be stripped away through lay-offs and other kinds of changes. Most people in this country who are uninsured get up every day and go to work. They would be a lot better off when it comes to health care if they went on welfare. What kind of signal does it send to the 37 million uninsured Americans, 82% of whom work or are in the families of workers, to be able to say that? What kind of responsibility does that imply?

Health care is an important issue also for the economy. As all of these Wharton graduates will soon discover firsthand if they have not already in their work experience, we have given away competitive advantage after competitive advantage because our major companies pay more in health care benefits every single year in a system that is out of control. The expense of that healthcare makes too many products more expensive than the competition. We in effect say to our manufacturers, “Tie both arms behind you, then get out in the world and compete and make jobs for Americans." Unless we do something now, by the year 2000 almost one out of every five dollars that you will earn will be spent on health care. And that will be spent without insuring one more American, providing better health care in any rural communities or any inner city. We need to make some solemn commitments and change in the direction of insuring that every American will be secure. If you change jobs or if you lose your job, you will still be insured. If you get sick or if you have a pre-existing condition, you will still be insured. If you are an older American and need help with prescription drugs and a start on long-term care, particularly in your home, you will be insured. If you are a physician, or a nurse, or a pharmacist or a dentist, you will no longer spend 20-40% of your time and income filling out countless, meaningless forms. If you are an employer who has been struggling to maintain health insurance benefits for your employees, you will see that cost stabilize and decrease over time.

This healthcare issue is not just an issue of economics, although it is that. It is a human issue, it is a social issue and it goes to the very root of who we are as a people. Can we take care of ourselves and be more responsible about our health, can we take better care of our families, can we have a healthier country? I'm betting that the answer to all those is yes. Because I'm betting that in these very exciting and challenging times, as we move toward a sense of community and define the common good in terms that include us all, but set standards by which to judge our progress together that there will be contributions from all of us that will meet the challenges we face.

And for each of you, I think you are living in very exciting times and I hope that as you go forth from this university, you do so with the kind of high spirits and enthusiasm I saw today, and that you understand that this marathon we all run for, which none of us knows where the end will be, cannot only be an exhilarating experience, but it can be one that leads to meaning in a challenging time for us as individuals and for us as a people. Thank you all, and Godspeed.

Events

Adult Tennis Camp: July 18-21

In addition to the multitude of summer programs highlighted in the Summer AT PENN Calendar, an Adult Tennis Camp will be held at the Penn Tennis Center from July 18-21. The camp is open to all levels and will highlight drills, stroke development and singles/doubles point play. Register for the Adult Tennis Camp by calling (215) 898-4741.

PHOS Hosts Summer Sessions

Penn Home Ownership Services (PHOS) has announced two informative sessions for this summer. “Purchasing a Home through PHOS” will be held on Wednesday, July 13 and will be joined by lending partner Trident at the event. On August 3 anyone who is thinking about buying a home for the first time should plan to attend “First Time Home Buyers 101.” Wells Fargo will be present at the workshop to answer questions from the audience.

PHOS programs are open to faculty and staff of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) and its affiliates. Both events, 12:30-1:30 p.m., will be held at Learning and Development, 3624 Market Street, Suite 1A South.

Visit www.upenn.edu/homeownership Advance registration for these popular events is required.

Crimes

Weekly Crime Reports

The University of Pennsylvania Police Department Community Crime Report

About the Crime Report: Below are all Crimes Against Persons, Property and Crimes Against Society from the campus report for June 27-July 3, 2016. View prior weeks' reports. —Ed.

This summary is prepared by the Division of Public Safety and includes all criminal incidents reported and made known to the University Police Department between the dates of June 27-July 3, 2016. The University Police actively patrol from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and from the Schuylkill River to 43rd Street in conjunction with the Philadelphia Police. In this effort to provide you with a thorough and accurate report on public safety concerns, we hope that your increased awareness will lessen the opportunity for crime. For any concerns or suggestions regarding this report, please call the Division of Public Safety at (215) 898-4482.

06/28/16 3:35 PM 3744 Spruce St Theft Currency and ID taken from wallet
06/28/16 7:11 PM 3925 Walnut St Disorderly Conduct Male causing disturbance in store/Arrest
06/29/16 8:15 AM 3800 Spruce St Robbery Complainant reported being robbed
06/29/16 1:55 PM 3600 Walnut St Traffic Male wanted on scofflaw/Arrest
06/29/16 6:54 PM 3400 Spruce St Theft Currency removed from wallet
06/30/16 1:55 PM 3945 Chestnut St Theft Water cooler taken from highway
06/30/16 4:23 PM 4000 Market St Assault Complainant struck by unknown females
07/01/16 12:24 AM 4001 Walnut St Theft Unsecured bike taken
07/01/16 6:17 PM 3400 Sansom St Narcotics Male combative with police/Arrest
07/01/16 11:31 PM 3900 Walnut St Sex Offense Confidential
07/02/16 9:57 AM 200 S 40th St Theft Purse and contents taken
07/02/16 5:22 AM 3733 Spruce St Other Offense Male cited for public urination

18th District Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 10 incidents with 2 arrests (3 domestic assaults, 2 assaults, 2 robberies, 1 aggravated assault, 1 purse snatch and 1 rape) were reported between June 27-July 3, 2016 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

06/27/16 3:40 PM 4800 Spruce St Purse Snatch
06/27/16 9:34 PM 233 S 33rd St  Robbery/Arrest
06/29/16 10:50 AM 47th & Woodland Ave Assault
06/29/16 8:27 PM 116 S 46th St  Domestic Assault
06/30/16 4:50 PM 4000 Market St Assault
07/01/16 1:00 AM 4400 Chestnut St Domestic Assault/Arrest
07/01/16 2:40 AM 3900 blk Walnut St Rape/Arrest
07/01/16 9:56 AM 4133 Chestnut St Aggravated Assault
07/03/16 9:49 AM 41st & Farragut St Domestic Assault
07/03/16 3:24 PM 47th & Walnut St Robbery

Note: During the summer, Crime Reports are being posted to Almanac Between Issues: www.upenn.edu/almanac/between/between.html

Bulletins

Beefsteak at Penn

On June 7, the Division of Business Services, Penn Dining and Bon Appétit celebrated the grand opening of Beefsteak in the lower level of Houston Hall. The new veggie-centric restaurant concept from renowned chef José Andrés features fast, healthy and casual cuisine that allows customers to choose from a variety of fresh-picked vegetables, grains, house-made sauces and protein add-ons. This the first Beefsteak location in Philadelphia.

Arboretum: “Penn + 1” in August

Penn faculty, staff and students with a valid PennCard are invited to bring one guest for free admission to Morris Arboretum throughout the month of August. That’s a $17 value. This value is extended to receiving a 10% member discount in the Shop and at Compton Café. The Arboretum is open daily: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Saturdays, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. This offer includes Late Night Wednesdays until 8 p.m.—picnicking is allowed on Wednesday nights.

Visit www.morrisarboretum.org to learn more about these and other summertime events. 

Penn Children’s Center: FY 2017 Tuition Rates

The Penn Children’s Center, located on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus, offers child care for children ages three months to five years. Accredited by the National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the Children’s Center is open to all members of the University and surrounding communities with preference given to faculty, staff and students of the University.

The Children’s Center accepts applications year round and enrollment is subject to availability. Assisted rates are available to University faculty and staff who meet eligibility requirements, subject to space availability and funding. Part-time slots and sibling discounts are also available. Below is the FY 2017 tuition rate schedule.

PENN CHILDREN’S CENTER

PENN

REGULAR

ASSISTED   A

ASSISTED B

FY17 Regular Rate Schedule (per week)

 

 

 

 

INFANTS

 

 

 

 

5 Days

$441

$507

$264

$330

4 Days

$394

$453

$236

$295

3 Days

$330

$380

$198

$248

2 Days

$232

$266

$139

$174

TODDLERS

 

 

 

 

5 Days

$410

$472

$246

$308

4 Days

$360

$414

$216

$270

3 Days

$299

$344

$179

$224

2 Days

$208

$239

$125

$156

PRESCHOOL

 

 

 

 

5 Days

$324

$380

$195

$243

4 Days

$284

$333

$170

$213

3 Days

$247

$290

$148

$185

2 Days

$179

$209

$107

$134

DROP IN

 

 

 

 

Infants

$100

 

 

 

Toddlers

$100

 

 

 

Preschool

  $80

 

 

 

 

Weekly tuition fees are in effect from July 4, 2016 to June 30, 2017. The Penn Rate is available to Penn faculty, staff, students and UPHS employees. Assisted A Rates are for University faculty and staff with combined family annual income below $55,000. Assisted B rates are for University faculty and staff with combined family annual income below $65,000.

Please contact the Penn Children’s Center at (215) 898-5268 for additional information or to arrange a tour, or visit the Center’s website at www.upenn.edu/childcare

Penn Hotel Rates

The Hilton Inn at Penn and Sheraton Philadelphia University City hotels would like to thank the University community for its patronage over the last year. This year’s Special Penn Rates (available for rooms booked using a Penn Budget Code) are as follows:

•  Hilton Inn at Penn: $257/night

•  Sheraton Philadelphia University City: $194/night

Visit the Inn at Penn (www.theinnatpenn.com) and the Sheraton (www.philadelphiasheraton.com) websites to learn more about these properties and the amenities offered to their guests.

Deadlines

Deadlines: Weekly issues of Almanac will resume with the August 23 issue; the deadline is August 15.  The deadline for the September AT PENN calendar is August 16.
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