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Zion’s Story: One Year Later

Zion Harvey

Zion Harvey

Today, nine-year-old Zion Harvey can throw a baseball over home plate. He can write in his journal, prepare himself lunch and manage zippers on his clothes. For most of his life, however, these and many other ordinary actions were impossible for this little boy.

In the summer of 2015, surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Penn Medicine joined with colleagues from Shriners Hospitals for Children—Philadelphia, to complete the world’s first bilateral hand transplant on a child. The surgical team successfully transplanted donor hands and forearms onto then-eight-year-old Zion who, several years earlier, had undergone amputation of his hands and feet and a kidney transplant following a serious infection (Almanac December 15, 2015). 

In the days and weeks after surgery, Zion had to start small: Wriggling a thumb and flexing his fingers required intense concentration. He spent more than a month at CHOP, recovering from surgery and participating in rigorous occupational and physical therapy, before returning to his home near Baltimore.

One year later, Zion is able to swing a bat and throw a football. He can take medicine and get dressed by himself. He can pick up important objects: a pencil, a fork, a piece of pizza.

“He’s gaining independence and that is the whole reason why we do this,” said L. Scott Levin, chairman of the department of orthopaedic surgery and a professor of plastic surgery in the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), and director of the Hand Transplantation Program at CHOP. “Zion’s remarkable progress would not have been possible without a large team of multidisciplinary specialists, and the foundational work our hand transplant team at Penn Medicine has built, starting with our first adult hand transplant in 2011 (Almanac November 8, 2011).”

“After the transplant healed, it was very important for Zion to be in therapy full-time,” said surgeon Benjamin Chang, co-director of the Hand Transplantation Program at CHOP and associate chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at Penn Medicine. “This is when we can make the most progress in terms of getting his function to come back, helping the tendons to glide, the muscles to grow stronger, actually re-teaching his brain how to fire those muscles again and then teaching him how to do things like writing. He and his family have managed this so well, beyond our expectations.”

In the past year, Zion has spent up to eight hours a day in rehabilitation at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. Occupational therapy is essential as Zion’s brain relearns how to communicate with limbs that were missing for six years, and his muscles and tendons gain strength and flexibility.

Additionally, a team of CHOP neuroscientists assembled to conduct brain imaging and analysis to track and aid Zion’s mental and physical rehabilitation. For the first time, the team is calibrating functional MRI scans of Zion’s brain and directly correlating his therapy to the brain mapping. The goal is to get the primary motor cortex, the part of the brain that controls his hands, to catch up to the other fully developed areas.

As Zion grows, so will his hands. Zion continues to receive daily immunosuppressant medications to prevent his body from rejecting the new limbs, as well as his transplanted kidney. Dr. Levin and his team will continue to follow Zion throughout his lifetime.

“Double hand transplantation is a complex procedure involving many surgical and non-surgical components. Zion’s success is a testament to the skill, dedication, innovation and passion of Dr. Levin, Dr. Chang and the rest of their team,” said N. Scott Adzick, CHOP’s surgeon-in-chief. “As for the future, our CHOP and Penn teams are carefully reviewing and evaluating all aspects of Zion’s progress and when the time is right hope to offer this same surgery to other children.”

“Zion is a pioneer. With each week since his surgery, our team has learned more that will inform their efforts to perform future bilateral hand transplants and afford more children and adults a better quality of life,” said Abraham Shaked, the Eldridge L. Eliason Professor of Surgery in PSOM and director of the Penn Transplant Institute.

Scott Kozin, chief of staff at Shriners Hospitals for Children—Philadelphia said that Zion’s progress has been spectacular, and highlights what can be accomplished by a committed and coordinated collaborative effort among multi-disciplinary teams at CHOP, Penn Medicine and Shriners Hospitals for Children.

“The dedication to Zion’s hand functionality and rehabilitation has expanded to the Kennedy Krieger Institute, as well as the amazing community that has rallied behind Zion and his family,” Dr. Kozin said. “Their support has been instrumental to Zion’s success. Zion’s remarkable improvement, and his newly found ability to perform tasks previously unobtainable, is inspiring. Shriners Hospitals for Children is committed to continuing to advance this field and hopefully providing future children with the opportunity of this life-changing surgery.”

When asked how his life has changed now that he has hands, Zion said, “I’m still the same kid everybody knew without hands. But I can do everything now. I can do the same things even better.” (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFyP_R6wPr8)

Zion’s mother, Pattie Ray, said she believes her son could have done anything before without hands. “But now his light will shine even brighter. Whatever he is destined to do, it’s going to make it that much better. I know those hands are going to be used in great ways.”

Before the surgery could be conducted, it was necessary to locate a suitable donor, a function coordinated by Gift of Life Donor Program, the nonprofit organ and tissue donor program which serves the eastern half of Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware. Thanks to the generosity of a family in the midst of terrible loss, donor hands became available for Zion.

“For 42 years, Gift of Life Donor Program has partnered with transplant centers throughout this region to bring innovative transplant procedures to patients in need,” said Richard Hasz, vice president of clinical services for Gift of Life. “As with all types of transplants, surgeries such as this one could not take place without the generosity of a donor and a donor family. We thank them for their selflessness and for their gift that made this surgery possible.”

“People say I’m strong, but you really have to be strong to give the gift they gave,” said Ms. Ray. “I think about them and I thank them every day.”

Zion's medical team.

Zion's Medical Team.

Photos courtesy of Penn Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

New College House

caption:Penn’s New College House is a residential building designed for the 21st century. Penn has been housing students for well over a century and there have been many changes over the years.New College House is Penn’s first residential building specifically designed as a college house within the college house system bringing together undergraduates, faculty, staff and graduate advisors to form dynamic shared communities. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, New College House began construction in December 2013 and opened its doors as home to 350 residents on August 24, in time for the fall semester.

The design includes mostly single student rooms collected in multiple-bedroom suites with three to six bedroom arrangements, each with a living room and a private bath. The 198,000 square foot project is designed with many public and programmatic spaces built around a private central courtyard and includes a dining cafe and a new public pedestrian gateway via Woodland Walk with a generous sloping lawn.

Providing funds for the project are Emeritus Trustee and alumnus Stephen Heyman and his wife Barbara Heyman, and the Lauder Family, including alumni Leonard Lauder, Penn Emeritus Trustee and William Lauder, Penn Term Trustee.

NCH’s first residents include 340 freshmen, House Dean Trina Nocerino, Faculty Director Cam Grey, Faculty Fellows Jennifer Ponce de Leon and Bridgette Brasner and House Coordinator Heather Durham, four resident advisors and six graduate associates.

Related: Over a Century of Dorm Rooms at the University of Pennsylvania

Employee Resource Fair: An Opportunity to Participate

Dear University of Pennsylvania Departments & External Vendors,

The Penn Professional Staff Assembly (PPSA) and the Penn Weekly-Paid Professional Staff Assembly (WPPSA), in partnership with the offices of the Executive Vice President and the Division of Human Resources, are co-sponsoring an Employee Resource and Volunteer Fair on Wednesday, October 5, 2016 from noon-1:30 p.m. in the Hall of Flags and Bistro, Houston Hall. The purpose of the fair is to provide information to employees regarding the vast and varied campus resources and services available to them as well as volunteer opportunities. The fair will be open to the entire Penn community.

We are excited to offer you an opportunity to participate in the 2016 Employee Resource Fair. We would welcome representation from your area and encourage you to showcase your services. 

If you would like to participate, pre-registration is required, and we ask that two representatives from your office staff a table. Typically, participants bring both informational and promotional materials on their services, brochures, giveaways, etc. Please feel free to advertise your participation in the Resource Fair through your email lists and newsletters. Set-up and breakdown will take place from 11 a.m. to noon and from 1:30 p.m. until 2 p.m.

Space is limited, so register today.

Registration information is available: https://upenn.irisregistration.com/Form/ERF2016

In addition to the Employee Resource Fair there will be a Volunteer Fair organized in tandem with the event. This Volunteer Fair takes place in the Bistro next to the Hall of Flags. PPSA invites groups from the Philadelphia area to inform members of the Penn community about the volunteer opportunities they have available. There will be approximately 10-15 local nonprofits represented at the fair. Space is limited.

Thank you for your thoughtful consideration to participate in the 2016 Employee Resource Fair. For all inquiries, please contact ppsa@exchange.upenn.edu

—Kuan Evans, PPSA Chair

—Rosa Vargas, WPPSA Chair

David Nerenberg: Financial Director For Penn Dental Medicine

David NerenbergPenn Dental Medicine recently announced David Nerenberg has been appointed its executive director of finance.

In this position, Mr. Nerenberg will serve as the School’s chief financial officer with senior managerial and fiduciary responsibilities for University and School policy, as well as the areas of financial strategy, fiscal operations, patient revenue and grants management.

Mr. Nerenberg has more than 20 years of experience in higher education, nonprofit and public sector finances, most recently as interim CFO and director of finance at Curry College in Milton, Massachusetts. In this leadership role, he oversaw the development of an annual operating and capital budget in excess of $85 million, implemented new financial control measures, streamlined workflow, broadened the college’s program portfolio and generated new revenue streams. He also oversaw Student Financial Services, which includes the areas of billing and financial aid and building and grounds that manages over 700,000 square feet of academic, administrative, residential and common area space.

Prior to his time at Curry College, Mr. Nerenberg served as director of budget and planning (2012-2015) and budget manager (2007-2012) at Wheaton College, a small private liberal arts school in Norton, Massachusetts. From 2001-2007, he worked for the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University, serving as associate director of finance and administration. Prior to that, he worked briefly at Penn in central administration as the director of resource planning in the Office of Budget & Management Analysis. His other professional posts include five years with the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, working in the areas of financial planning and analysis, as well as two years in public policy and analysis with Greater Philadelphia First.

Mr. Nerenberg holds a master’s in public affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at  Austin, and a BA in political science from Binghamton University (the State University of New York).

Increased Postdoc Stipends for FY17: Effective December 1

The University recently issued its policy regarding postdoc stipends for FY17: http://www.upenn.edu/almanac/volumes/v63/n01/of-record-postdoc-stipend.html  The stipend levels were adopted after the Department of Labor amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

Since we published the policy in July, the NIH announced that it would increase the stipend for NRSA (National Research Service Awards) trainees and fellows to levels above the FLSA threshold. The August 10, 2016 NIH announcement can be found at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-16-134.html

In recognition of the importance of postdocs to the University, it is recommended that, effective December 1, 2016, all schools and departments adopt the NRSA levels for all postdocs on campus. 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.

FY2017 Required Minimum Stipend Levels

Years of Experience

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

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

0

$43,692

$47,484

1

$45,444

$47,844

2

$47,268

$48,216

3

$49,152

$50,316

4

$51,120

$52,140

 

—Dawn Bonnell, Vice Provost for Research

2017 Models of Excellence Award Nominations: October 21

Models of Excellence Award.Penn staff members are known for their exemplary work. Now is your chance to recognize these efforts by nominating your coworkers for Penn’s Models of Excellence awards. Nominations for fiscal year 2017 are open now through October 21, 2016.

The new online nomination is available at https://www.hr.upenn.edu/models

The Models of Excellence award program celebrates the extraordinary achievements of full- and part-time staff across the University’s schools and centers. Awards are given in three categories:

  • Models of Excellence Award—Recognizes staff member accomplishments that reflect initiative, leadership, increased efficiency, and a deep commitment to service.
  • Model Supervisor Award—Honors supervisors who contribute to Penn’s success.
  • Pillars of Excellence Award—Celebrates the important work that weekly-paid staff members do to promote Penn’s success.

Two lunch-time programs will be held to help you begin putting together a nomination that conveys exceptional performance and award worthiness.

Register at www.hr.upenn.edu/modelsbrownbag or models@hr.upenn.edu

  • Thursday, September 22, 1-2 p.m., 3401 Walnut Street, 5th Floor, HR Conference Room
  • Thursday, September 29, 12:30-1:30 p.m., 3624 Market Street, Suite 1A South, Learning and Education Training Room

All nominees receive a certificate of appreciation for their service. Models of Excellence, Pillars of Excellence and Model Supervisor winners each receive $500 and a symbolic award. Nominees selected for honorable mention receive $250 and a symbolic award. Awards will be presented at the Models of Excellence ceremony on March 28, 2017 at 4 p.m. in Irvine Auditorium. (Doors open at 3:30 p.m.; reception to follow.) The entire Penn community is invited to attend.

Visit https://www.hr.upenn.edu/models for more information about the Models of Excellence program, or contact Human Resources at models@hr.upenn.edu or (215) 898-1012 if you have questions.

—Division of Human Resources

Deaths

Sara Wolf, Wharton Placement

Sara R. Wolf, a long-time staff member in placement services at the Wharton School, died at Brookdale Nursing Home on August 28. She was 97 years old.

Ms. Wolf was born in Philadelphia and lived in Narbeth, Pennsylvania, before moving to Cape May, NJ, area in 2005. She had graduated from Pierce School of Business in Philadelphia.

She worked in Wharton’s placement office for 29 years; in 1958, she joined Penn as a placement assistant. She became a business administrator II in 1970 and became a coordinator I in 1978, a position she held until her retirement in 1987.

Ms. Wolf is survived by one son, Earl L. (Jackie) Wolf, Jr.; two grandchildren, Stephen Scott Wolf and Michael T. Wolf, Esq.; seven great-grandchildren, Amber, Jared, Nicole, Scotty, Courtney, Zachary and Shaelyn; and four great-great-grandchildren, Tristen, Chelsea, Sydney and Chloe.

Donations in her memory may be made to the American Heart Association, 1 Union Street, Suite 301, Robbinsville, NJ 08691.

Governance

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda

The following agenda is published in accordance with the Faculty Senate Rules. Any member of the standing faculty may attend SEC meetings and observe. Questions may be directed to Patrick Walsh, executive assistant to the Senate Office, either by telephone at (215) 898-6943 or by email at senate@pobox.upenn.edu

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda

Wednesday, September 21, 2016
3-5 p.m.
Glandt Forum, Singh Center for Nanotechnology

  1. Welcome and Introductions 
  2. Approval of the Minutes of May 11, 2016 
  3. Chair’s Report 
  4. Past-Chair’s Report on Academic Planning & Budget, Capital Council and Campaign for Community 
  5. Faculty Award of Merit Nominations 
  6. Update on Penn’s Work with the West Philadelphia Community 
            Discussion with Glenn Bryan, assistant vice president for community relations
  7. Update on Information Security at Penn 
            Discussion with Joshua Beeman, Penn information security officer
  8. Discussion and Vote on the draft Committee Charges for 2016-2017 Committees  
  9. Discussion and Recommendations for SEC’s Agenda for 2016-2017 
  10. New Business

Trustees: September 22

A meeting of the Executive Committee of the University of Pennsylvania Trustees will be held on Thursday, September 22. A meeting of the Budget & Finance Committee will be held that same day. Meetings will take place in the Conference Center, fourth floor, Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine (PCAM). 

9:35-11:05 a.m., Budget & Finance Committee

1:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m., Executive Committee

Supplements

Honors

New College House: Urban Project of the Year

The University of Pennsylvania’s New College House, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects and constructed by INTECH Construction, has received the 2016 Urban Project of the Year, awarded by the Architecture, Construction and Engineering Mentor Program of Eastern Pennsylvania. 

The New College House at 34th and Chestnut streets is Penn’s first residential building specifically designed as a college house. The project was honored both for its important mark on Philadelphia’s design and construction community and for the University’s ongoing and substantial involvement with the ACE Mentor Program.

Both Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services Division and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania have hosted ACE teams for the past two years. During the 2015-2016 school year, Facilities and Real Estate Services mentored 11 students from Mastery Charter School’s Shoemaker Campus in West Philadelphia in after-school activities on a biweekly basis. Using Penn’s New College House as the base project for exploration, members of Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate Services team, along with professionals from both the architectural and engineering team led by BCJ Architects and the construction team led by INTECH Construction, developed activities to teach skill-building in areas such as site construction, project management, architectural drawing, estimating and structural design.

This year’s Facilities and Real Estate Services ACE mentor team, including Mariette Buchman, Dave Dunn and Sue Long, all of the design and construction department, and Marilyn Jost of FRES administration also received a 2016 Models of Excellence Honorable Mention from Penn for their work on the project. Project Manager Rafael DeLuna, also of design and construction, was an additional contributor to the team, and will lead the 2016-2017 school year ACE mentor team.

Monica Harmon: Under 40 Award

The National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) has honored Monica Harmon, senior lecturer in Penn Nursing’s department of family & community health, with an “Under 40 Award.” This was the first year the award was given. Ms. Harmon was one of 19 NBNA members selected for the award, which was presented August 5 during the NBNA’s 45th anniversary celebration in Memphis.

The Under 40 Award honors and celebrates young NBNA members who have shown strong leadership and demonstrated excellence and innovation in their practice setting, in their NBNA chapters and in the communities they serve.

“These are some of NBNA’s rising stars, chosen by their chapter presidents,” stated Eric J. Williams, NBNA president. “They are the next cadre of NBNA leaders and we look forward to great things from them.”

The NBNA’s mission is to “represent and provide a forum for black nurses to advocate and implement strategies to ensure access to the highest quality of healthcare for persons of color.”

Gary Molander: Paul G. Gassman Distinguished Service Award

Gary MolanderGary A. Molander, the Hirschmann-Makineni Professor of Chemistry and chemistry department chair at University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the Paul G. Gassman Distinguished Service Award by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the American Chemical Society. The award was established in 1994 to recognize outstanding service to the organic chemistry community.

Dr. Molander has a long history of service to the organic community in elected and appointed positions, both at the local and national levels. He has served the Organic Division for over 15 years as member of the executive committee, including as executive officer of the 37th National Organic Symposium, secretary-treasurer and chair of the Division. One of the most important initiatives he established, in collaboration with Andrew Evans, is the Division’s Graduate Research Symposium, now in its sixth year. The symposium was recognized by the ACS with a ChemLuminary Award.

Locally, Dr. Molander served as chair of the Philadelphia Section of the ACS and the Philadelphia Organic Chemists Club. He has been on many editorial advisory boards and is currently serving as an associate editor of Organic Letters, co-editor-in-chief of Comprehensive Organic Synthesis II and is a member of the editorial advisory board of Science of Synthesis.

Features

Over a Century of Dorm Rooms at the University of Pennsylvania

Back in 1830, when Penn was located in Old City, tuition was $25 per term plus an extra $3 for room and board. While prices have increased since then, Penn now has the College House system, which began in 1998 with a variety of dormitory buildings, culminating in New College House, which recently opened. Here are several scenes spanning over a century.

PDF of the Center Spread Here

caption: Quadrangles study room in Lippincott House, ca. 1901, built 1894-1896, Cope & Stewardson, architects. Photograph courtesy of the University Archives.

 caption: Upper Quadrangle room, ca. 1890s; the University supplied a bedstead, mattress, bureau, washstand table, bookcase, chairs and toilet china.Photograph courtesy of the University Archives.

  caption: Penn men relaxing in the Quadrangle, ca. 1955. Photograph courtesy of the University Archives.

caption: Hill College House, built 1960, Eero Saarinen, and Assoc., architects. Photograph courtesy of the University Archive.

caption: Hill College House lounge, 1960; built for Penn's women students. Photograph courtesy of the University Archives.

caption: Sergeant Hall, 120 S. 34th St, 1950; demolished 1975; first dorm for women at Penn. Photograph courtesy of the University Archives.

caption: Sergeant Hall, built 1900, room, ca. 1912. Photograph courtesy of the University Archives.

caption: Rodin College House, ca. 2008, after major renovations. Photographs by Greg Benson.    

caption: Quadrangle, Fisher-Hassenfeld House, ca. 2004, after major renovations and reorganization. Photograph courtesy of the University Archives.   

caption: New College House lobby, just opened for fall 2016 semester; the building is bounded by 33rd Street, 34th Street, Chestnut Street and the 125 Years of Women at Penn Walkway.

caption: The Dining Hall is central to the New College House. It spills onto the courtyard and is nestled beneath the lifted lawn (see here). The dining venue allows for both large special events and more intimate dining with friends. It is Penn’s first dormitory designed specifically as a College House, by architects Bohlin Cywinski Jackson (Almanac August 30, 2016).

Events

NGSS to Host Town Hall Meeting on Pennant Records and Pennant Aid: December 14

Executive sponsors Michelle Brown-Nevers, Beth Winkelstein and Tom Murphy, along with project owners and project managers for the Next Generation Student Systems (NGSS) project, invite the entire Penn community to a town hall meeting on the planning and development of Pennant Records and Pennant Aid from 2-4 p.m. on Wednesday, December 14, in room G17 of Claudia Cohen Hall.

Senior leaders will review the importance of the new Pennant systems to the University and the reasons for embarking on the project. Project managers will present a concise overview of the multi-year effort, including an update on funding, scope, anticipated benefits and projected timeline for both Pennant Records and Pennant Aid. In addition, they will discuss how the new systems are expected to affect administrative and academic functions and communities.

They will also report on the status of preliminary work that has already begun and will highlight the contributions of the many advisory groups and individuals that are crucial to the successful implementation of these new systems.

The bulk of the meeting time will be devoted to questions from the audience. Whether you are just learning about Pennant or want to know how it will affect you, please bring your questions so everyone can benefit from a wide-ranging discussion!

For more information about NGSS and Pennant, consult the project web site at http://www.sfs.upenn.edu/ngss/

Stephen Schwarz, Project Manager for Pennant Records

—Amy McCole, Project Manager for Pennant Aid

28th Annual Academic Career Conference for PhD Students and Postdoctoral Fellows, Fall 2016

Speaker Programs

• Going on the Academic Job Market: Get Advice from Faculty Members in Humanities and Social Sciences 
Tuesday, September 20, 4:30-6 p.m., 
Benjamin Franklin Room, Houston Hall 218
Jay Lockenour, associate professor and chair, department of history, Temple University

• Going on the Academic Job Market: Get Advice from Faculty Members in Science, Math and Engineering
Wednesday, October 5, 4:30-6 p.m., 
Benjamin Franklin Room, Houston Hall 218

• Putting Together a Strong Job Talk: Science, Math and Engineering 
Tuesday, November 1, 5-6:30 p.m., 
Golkin Room, Houston Hall 223

• Putting Together a Strong Job Talk: Humanities and Social Sciences
Thursday, November 3, 5-6:30 p.m., 
Benjamin Franklin Room, Houston Hall 218

• For PhD Students in the first and second   year of their program: The Insider’s Guide to Graduate Education at Penn—A Program for Doctoral Students in the Early Stages of their Programs 
Thursday, October 20, 5-6:30 p.m., 
Irvine 124, Class of 1958 Cafe

Additional Sessions

sessions led by Career Services staff

• Write a Compelling CV and Cover Letter for Faculty Positions in Research or Teaching 
Tuesday, September 13, 4-5:30 p.m., 
Stiteler Hall B26

Talking About Your Teaching

sessions led by Penn’s Center for Teaching and Learning staff

• in Application Materials
Thursday, September 22, noon-1:30 p.m., 
Benjamin Franklin Room, Houston Hall 218

• in Interviews, 
Thursday, October 13, noon-1:30 p.m., 
Golkin Room, Houston Hall 223

• Preparing for Screening Interviews
Wednesday, October 26, 5-6:30 p.m., 
Stiteler Hall B26

• Finding the Right Postdoc for your Career Goals: Get Advice from Current Postdoctoral Fellows
Monday, November 7, 5-6:30 p.m., 
Benjamin Franklin Room, Houston Hall 218

• How to Talk About Your Research Effectively
Tuesday, November 8, noon-1:30 p.m., Stiteler Hall B26

 

Discussion with the authors

of the Academic Job Search Handbook, 5th edition. In book club format, discuss the new edition of the Handbook* with two of its three authors and gain insights into how it can be a resource throughout your job search. Pizza lunch will be provided. All sessions will take place noon-1 p.m., Graduate Student Center, second floor conference room:

The Academic Job Search Handbook.

Session 1 Understanding the Academic Job Search and Planning Yours 

Thursday, September 15

Session 2 Presenting Yourself on Paper: Written Materials for the Job Search 
Tuesday, October 11

Session 3 Presenting Yourself in Person: Interviews—Phone, Skype and In-Person; Offers, Negotiation and Rejections 
Tuesday, November 15

Session 4 Off to a Good Start or… Off to 
Another Career—Tuesday, January 17, 2017

*Penn doctoral students and current postdocs may purchase a copy of the Academic Job Search Handbook in Career Services for $10.  Paper and electronic copies are also available through Amazon.com

The Academic Career Conference (ACC) is co-sponsored by Career Services and the Vice Provost for Education.

Preregistration is requested for speaker/panel programs. Please check Career Services’ calendar for the latest updates to ACC program information: www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/gradstud/calendar.php

Open House: Study Space in Library for Graduate Students

Join Penn Libraries, GAPSA and the Graduate Student Center on Wednesday, September 28, from 4-5:30 p.m. in celebrating the opening of an exclusive graduate student study space on the 5th floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. The Penn Libraries raised the funds necessary to transform the previously open Class of 1937 Memorial Reading Room into a closed, card-accessible-only facility designed to meet the needs of graduate students, who rely heavily on the collections and spaces within the Penn Libraries to do their research. Those needs include a quiet atmosphere conducive to serious study, carrels for individual study, a variety of other seating and work surface options, and a lactation room. 

The Open House will feature brief remarks, highlights of Penn Libraries’ graduate student-specific services, and a reception. Be among the first to see this great new space at the Class of 1937 Memorial Reading Room, on the 5th floor, of Van Pelt Dietrich Library. Please register in advance at www.gsc.upenn.edu/register

Penn Libraries to Host Arbitrary Pleasures, an Exhibit of Penn Emeritus Professor Dan Rose’s Artist Books and a Musical World Premiere

Dan Rose, illustration of Bradford Lux (ca. 1985).

Dan Rose, illustration of Bradford Lux (ca. 1985). Used with permission of the artist.

Dan Rose’s books flip advertising, anthropology and gender identity on their heads.

The Penn Libraries is honored to announce this fall’s line-up of programming surrounding Arbitrary Pleasures: Plaisirs Arbitraires, an exhibition of some never-before-seen artist books from Penn emeritus professor, Dan Rose. Arbitrary Pleasures: Plaisirs Arbitraires will be on exhibit September 26-March 10 in the Kamin Gallery on the first floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center.

With Arbitrary Pleasures: Plaisirs Arbitraires, a 21-year retrospective of his work, Professor Rose takes inspiration from the controlled wildness of Raymond Roussel, Marcel Duchamp, Harry Mathews, Georges Perec and the OuLiPo movement. Drawing from the tradition of formal constraints, Professor Rose’s visual narratives of such topics as the underarm, anthropology, philosophy, sex, motherhood, large corporations, and gender identity take the viewer-reader on journeys into elegant absurdity.

Lynne Farrington, the curator at the Penn Libraries’ Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts responsible for bringing Professor Rose’s work to the Penn Libraries, finds the most powerful aspect of his work to be its ability to force its viewer to look beneath the surface and confront the larger questions regarding the human condition.  Ms. Farrington describes Professor Rose’s process as taking bits and pieces of ordinary life to create artworks, often humorous and ironic, that make visible what has become too often invisible by virtue of its ubiquity.

During his 24-year tenure in the landscape architecture department at the University of Pennsylvania, Professor Rose became a leading theoretical artist working back and forth across two-dimensional images and the way they are transformed into three dimensions by various techniques. While many of his 100 one-of-a-kind artist books and covers have been distributed by the Serpentine Gallery and the London ICA in the UK and by Printed Matter and other venues in the US, this is the first time that The Penn Libraries is showing a one-person exhibit of his work.

An opening reception will take place on September 29 from 5:30-8 p.m., including his account of artist book-making and a preview of the World Premiere of “Photon Ecstasy,” by l’Artiste ordinaire (NYC-based musicians Melissa Grey & David Morneau), a concert-length experimental musical piece for language, trombone and electronics—including video game beeps, NASA audio samples and Benjolin synthesizer in structured randomness. It is directly inspired by The DNA-Photon Project, one of Professor Rose’s artist books.

Later in the fall, on October 20, l’Artiste ordinaire will wrap up the programming by performing a full-length version of “Photon Ecstasy” and Professor Rose will give a public tour of Arbitrary Pleasures: Plaisirs Arbitraires.

For additional information on the exhibit and to register for the accompanying events, visit: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/arbitrary_pleasures.html

Update: September AT PENN

CONFERENCE

15 The Resilient City; Howard Kunreuther, Wharton; Wayne Pathman, Pathman Lewis LLC; Jamie Springer, HR&A Advisors, Inc.; Marion McFadden, Enterprise Community Solutions; moderator Michael Berman, Berman Consulting, LLC; 4-6 p.m.; Kleinman Center for Energy Policy Forum; register: http://penniur.upenn.edu/ (Penn IUR).

READING & SIGNING

20 Un Marziano a Roma: From Medicine to Politics and Back; Ignazio Marino, transplant surgeon and former Mayor of Rome in conversation with Gabriella Romani & Fabio Finotti, Italian Studies; 6 p.m.; rm. 111, Annenberg School (Italian Studies).

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AT PENN Deadlines:

The September AT PENN calendar is here. The deadline for the October AT PENN calendar is today, September 13.

Info. is on the sponsoring department’s website; sponsors are in parentheses. For locations, call (215) 898-5000 or see www.facilities.upenn.edu

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 August 29-September 4, 2016View 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 August 29-September 4, 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.

8/30/2016 1:48 PM 3400 Spruce St Theft Currency taken from wallet
8/30/2016 4:28 PM 3600 Chestnut St Theft Secured bike taken from bike rack
8/30/2016 5:15 PM 1 S 40th St Drunkenness Intoxicated male/Arrest
8/30/2016 7:51 PM 208 S 42nd St Theft Currency and various items taken
8/30/2016 9:46 PM 3925 Walnut St Theft Cell phone taken
8/31/2016 2:35 PM 51 N 39th St Assault Complainant struck by known female
8/31/2016 9:05 PM 3948 Market St Other Assault Complainant threatened by known male
8/31/2016 4:20 PM 3800 Market St Auto Theft Vehicle stolen
9/01/2016 12:47 PM 309-311 41st St Theft 2 bikes taken from front deck
9/01/2016 2:55 PM 3701 Chestnut St Theft Credit cards taken
9/01/2016 3:55 PM Guardian Drive Assault Complainant assaulted by unknown male
9/02/2016 1:36 AM 4000 Delancey St Robbery Cell phone, currency and watch taken/2 Arrests
9/02/2016 3:00 AM 4001 Walnut St Theft Merchandise taken without payment/Arrest
9/02/2016 3:28 PM 4232 Spruce St Theft Cell phone taken/2 Arrests
9/02/2016 5:13 PM 3900 Walnut St Drunkenness Intoxicated male cited
9/02/2016 9:15 PM 3801 Powelton Ave Auto Theft Vehicle taken by unknown male
9/03/2016 3:30 AM 4054 Irving St Theft Unsecured laptop taken
9/03/2016 7:54 AM 3900 Spruce St Other offense Male wanted on warrant/Arrest
9/03/2016 11:22 AM 4055 Spruce St Theft Unsecured gas grill taken from yard
9/03/2016 12:15 PM 3935 Walnut St Theft Unsecured purse taken
9/03/2016 8:19 PM 3100 Walnut St Theft Unsecured iPhone taken
9/04/2016 10:25 PM 2930 Chestnut St Assault Complainant assaulted by boyfriend

18th District Report

Below are the Crimes Against Persons from the 18th District: 6 incidents with 2 arrests (2 aggravated assaults, 2 robberies, 1 assault and 1 domestic assault) were reported between August 29-September 4, 2016 by the 18th District covering the Schuylkill River to 49th Street & Market Street to Woodland Avenue.

8/30/2016 6:09 PM 37 S 45th St Aggravated Assault
9/01/2016 4:19 PM 423 Guardian Drive Assault
9/02/2016 1:43 AM 4000 Delancey St Robbery/Arrest
9/02/2016 2:13 PM 30th and Market Sts Aggravated Assault
9/02/2016 9:55 PM 131 S 46th St Robbery/Arrest
9/04/2016 10:25 PM 2930 Chestnut St Domestic Assault

Bulletins

Campus Maps

Members of the Penn community are reminded that departments may order bulk quantities of the colorful Penn Campus Map. This helpful tool is available to meet specific event or operational needs.

The map is ideal for those individuals who are new to Penn’s campus and want to acquaint themselves with this area. It is useful for visitors and guests as well.  To place an order, visit http://www.purchasing.upenn.edu/shopper and login using your PennKey and password. Click on the Maximum Graphics (a Penn preferred supplier) link under Office Technologies/Suppliers, and then proceed with creating your order.

The print version of the Campus Map continues to be updated periodically.

Correction: Mind Your Brain Conference

Correction: The email address to send applications for the Mind Your Brain Conference is LizLewis@mail.med.upenn.edu An incorrect email address was originally run. Almanac regrets the error. 

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