Penn President J. Larry Jameson announced Penn Forward’s nine priority initiatives, aimed at building trust with those Penn serves, enabling bold discovery, and extending Penn’s geographic reach and impact across a lifetime. “Penn Forward empowers us to proactively shape our future and restore trust in the value we bring to society,” said Jameson.
Penn President J. Larry Jameson announced the recipients of the 2026 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prizes, awarded to empower Penn undergraduates to design and undertake post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world. The latest projects selected will: develop an in-shelter, after-school program for families experiencing homelessness; deliver free eye screenings within Philadelphia homeless shelters; create a robotic system to more safely cut tree branches; and enhance computer chips to be more efficient and environmentally friendly.
Hundreds of third-year students with red T-shirts, bamboo canes, and mock skimmer hats assembled on April 30 to celebrate Hey Day, a 110-year Penn tradition in which third-years ascend to senior status. The annual occasion featured a mid-morning picnic at High Rise Field, a vibrant procession along Locust Walk to College Green, and the yearly three-question “exam” from Penn President J. Larry Jameson.
Penn launched the NSF Artificial Intelligence-driven RNA BioFoundry (NSF AIRFoundry), a $18 million collaborative hub that applies AI to improve, accelerate, and scale the design, production, and delivery of RNA. The NSF AIRFoundry is a collaboration between Penn Engineering, Penn Medicine’s Institute for RNA Innovation, the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, Drexel University, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and startup InfiniFluidics.
Jean Bennett and Albert Maguire, emeritus professors of ophthalmology in the Perelman School of Medicine, along with Katherine High, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. They received the prize for their work developing the first FDA-approved gene therapy for an inherited condition. Matthew Madhavacheril, meanwhile, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy in the School of Arts & Sciences, was honored with the New Horizons in Physics award, given to early-career researchers. (Image: Peggy Peterson)
Medical student Bayan Galal, born in Prospect, Connecticut, and one of five children of Egyptian immigrants, received a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. The fellowship is a merit-based program that provides graduate school funding for immigrants and children of immigrants to the U.S. Galal was one of 30 chosen among more than 3,000 applicants; she will receive up to $90,000 for graduate studies.
Five faculty have been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an honorary society and independent research center founded in 1780. “We celebrate the achievement of each new member and the collective breadth and depth of their excellence—this is a fitting commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary,” says Academy President Laurie Patton, who notes the “inextricable links between a vibrant democracy, the free pursuit of knowledge, and the expansion of the public good.”
Nine Penn affiliates—six fourth-years and three recent graduates—received a 2026 Thouron Award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. The program was established in 1960 and supports graduate exchange between Penn and UK universities.
Third-year Zach McGrath, of Bethesda, Maryland, received a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, a merit-based award of up to $30,000 for graduate or professional school to prepare for careers in public service. McGrath, a political science major with a focus on education policy, is the 33rd Truman Scholar from Penn since the first award in 1977.
“Betty,” Penn’s first University-wide high-performance computer and AI cluster, launched in May 2025 and ranks among the top supercomputers in the world. Less than a year since launch, Betty supports approximately 400 users across 70 research groups, reshaping research at Penn and expanding access to powerful computing resources that enable work previously out of reach. (Image: Ken Chaney)
Research from the School of Dental Medicine, led by biochemist Henry Daniell’s research team, demonstrated that a bioengineered chewing gum can treat head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a common cancer that develops in the lining of the mouth and throat. “Our findings support the value of advancing these therapies to clinical trials as adjuvants with current treatments or as prophylaxis to prevent infection and transmission,” says Daniell. (Image: Kevin Monko/Penn Dental Medicine)
Linguist Marlyse Baptista, neuroscientist Nacho Sanguinetti, and humanities scholar Fritz Breithaupt, a trio of new faculty in the School of Arts & Sciences, have very different areas of research: cognitive processes in creole language emergence, animal intelligence and behavior, and narratives and empathy, respectively. But they unite under the theme of "interconnected minds," joining their knowledge to focus on how individual minds influence group behavior and vice versa. Their work supports MindCORE, Penn’s hub for the integrative study of the mind.
Penn physicists led by Bo Zhen in the School of Arts & Sciences are looking to light's fundamental particle, photons, to upgrade computer chips. “Because they are charge-neutral and have zero rest mass, photons can carry information quickly over long distances with minimal loss, dominating communications technology,” explains Li He, co-first author of a paper published in Physical Review Letters. By mixing light with matter to do calculations directly, this advance could make AI incredibly fast and energy-efficient. (Image: Courtesy of Zhi Wang)
The 130th annual Penn Relays featured track and field athletes of all levels competing at Franklin Field from April 23-25. Penn athletes marked numerous milestones during the world-famous meet, including victories in the men’s high jump, women’s shot put, and men’s pole vault.
Fourth-year women’s squash player Jana Dweek discussed the Quakers’ national championship-winning season. The women’s squash team won the 2026 national championship by defeating Princeton 5-4 in the College Squash Association National Team Championships, Penn’s first national title in 26 years. Dweek clinched the Howe Cup for the Quakers by beating Princeton’s Sonya Sasson 3-0.
In a Washington Post feature about engaging the brain more for daily tasks, Emily Falk of the Annenberg School cautioned against quick rewards. “Easy things often feel good, and platforms have spent a lot of money figuring out how to keep us there,” she says.
In USA Today, which reported on Google’s ubiquitousness in daily life, PIK Professor Herbert Hovenkamp of Penn Carey Law commented on Google’s massive database of files and the self-reinforcing reputation of the brand.