Ahead of her first day as Penn's president, on July 1, Liz Magill spoke in a Q&A with Penn Today about her scholarly and personal background, her first few weeks as president, and moving to Philadelphia. "I look forward to ramping up my efforts to get to know the Penn community—our students, faculty, and staff in Philly, and also our trustees and advisers, alumni, friends, and parents who are all over the world," says Magill. "And I want to get to know our neighbors and partners in West Philly and in the city. I want to learn who they are and their boldest aspirations for the future of Penn."
In a Q&A with Penn Today, Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli discussed a $365 million research and manufacturing project that will expand the Pennovation Works campus with a 455,000-square-foot life sciences facility. In part, the additional research space will support spinoff activities of campus faculty, postdocs, and Ph.D. students. “Those who are interested in continuing their work in this type of space can see that they can pursue their career here, in a thriving ecosystem in Philadelphia, and not feel like they have to relocate,” says Carnaroli. “It’s a way of building density and stickiness to the innovation work that’s coming out of Penn.”
In a video, Penn Today captured the highlights of an extraordinary 2021-22 academic year. The year marked a period of resumption, but also new beginnings, with the opening of New College House, continued adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the confirmation of Penn’s 9th president, M. Elizabeth “Liz” Magill.
Desmond Patton, a pioneer in the interdisciplinary fusion of social work, communications, and data science, was appointed the Brian and Randi Schwartz University Professor. He will have joint appointments in the School of Social Policy & Practice and the Annenberg School for Communication, with a secondary appointment in the department of Psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine. “Dr. Patton’s research on the relationships among youth, gang violence, and social media and the expression of grief, identity, and well-being through online communication places him at the forefront of his field,” said Penn Interim President Wendell Pritchett.
The University announced a $7.5 million gift from Lori Kanter Tritsch and William P. Lauder to support Design to Thrive, a new permanent youth development initiative centered on design education and career exploration. The program will be administered by PennPraxis, the practice arm of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design. “We are incredibly grateful to Lori Kanter Tritsch and William Lauder for their generous support of Design to Thrive,” said Interim President Wendell Pritchett. “Their commitment will extend Penn’s ability to respond to challenges in our built and natural environments—and the communities that inhabit them.”
The University received a $7.5 million anonymous commitment to increase scholarships for graduate students committed to social innovation and justice, including those from historically underrepresented backgrounds. The commitment, with $5 million in matching funds from the University, will support 12 full-tuition scholarships annually.
A new grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) will support additional courses, grow the Fellows cohort, and provide more campus-wide programming for the SNF Paideia Program at Penn. “The SNF Paideia Program has been a tremendous resource for students to obtain the knowledge and skills to foster lives of citizenship, service, and wellness,” says Interim President Wendel Pritchett. “We are extraordinarily grateful to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for their continued commitment to this critical program. With increased course offerings and expanded outreach to students, the SNF Paideia Program is poised to increase its impact exponentially.”
Sarah Beth Gleeson, Shoshana Weintraub, and Julia Yan, winners of the President’s Sustainability Prize, will reduce microplastic pollution on marine ecosystems by filtering out microfibers that detach from synthetic clothing during laundry wash cycles. “I am incredibly proud of Sarah Beth, Shoshana, and Julia for their creativity, their attention to detail, and their determination to continue pursuing something so impactful upon graduation,” says Interim President Wendell Pritchett.
Claire Conklin Sabel, a doctoral candidate in the History and Sociology of Science department in the School of Arts & Sciences, uncovered the findings of 18th-century amateur naturalist Elizabeth Thomas, a genteel, middle-aged rector’s wife in the south of England. With the help of illustrator Alix Pentecost-Farren, and through funding from The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation, they were able to create a series of animated GIFs and still illustrations of Thomas’ fossil finds.
Philadelphia will be the new home of the History of Science Society, the world’s largest and oldest society dedicated to understanding science, technology, medicine, and their interactions with society in historical context. In partnership with Penn’s Department of History and Sociology of Science and the Science History Institute, the hub will call Philadelphia home for at least the next five years. “For Penn students—graduate and perhaps even undergraduate—in history and sociology of science, this is an incredible opportunity to learn what it means to work for an academic society and to get skills, experience, and credentials,” says M. Susan Lindee, the Janice and Julian Bers Professor of History and Sociology of Science and chair of the department.
Marc Minichello of the men’s track & field team won the national championship in the javelin throw at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. He is the ninth individual national champion in the program’s history.
In a conversation with Penn Today, Cait Lamberton, the Alberto I. Duran President’s Distinguished Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, discussed how brands can offer more meaningful support of the LGBTQ+ community instead of—or in addition to—putting rainbows on packaging or in avatars. “It’s hard to give a company credit for following instead of leading,” Lamberton says. “Many are following. That doesn’t mean they aren’t sincere, but in itself, this is a very weak signal of commitment.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about a study by the School of Nursing’s Diane Spatz, published in Breastfeeding Medicine in May. The study found that the donation of breast milk to milk banks is a key tool for grieving mothers in coping with the loss of an infant.
Wyatt Henseler, a sophomore third baseman, was selected by the American Baseball Coaches Association for its NCAA Division I All-East Region First Team. He was also named a NCAA Division I Third-Team All-American. He is the only Ivy League player to receive the accolades.
Penn Carey Law’s Jasmine Harris, a law and inequality legal scholar with expertise in disability law, anti-discrimination law, and evidence, offered five things to know about Title IX’s intersection with disability on the anniversary of the landmark bill. “We should celebrate the fact that Title IX has resulted in much greater equity and inclusion, but where we are 50 years later is trying to understand what meaningful access looks like for women, for individuals with disabilities, for individuals identifying as trans,” Harris says. “It's not a simple binary of women and men in the sexual constructs that we thought of 50 years ago.”
A review of literature from the past decade by School of Nursing doctoral student Helena Addison found that Black men who’ve been incarcerated are more likely to face higher levels of psychological distress, more severe symptoms of PTSD, and depression. “Incarceration is underappreciated as a social determinant of health,” says Sara Jacoby, an assistant professor of Nursing who collaborated on the project. “It’s something that we talk about, but it’s not something that’s always articulated so specifically. This work does so in a way that has been lacking for nursing and a broader health care audience.”
A paper published in Current Biology by researchers from the Department of Physics and Astronomy shows that the risk of autoimmunity plays a key role in shaping how CRISPR stores vital information, guiding how many spacers bacteria keep in their genes, and how long those spacers are. “The adaptive immune system in vertebrates can produce autoimmune disorders. They’re very serious and dangerous, but people hadn’t really considered that carefully for bacteria,” says Vijay Balasubramanian, principal investigator for the paper and the Cathy and Marc Lasry Professor of Physics in the School of Arts & Sciences. The research lays the groundwork for further study of understanding immunity.
Mia Bay, the Roy F. and Jeanette P. Nichols Professor of American History in the School of Arts & Sciences, was quoted in a CNN Business story about the surprising history of gas station bathrooms as clean, safe spaces for women who, by 1928, purchased half of gas stations’ fuel. Bay noted that the appeal, however, was specifically to white women. “It’s an appeal to a domestic world of white women,” says Bay, who is also the author of “Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance.” Advertising, she says, was meant to convey “safe spaces for white women.”
