The Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST) reached a milestone in its construction as a final steel beam was placed atop the building. Members of the Penn community gathered to celebrate the occasion, including Penn President Liz Magill, School of Arts & Sciences Dean Steve Fluharty, School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Vijay Kumar, Vagelos Professor of Energy Research Karen I. Goldberg, and alumnus P. Roy Vagelos. In her remarks, Magill heralded the day as one that signals “Penn’s rise as a global leader in energy science.”
The U.S. Department of State named Penn as among “Top Producing Institutions” of Fulbright U.S. Students for the 2022-23 year. Twenty-seven Penn students and alumni were offered Fulbright grants last year. “Penn’s Fulbright U.S. Student Program recipients for 2022-2023 who are pursuing graduate study, conducting research, or teaching English through the Fulbright program serve as wonderful ambassadors of both the United States and Penn,” says Jane Morris, executive director for the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships. “I am thrilled for them to have this experience and for Penn to be represented so well in the world.”
Penn hosted the 1vyG Summit, focused on improving the first-generation, low-income experience, for the second time. The theme this year explored intersectionality that surrounds the FGLI experience and how different institutions define FGLI. “The 1vyG Summit provides a wonderful opportunity to supercharge support for FGLI students across the nation,” says President Liz Magill.
Karu Kozuma, who is currently executive director of College Houses and Academic Services, will serve as Vice Provost for University Life, starting in May. “Karu Kozuma is a highly experienced national leader in university life,” said Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein. “He is well known across our Penn community for his empathy, wisdom, and collaborative skill.”
Former Penn President and current U.S. Ambassador to Germany Amy Gutmann celebrated the naming of Gutmann College House. The gathering brought together Gutmann with Penn President Liz Magill and dozens of administrators, faculty, staff, and students. Gutmann expressed gratitude and that she hopes the college house can provide a “sense of belonging, a place to come in from the cold, a home away from home.”
For the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, displaced and visiting scholars and students from Ukraine shared their experience at Penn. Scholars include Olena Lysenko, a documentary filmmaker hosted at the Center for Media at Risk at the Annenberg School for Communication, and Serhii Shadrin, an information technology worker from central Ukraine hosted by the Russian and East European Studies to study for a year for his thesis, among others.
Penn Today profiled the women’s basketball team’s fourth-year captain, Kayla Padilla. Twice in two seasons, she was named First-Team All-Ivy and was the 2020 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. “She plays hard, she competes, she leads by example,” says Mike McLaughlin, head coach of the women’s basketball team. “She practices hard. She’s probably one of the most well-liked players we have in the program. She’s looked upon as a leader. Sometimes her teammates are amazed at her accomplishments and how humble she is. I think she’s the full package.”
In a conversation with Mary Frances Berry, the Geraldine R. Segal Professor of American Social Thought and a professor of history emerita, shared the origins of affirmative action and its modern meaning. “The most important thing to understand is that it was seen by civil rights activists and our country’s leaders during the [civil rights] movement as a remedy for discrimination that would create more opportunity for Blacks,” says Berry. (Image: Jim Abbott)
Edgar Dobriban of the Wharton School, Robyn E. Sanderson of the School of Arts & Sciences, and Ben Scholl of the Perelman School of Medicine were named recipients of the 2023 Sloan Research Fellowship. The awards recognize early-career scientists in North America. They are among 126 Fellows.
The African American MBA Association at the Wharton School celebrated its 50th anniversary. Penn Today spoke with four students that exemplify the organization’s legacy. The organization grew out of a surge in Black admissions to the MBA program in the early 1970s.
Biogeochemist Jon Hawkings of the School of Arts & Sciences and his lab, the BiCycles Lab, collect glacial melt—from Norway to Antarctica—to understand geological, biological, and chemical processes that impact fish health, climate change, and more. In the process, they’ve contributed to understanding complex, connected ecosystems previously unknown. “So much of this research in elemental mobilization and global systems just wasn’t done even a decade ago,” Hawkings says. “It’s a quite exciting area to be working in.”
Brett Robert, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History, researched for his dissertation a devastating Caribbean hurricane that wreaked havoc in 1928 and crossed multiple regions. It was an opportunity, he says, to conduct a study of history that is not bound by national borders and also recognizes disproportionate effects on different racial groups. “A hurricane is perfect for that, and the boundary of my project became the places where this hurricane had the most severe impact,” Robert says.
Supported by Penn Global and the Center for the Advanced Study of India, Professor of Political Science Tariq Thachil’s “Understanding India’s Urban Future” project takes a deep dive into the political workings of India’s rapidly urbanizing landscape, as power is decentralized to local governments. “By adding to our understanding of urbanization and public administration, Thachil’s work strengthens Penn’s ability to contribute to key challenges facing India and the world,” says Scott Moore of Penn Global.
New York City’s Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) world-premiered a new two-act play commissioned by Penn Live Arts and supported by The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation. It’s part of a year-long residency NEC has at Penn. “This is an exciting marriage between two legacy organizations,” says Chris Gruits, executive and artistic director of Penn Live Arts. “We crafted the residency around supporting new work, which is exactly what NEC does. For more than 50 years they have focused on bringing to life new work that explores often ignored aspects of the Black experience, and supports playwrights and actors of color.”
