2015
OMNIA: The Compass of the Mind
By Abigail MeiselBefore you set out for your next hike, make sure you bring sturdy boots, ample water, and an understanding of the cognitive underpinnings of your sense of direction.
Biologists Characterize New Form of mRNA Regulation
In a new report in the journal The Plant Cell, a team of biologists led by Assistant Professor Brian Gregory and graduate student Lee E. Vandivier used material from both humans and plants to examine chemical modifications to messenger RNA, or mRNA. They found that the modifications appear to play a significant role in the process by which mRNAs either survive and become translated into protein or are targeted for degradation.
Senior Adebisi Ogunrinde Wins International Rhodes Scholarship
Adebisi (Debi) Ogunrinde, a senior from Halifax, Nova Scotia, has won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. She is one of only 11 recipients from Canada. Ogunrinde will pursue a master’s in social anthropology and a master’s in public policy at the University of Oxford in England. Ogunrinde will graduate in May 2016 with a dual bachelor’s degree in international studies from Penn Arts and Sciences and in economics from the Wharton School.
Senior Jennifer Hebert Wins Rhodes Scholarship
Jennifer Hebert from Pittsburgh, Pa., has won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychiatry at the University of Oxford in England.
Chemists Find Biological Molecules That Can Switch "Handedness"
A new study led by Virgil Percec, the P. Roy Vagelos Professor of Chemistry, has led to the discovery of a class of molecules that can produce a double helix more consistent and more highly ordered than that of DNA, despite being made of a random mix of left- and right-"handed" building blocks. Before now scientists had thought such structures could only be made of entirely left- or right-handed molecules.
Penn Arts and Sciences Professors named Fellows of the American Physical Society
Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in the Natural Sciences Bhuvnesh Jain and Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics Mark Trodden, both in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, have been elected to Fellowship in the American Physical Society. Election to Fellowship is limited to one-half of one percent of the membership of the APS, and is recognition by their peers of their outstanding contributions to physics.
Sociologists Examine the Needs of South Philly’s Latino Immigrants
To study how immigrants incorporate into new communities, Penn researchers had to develop a unique survey strategy. “Immigrants are difficult to reach because they might be undocumented; they have often recently arrived,” says Professor of Sociology Emilio Parrado. “They work all the time. They’re highly mobile. And so they are generally underrepresented in standard surveys. We had to tailor our survey strategy and survey design to be able to reach them.”
Professor Joullié Receives John Scott Award for Inventions Benefitting Mankind
Madeleine Joullié, a professor of chemistry in Penn Arts and Sciences, will receive the 2015 John Scott Award at a ceremony on November 20, 2015, in Philadelphia. Dating from 1822, the John Scott Award is one of the oldest scientific honors in the U.S. It is given to “the most deserving” men and women whose inventions have contributed in an outstanding way to the “comfort, welfare, and happiness” of mankind.
Ancient Mass Extinction Led to Dominance of Tiny Fish
According to new research led by Lauren Sallan, an assistant professor of earth and environmental science, a mass extinction 359 million years ago known as the Hangenberg event triggered a drastic and lasting transformation of Earth’s vertebrate community. Beforehand, large creatures were the norm, but for at least 40 million years following the die-off the oceans were dominated by markedly smaller fish.
Schelter Wins Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry
Associate Professor of Chemistry Eric Schelter has been awarded the 2016 Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator by the American Chemical Society (ACS). The award was created to recognize creative and influential research in a forefront area of inorganic chemistry.
Chemistry Ph.D. Student Wins International Prize
John Tellis, a doctoral candidate in chemistry, was one of three winners of the 2015 Reaxys Ph.D. Prize, given at an annual symposium held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Sponsored by Elsevier, a provider of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, the Reaxys prize recognizes innovative and original research in chemistry, with an emphasis on synthesis.
Penn Musicians Battle for Top Spot in Fourth Annual Blutt Band Slam
Kyra Schulman, C'18, performs a cover of "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac.
Our Debt of Honor: A Q&A With Beth Linker on New Film That Traces the History of Disabled American Veterans
The United States celebrates Veteran’s Day each November, recognizing all those who have served in its armed forces. On November 10, 2015, PBS aired a new Ric Burns documentary, Debt of Honor: Disabled Veterans in American History, featuring Beth Linker, associate professor of history and sociology of science in Penn Arts and Sciences. Linker’s research focuses on the social and cultural history of U.S. medicine in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Penn Physicists Share in Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Collaboration, which includes physicists from Penn Arts and Sciences, is sharing the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
Professor Tulia Falleti and Doctoral Student Emmerich Davies of Political Science Discuss the Morales Revolution in Bolivia
A paper authored by Tulia Falleti, Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Political Science, and Emmerich Davies, doctoral candidate in political science, was cited in a Financial Times article on the Morales revolution in Bolivia. Read the article here.
New Gift from Robert and Penny Fox Aids Fels Expansion
A gift from Robert A. Fox, C’52, and Penny Grossman Fox, Ed’53, has helped launch a new era for the Fels Institute of Government, which is reorganizing and expanding in ways designed to increase Penn’s participation in and effect on public policy at the local, national, and international levels.
Larry Silver Named Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar
Larry A. Silver, James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor of History of Art, has been named a Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar for the 2015-2016 academic year. He is one of 13 distinguished scholars selected by the Phi Beta Kappa Society for this program.
Tukufu Zuberi Expands the Role of the Public Intellectual
Whether he’s in a college classroom, on the set of a TV or film production, or meeting with an African head of state, Tukufu Zuberi, Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations, professor of sociology, and professor of Africana studies, is always teaching.
Michael Horowitz Explores "Why Leaders Fight"
In his new book Why Leaders Fight, Michael Horowitz, an associate professor of political science, proposes a theory about how a leader’s decisions about war, peace, and risk propensity are influenced by individual background.
Penn Chemists Join International Collaboration to Re-Engineer Disaster Tents
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have received a five-year, $3.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to develop materials for multifunctional coatings on emergency tents, enabling them to manage water, prevent the spread of bacteria, and capture and store solar energy. The grant is part of the NSF’s Partnerships in International Research and Education (PIRE) program, which seeks to foster global collaborations on topics of societal importance.
Adrian Raine Investigates the Intersection of Neuroscience and Crime
In his October 20 Penn Lightbulb Café talk on “The Anatomy of Violence,” Adrian Raine, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with appointments in Penn Arts and Sciences’ Departments of Criminology and Psychology, discussed the neuroscience of crime and its implications for societal views of moral responsibility, free will, and punishment.
$1 Million Gift Provides Scholarships to Penn Students from Northeastern Pennsylvania
A $1 million endowment gift from Carol A. Kiryluk of Key Biscayne, Florida, will establish a new scholarship fund for students from northeastern Pennsylvania to attend the University of Pennsylvania.
Pebbles on Mars Likely Traveled Miles Down a Riverbed
While new evidence suggests that Mars may harbor a tiny amount of liquid water, it exists today as a largely cold and arid planet. Three billion years ago, however, the situation may have been much different.
A New Theory About Our Perceptions of the World
New research is filling in gaps between two prevailing theories about how the brain generates our perception of the world.
Plant Hormone ‘Switch’ Unravels Chromatin to Form Flowers
Because plants cannot just pick up and move, they have evolved a plethora of strategies to cope with environmental stresses, whether a harsh spell of drought or a browsing deer.
Professors Receive Grants to Study Biological Applications of New 2-D Materials
Graphene, a one-atom-thick lattice of carbon atoms, has been the focus of intense research since its discovery more than a decade ago. Effectively two-dimensional, graphene has unique physical properties and ultra-high conductivity and promises to revolutionize electronic devices as the ability to mass produce it grows.However, graphene is only one member of a large family of two-dimensional materials, each with its own unique and useful properties.
Penn Program in Environmental Humanities Partners with Artist on WetLand Sustainability Project
WetLand is both a houseboat and an art project. From October 5 to November 7, 2015, this lab for experimentation in sustainable living will float on the Schuylkill River, piloting cooperative projects among the University of Pennsylvania’s Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH); Bartram’s Garden; WetLand’s creator, artist Mary Mattingly; and other community collaborators.
Robert Ghrist Named National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow
The Department of Defense (DoD) has named Robert Ghrist, Andrea Mitchell University Professor in Mathematics and Electrical and Systems Engineering, a National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow (NSSEFF). He is one of only seven university faculty scientists and engineers to have been awarded this prestigious five-year fellowship this year.
Political Science’s Daniel Hopkins Honored With Two Awards
Daniel J. Hopkins, who joined Penn Arts and Sciences this fall as an associate professor of political science, received two awards during the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA), held September 3-6 in San Francisco.
Two Endowed Professors Named in Penn Arts and Sciences
Dean Steven Fluharty is pleased to name two faculty members to endowed chairs in the School of Arts and Sciences.
Penn Receives $3M NSF Grant for Research Partnership
The University of Puerto Rico and University of Pennsylvania have been awarded a $3 million National Science Foundation grant to support their Partnership for Research and Education in Materials. The PREM award extends the decade-spanning relationship between UPR and Penn’s Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter, in which faculty, staff and students share resources and collaborate on interdisciplinary research related to materials science.
Penn Arts and Sciences Faculty Receive Inaugural China Research and Engagement Fund Awards
University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price today announced the first recipients of the Penn China Research and Engagement Fund (CREF) awards. Established in March, CREF will award up to $10 million in the form of matching research grants to Penn faculty to stimulate and support research activity and engagement in China over the next five years.
Research Helps Develop Predictive Model of How Humans Estimate Speed
Psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas at Austin have analyzed the steps involved in estimating how fast an object is moving—from light bouncing off the object, passing through the eye’s lens, hitting the retina, and transmitting information to the brain through the optic nerve—in order to build an optimal model.
Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Announces New Cohort of International Fellows
An international cohort of more than 20 scholars convened on Sept. 9, 2015 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies for a year of research on the theme of “Jews Beyond Reason: Exploring Emotion, the Unconscious, and Other Dimensions of Jews’ Inner Lives.”
Effects of Incarceration on the Health Care System
A new study, led by Professor of Sociology Jason Schnittker and published in the September issue of The Milbank Quarterly, finds that states with the highest incarceration rates experience significant declines in overall access to and quality of care. Schnittker, along with colleagues from the University of Minnesota and the University of Georgia, address the ties between the prison system and other social systems, and brings to light the broader social costs of incarceration.
Marie Gottschalk Featured in Q&A on Mass Incarceration
Professor of Political Science Marie Gottschalk was recently featured in Penn Gazette in an article focused on her research on mass incarceration. Below is an excerpt:
Charles Bernstein Awarded Janus Pannonius Prize for Poetry
Donald T. Regan Professor of English Charles Bernstein has been awarded the 2015 Janus Pannonius Grand Prize for Poetry.
Justin Khoury Chases Astrophysicist’s Dark Energy ‘Chameleons’
A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley, is investigating whether dark energy is in fact hiding in the form of hypothetical particles. The results of an experiment published in Science narrow the search a thousand times compared to previous tests. Representing Penn is Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy Justin Khoury.
Penn Researchers Awarded More Than $1 Million in Kaufman Foundation Awards
University of Pennsylvania researchers will receive five of the 10 grants being awarded this year by the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation, part of The Pittsburgh Foundation, which supports cutting-edge scientific research in chemistry, biology and physics at institutions across Pennsylvania.
Professor Sanday Wins Gender Equity Award from American Anthropological Association
Professor Emerita of Anthropology Peggy Reeves Sanday has received the annual award for work on gender equity from the Committee on Gender Equity in Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association. Sanday will be presented with the award at the Association’s annual meeting in Denver this November.
Penn Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Faculty for 2015-2016
Penn Arts and Sciences has appointed 24 new members to its standing faculty for the 2015-2016 academic year. The School is pleased to welcome:
Penn Biologist Studies Mysterious lncRNA Molecules with NSF Award
DNA is widely thought of as the building block of life. But what about RNA, its lesser-known counterpart?In a research project expected to take four years, Assistant Professor of Biology Brian Gregory will investigate the true nature of a class of mysterious RNA molecules known as lncRNA. "We hope to gain a greater understanding of this potentially important class of molecules, their biology, and their function in the cell nucleus," he says.
Research Team Uses Nanopores to Observe Protein Structures
A research team headed by Physics and Astronomy Professor Marija Drndić is using a new method of nanopore gene sequencing to observe protein structures.
NIH Prize Links Liberal Arts and Brain Trauma
One doesn’t usually connect liberal arts graduate students with neuroscience research, but now Penn has.Two Master of Liberal Arts students from Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies were winners in the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Neuro Startup Challenge. The NIH developed the challenge to attract students to create launch campaigns for its unlicensed technologies, all of which treat brain-related illnesses.
Lightning Reshapes Rocks at the Atomic Level, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science Finds
In a new paper published in the journal American Mineralogist, Reto Gieré, professor and chair of the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, and his coauthors found that a lightning strike produces enough pressure in a rock to create distinct atomic-level structures called shock lamellae. Prior to this study, the only natural events known to create this type of lamellae were meteorite impacts.
Ants Are a Model of Complex Societies, Says Biology's Timothy Linksvayer
Ant societies have distinct castes, fine-tuned strategies to avoid disease outbreaks, and dedicated workers that procure food and rear young—features that have arisen over 100 million years of evolution, says Assistant Professor of Biology Timothy Linksvayer. With a new Faculty Early Career Award from the National Science Foundation, Linksvayer is expanding his research into how genetics and behavior allow complex societies, like those of the pharaoh ants in his lab, to survive and thrive.
Penn Arts and Sciences Ushers in New Era for Fels Institute of Government
Members of the Penn community gathered on Saturday, July 25, to mark the official dedication of the Fox Family Pavilion at the newly renamed Fox-Fels Hall and to celebrate a number of appointments and initiatives that will strengthen the Fels Institute of Government and the School’s commitment to public policy research.
Penn Researchers Receive $10 Million NIH Grant to Study Physics of Cancer
A $10 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is supporting the establishment of the Physical Sciences Oncology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, or PSOC@Penn. The center will support researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Engineering, and Penn Arts and Sciences. The team will focus on liver cancer while studying how tumors become distinct physical masses and how such changes contribute to the growth of tumors.
Penn Researchers Find Fixing Up Abandoned Buildings Reduces Crime
In a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, Penn researchers reported that remediating abandoned buildings can significantly reduce crime and violence. The reduction, including a 39 percent decrease in gun assaults, occurred in the year after Philadelphia began enforcing an ordinance requiring owners of abandoned buildings to install working doors and windows.