2012
Heather Love Appointed the R. Jean Brownlee Term Professor in the School of Arts and Sciences
Heather Love has been appointed to the R. Jean Brownlee Term Chair in the
School of Arts and Sciences. She had previously served as the M. Mark and Esther
K. Watkins Assistant Professor in the Humanities.
Ponzy Lu Named the Roy and Diana Vagelos Director of the Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences
Ponzy Lu has been appointed the Roy and Diana Vagelos Director of the
Vagelos Scholars Program in the Molecular Life Sciences in the School
of Arts and Sciences. This directorship was established with a gift from
the Marianthi Foundation. The program, which offers an enhanced
biochemistry curriculum combined with summer research participation at
Penn, was established in 1997.
Mark Liberman Named the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Mark Liberman has been appointed the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished
Professor of Linguistics in the School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Liberman is the
director of the Linguistic Data Consortium (LDC), an open consortium of
universities, companies and government research laboratories that is housed at
Penn and supports language-related education, research and technology
development by creating and sharing linguistic resources.
The 2012 Dean's Scholars
The School of Arts and Sciences named 20 students from the College of Arts
& Sciences, the College of Liberal and Professional Studies, and the
Graduate Division as 2012 Dean’s Scholars. This honor is presented annually to
SAS students who exhibit exceptional academic performance and intellectual
promise.
SAS to Adopt Google for Student Email
In response to student feedback, the School of Arts and Sciences is preparing
to launch Google Apps for Education as its new student email solution. The new
service, branded Google@SAS, will provide a student email option based on the
popular Gmail platform. The service will also include Google Docs, Google
Calendar, and other tools for productivity and collaboration.
Cristina Bicchieri Appointed Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics
Cristina Bicchieri has been appointed the Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie
Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics in the School of Arts and
Sciences.
Dr. Bicchieri is a member of the Department of Philosophy and previously held
the title of the Carol and Michael Lowenstein Professor of Philosophy and Legal
Studies. She has been the director of the Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Program since 2004.
Daniel H. Janzen Wins 2011 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
Daniel H. Janzen, DiMaura Professor of Conservation Biology, has been awarded
the 2011 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and
Conservation Biology category for his contributions to the study of tropical
ecology and the conservation of tropical ecosystems.
Timothy Corrigan Wins the 2012 SCMS Kovács Book Award
Professor
of English and Cinema Studies Timothy Corrigan
won the Society for Cinema and Media Studies 2012 Kovács
Book Award.
Paul Hendrickson Nominated by National Book Critics Circle
Paul Hendrickson, senior lecturer in the Department of English, has been
nominated for a National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) book award for the 2011
publishing year. His work, Hemingway’s Boat: Everything He Loved in Life,
and Lost, 1934-1961, was announced this past weekend as a finalist in the
biography category and follows Hemingway’s life through his one constant—his
boat, Pilar.
Eugene Narmour Honored With Society of Music Perception and Cognition Achievement Award
Professor of Music Eugene Narmour was honored with the Society of Music
Perception and Cognition Achievement (SMPC) Award this past summer. The award
acknowledges outstanding contributions to the field of music perception and
cognition and is accompanied by lifetime membership in the SMPC.
Narmour, a founding member of SMPC, has developed theories of music
cognition, perception of stylistic form and content, and the structural
similarities between painting and music.
Penn Launches Center for the Study of Contemporary China
PHILADELPHIA -- University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann, Provost Vincent Price and Dean of the
School of Arts and Sciences Rebecca Bushnell are pleased
to announce the launch of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China.
Housed in the School of Arts and
Sciences and serving the entire Universit
Jewish Book Council Honors Talya Fishman with the Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award
Talya Fishman, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, has been awarded the Nahum M. Sarna Memorial Award by the Jewish Book Council for her work Becoming the People of the Talmud: Oral Torah as Written Tradition in Medieval Jewish Cultures.The book, which Fishman spent 11 years researching and writing, examines the circumstances that have shaped the cultural meaning of Jewish traditions.
College Dean, Professor and Former Students Win Chauvenet Prize
College Dean Dennis DeTurck, mathematics professor Herman Gluck, and alumni Daniel Pomerleano, C’06, and Shea Vela-Vick, GR’09, have been selected by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) as the winners of the 2012 Chauvenet Prize for their article, “The Four Vertex Theorem and Its Converse.” The prize is given to the author or authors of an outstanding expository article on a mathematical topic. In addition to being dean of the College, DeTurck also serves as the Robert A.
Eight College Students Named All-Ivy Honors for Fall 2011
Eight students from the College of Arts and Sciences were named among the
Ivy League’s list of athletes selected for academic All-Ivy performers for the
fall of 2011. The chosen students were starters or key reserves on a recognized
varsity team and maintained a minimum 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
Todd Busler, C’12, is an urban studies major, a two-time team captain for
the sprint football team and was named to the Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area team as a junior.
2011
Joseph Subotnik Awarded Outstanding Junior Faculty Award
The Computers in Chemistry (COMP) program division of the American Chemical Society has named Joseph Subotnik as an HP Outstanding Junior Faculty member for spring 2012.
Michael Horowitz Honored with Best Book Award by ISSS
The International Security Studies Section (ISSS) of the International Studies Association (ISA) has selected Michael C. Horowitz, Associate Professor of Political Science, as the recipient of the section’s Best Book Award for 2010 for his book The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes and Consequences for International Politics.
SAS Alumni and Faculty Elected as National Academy of Public Administration Fellows
John J. Dilulio Jr., the Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society and Professor of Political Science, and Fels Institute of Government graduates Matthew D. Gallagher and Scott B. Quehl have been elected as fellows to the National Academy of Public Administration.
Stephanie McCurry Named Frederick Douglass Book Prize Winner
Professor of History Stephanie McCurry has been selected as the winner of the 2011 Frederick Douglass Book Prize for her book, Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South. The Douglass prize is awarded annually by Yale University’s Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition and is accompanied by a $25,000 prize to be presented to the recipient in February.
Rebecca Bushnell’s Term as Dean of Arts and Sciences at University of Pennsylvania Is Extended
PHILADELPHIA –- University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price
announced today that Rebecca Bushnell has agreed
to extend her term as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn
Claudia R. Valeggia Honored with Presidential Early Career Award
Claudia R. Valeggia, Associate Professor of Anthropology, has received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award, awarded by a panel involving officials from 16 different federal departments, is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.Valeggia studies the interplay between human reproductive biology and culture.
Gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos to Create New Undergraduate Program in Energy Research
University of Pennsylvania trustee emeritus P.
Penn Receives $1.5 Milion Grant to Predict Sea-Level Rise and Flooding from Hurricanes
PHILADELPHIA — In an effort to better understand sea-level rise and flooding from hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded a three-year, $1.5 million grant to a research team led by the University of Pennsylvania’s Benjamin Horton.
SAS Welcomes New Faculty Members
This year’s new appointments are:
Julia Gray, Assistant Professor of Political Science. Gray focuses on international relations and international political economy, with special interests in developing countries’ access to credit and the role of international institutions in international economic relations. She comes to Penn from the University of Pittsburgh and received her Ph.D.
Donald and Judith Voet selected as recipients of the 2012 ASMBM Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education
Associate Professor Emeritus of Chemistry Donald Voet, and his wife, Judith, the James Hammons Professor Emerita in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Swarthmore College, have been selected as recipients of the 2012 ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.
Larry Sneddon honored by local ACS Section
Larry Sneddon has been selected to receive the 2011 American Chemical Society Philadelphia Section Award. First given in 1962, this Award recognizes an individual "who, by conspicuous scientific achievement through research, has made important contributions to man's knowledge and thereby aided the public appreciation of the profession." Larry will receive the award in the Department on Thursday, October 20.
Annette Y. Reed: M. Mark and Esther K. Watkins Assistant Professorship in the Humanities
Annette Y. Reed has been named the M. Mark and Esther K. Watkins Assistant Professor in the Humanities in the School of Arts and Sciences. She is a member of the department of religious studies, as well as the Jewish Studies Program and Graduate Group in Ancient History. Dr. Reed’s research spans Second Temple Judaism, early Christianity, and Jewish/Christian relations in Late Antiquity.
Andrea J. Liu Named Hepburn Professor of Physics
Andrea J. Liu, a professor in the department of physics and astronomy, has been named the Hepburn Professor of Physics in the School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Liu’s ongoing research concerns theoretical problems in soft matter physics, including jamming in glass-forming liquids, foams and granular materials, and biophysical self-assembly and motility in actin structures and other systems.The recipient of a CAREER Faculty Award from the National Science Foundation, Dr.
Adriana Petryna: Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professorship in Anthropology
Adriana Petryna has been named the
Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor in Anthropology in the
School of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Petryna is a medical anthropologist,
specializing in the social and political dimensions of science and
medicine in the United States and Eastern Europe.
Dr.
Penn Physicists Honored With 2010 Europhysics Prize
PHILADELPHIA -- Charles Kane and Eugene Mele of the
University of Pennsylvania are among five scientists awarded the 2010
Europhysics Prize of the European Physical Society Condensed Matter Division for
the theoretical prediction and experimental observation of the quantum spin Hall
effect and topological insulators.
Penn Professor Richard Beeman’s “Plain Honest Men” Wins 2010 George Washington Book Prize
PHILADELPHIA -- University of Pennsylvania History Professor Richard Beeman has
been awarded the 2010 George Washington Book Prize for “Plain, Honest Men: The
Making of the American Constitution.”
The award, which honors the most important new book about America’s founding
era, comes with a $50,000 prize, the nation’s largest literary award for
Teacher Scholar Award: Dr. So-Jung Park
Dr. So-Jung Park, assistant professor of chemistry, has been selected to
receive a 2011 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award. The Camille
Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program supports the research and
teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences. Dr.
Park’s research involves synthesis and characterization of nanoscale
inorganic solids and their hybrids with functional bio/organic
materials.
University of Pennsylvanian Announces $7.5 Million Korean Studies Gift
SEOUL, KOREA –- The University of Pennsylvania
(Penn) announced today two gifts totaling $7.5 million that will
greatly enhance its Korean Studies Program, one of the oldest of its
kind in North America. Alumnus James Joo-Jin Kim (W'59, G'61,
GR'63) has given $6 million to strengthen the Korean Studies program, to
be renamed the James Joo-Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies.
Susan Lindee Appointed Associate Dean for the Social Sciences
SAS Dean Rebecca Bushnell has announced that Susan Lindee, Professor
and Chair of History and Sociology of Science, will become Associate
Dean for the Social Sciences, effective July 1, 2011. In this capacity
she will oversee the Departments of Anthropology, Criminology,
Economics, History and Sociology of Science, Political Science, and
Sociology, as well as several research centers in the social sciences.
School of Arts and Sciences Faculty Members Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
C. Brian Rose and Thomas Sugrue have been named Fellows of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences. Rose is Professor of Classical Studies,
James B. Pritchard Professor of Archaeology, and Curator-in-Charge of
the Mediterranean section at the University Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology. Sugrue is David Boies Professor of History and Sociology.
Doctoral Student Margaret Marshall Andrews Awarded 2011-2012 Rome Prize
Margaret Marshall Andrews, a student in the Art and
Archaeology of the Mediterranean World graduate group, has been awarded a
2011-2012 Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. The prize
recognizes excellence in the arts and humanities and provides students
the opportunity to live in Rome for six months to two years and utilize
the Academy's vast resources to immerse themselves in scholarly studies.
School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Awards
Dr. Rebecca W. Bushnell, dean of the School of Arts and
Sciences, and Dr. Dennis DeTurck, dean of the College, announced the
following recipients of the School’s 2011 teaching awards, to be
presented on Thursday, April 28 at an awards reception that is open to
the University community. The reception will take place from 4 to 6 p.m.
in the Upper Egyptian Gallery of the University Museum.
Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for Distinguished Teaching
Penn Professor Kaja Silverman Receives Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award
PHILADELPHIA – University of Pennsylvania professor Kaja Silverman
has received the Andrew W. Mellon, Foundation Distinguished Achievement
Award in recognition of her exemplary contributions to humanistic
scholarship. Silverman, who is the Katherine Stein Sachs CW’69 and
Keith L.
College Announces 2011 Graduation Speakers
Edward G. Rendell, C'65, Hon'00, the 45th governor of Pennsylvania, will
be the guest speaker at this year's graduation ceremony for the
University of Pennsylvania College of Arts and Sciences. The event,
which takes place on Sunday, May 15, at 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Field,
will also feature Joseph Yellin, C'11, as the student speaker.
Rendell served as governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 until 2011.
Historian Stephanie McCurry Honored with Merle Curti and Avery O. Craven Book Awards
Stephanie McCurry, Professor of History, has been selected by the
Organization of American Historians (OAH) to receive the 2011 Merle
Curti Award, which is given annually for the best book published in
American social or American intellectual history, and the Avery O.
Craven Award, which is given annually for the most original book on the
coming of the Civil War, the Civil War years, or the era of
Reconstruction, with the exception of works of purely military history.
Music Building Recognized with LEED Gold Certification
The recently renovated and expanded Music Building of the School of Arts
and Sciences has become the first LEED Gold building on the Penn
campus.
Hans-Peter Kohler Named Frederick J. Warren Professor of Demography
Hans-Peter Kohler has been named the Frederick J. Warren Professor of
Demography in the School of Arts and Sciences. He is also a Research
Associate in the Population Studies Center at Penn and Chair of the
Graduate Group in Demography.
Dr. Kohler's primary research focuses on fertility and health-related
behaviors in developing and developed countries.
Tom Lubensky Named Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics
Tom Lubensky has been appointed the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics.
Wishing Well
According to the World Health Organization, one in eight people in the
world lack safe drinking water. From their estimates, almost 5,000
children die each day from water-related illness.
Emeritus Fellowships Awarded to Three Penn Faculty in One Year
Thomas Callaghy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science; Bruce
Kuklick, Professor Emeritus of American History; and John Richetti,
Professor Emeritus of English, were all awarded Emeritus Fellowships
last year from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Rebecca Bushnell’s Term as Dean of Arts and Sciences at University of Pennsylvania Is Extended
PHILADELPHIA –- University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann and Provost Vincent Price announced today that Rebecca Bushnell has agreed to extend her term as dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn u
Department of History Faculty Honored with Back-to-Back Awards
Four Department of History faculty members were recently recognized
for their distinguished scholarship. Spanning a myriad of
specializations, they received awards acknowledging their numerous
contributions to the field, in both publication and education.
University of Pennsylvania Names Two New PIK Professors: Barbara Mellers and Philip Tetlock
PHILADELPHIA -- Barbara Mellers and Philip Tetlock have been appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge professors at the University of Pennsylvania. The
announcement was made today by Penn President Amy Gutmann and Provost
Vincent Price. Both PIK appointments are effective January 1.
Sociology Professor Jerry A. Jacobs to Be Awarded 2011 Merit Award from the Eastern Sociological Society
Sociology Professor Jerry A. Jacobs is the 2011 recipient of the Merit
Award from the Eastern Sociological Society. This career achievement
award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the
discipline, the profession, and the Eastern Sociological Society.
Jacobs has been a member of the faculty in sociology at Penn since 1983.
He has served as Editor of the American Sociological Review and
President of the Eastern Sociological Society.
2010
Mark Trodden Named Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics
Mark Trodden has been appointed the Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics in the School of Arts and Sciences. Trodden
is also Co-Director of the Center for Particle Cosmology.
Penn Arts and Sciences Senior Wins Marshall Scholarship
School of Arts and Sciences senior Kristen Hall has been awarded a
Marshall Scholarship. She is among 31 winners of the scholarship.