2017
Two College Seniors Named Rhodes Scholars
Two University of Pennsylvania seniors have been awarded Rhodes Scholarships for graduate study at the University of Oxford. Christopher D’Urso, of Colts Neck, N.J., has been awarded an American Rhodes and Adnan Zikri Jaafar, of Malaysia, has been awarded a Malaysian Rhodes.
Peter Holquist Named Ronald S. Lauder Endowed Term Associate Professor of History
Peter Holquist, Associate Professor of History, has been appointed Ronald S. Lauder Endowed Term Associate Professor of History. Holquist is a leading scholar of Russian and European History. He served as founder and editor of the journal Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History from 1999 to 2010, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Modern History.
A Russian Revolution in Opera, Created by a Penn Composer
Rasputin, an opera composed by Jay Reise, was performed in Moscow last weekend, part of a celebration marking the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.The production also marked the opera’s 10th anniversary in repertory at Moscow’s Helikon Opera Company, directed by Dmitry Bertman. The performances, November 11 and 12, were in the new Stravinsky Hall and conducted by Alexander Briger, founder and chief conductor of the Australian World Orchestra.
For Penn Undergrads, New Digital-Humanities Minor Offers Unique Perspectives on Conventional Ideas
Whitney Trettien has a unique perspective on books. The work of this assistant professor of English sits at the intersection of digital humanities and Renaissance literature.
Apply for the 2018 Grad Ben Talks
Grad Ben Talks returns for a second year after a successful inaugural event in 2017!Who is eligible to enter?Currently enrolled students in any of Penn Arts and Sciences’ graduate groups or professional master’s programs.What is it?
Michael Leja Named James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor of History of Art
Michael Leja, Professor of History of Art, has been named James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor of History of Art. Leja is the author of two highly acclaimed books, Reframing Abstract Expressionism: Subjectivity and Painting in the 1940s and Looking Askance: Skepticism and American Art from Eakins to Duchamp, which won the Modernist Studies Association Book Prize.
Saint-Amour Named Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities
Paul Saint-Amour, Professor of English, has been appointed Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities. A leading scholar of Victorian and modernist literature, Saint-Amour has been a fellow at the Stanford Humanities Center, the Center for the Humanities at Cornell, and the National Humanities Center.
Goulian Named Charles and William L. Day Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences
Mark Goulian, Professor of Biology and Physics and Astronomy, has been appointed Charles and William L. Day Distinguished Professor in the Natural Sciences. Goulian is a highly influential scholar of microbiology. His research, which focuses primarily on Escherichia coli (E. coli), explores the fundamental mechanisms of signal transduction and gene expression in bacteria.
What Can Twitter Reveal About People With ADHD? Penn Researchers Provide Answers
What can Twitter reveal about people with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD? Quite a bit about what life is like for someone with the condition, according to findings published by Sharath Chandra Guntuku and Lyle Ungar in the Journal of Attention Disorders. Twitter data might also provide clues to help facilitate more effective treatments.
Writer-in-Residence is a National Book Award Finalist
Since January, Carmen Maria Machado has been a writer-in-residence at Penn. Her first book, “Her Body and Other Parties,” is a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction. The short story collection is a literary sensation and winner of a lengthening list of prizes. The book is appearing on various “Best of 2017” lists, including just-announced Publisher’s Weekly.
Researchers Working to Mimic Giant Clams to Enhance the Production of Biofuel
Alison Sweeney has been studying giant clams since she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara. These large mollusks, which anchor themselves to coral reefs in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, can grow to up to three-feet long and weigh hundreds of pounds.
Biologists Show How Chromosomes ‘Cheat’ for the Chance to Get Into an Egg
Each of your cells contains two copies of 23 chromosomes, one inherited from your father and one from your mother. Theoretically, when you create a gamete — a sperm or an egg — each copy has a 50-50 shot at being passed on. But the reality isn’t so clearcut.
Researchers Demonstrate How to Control Liquid Crystal Patterns
When Lisa Tran set out to investigate patterns in liquid crystals, she didn’t know what to expect. When she first looked through the microscope, she saw dancing iridescent spheres with fingerprint-like patterns etched into them that spiraled and flattened as the solution they were floated in changed.
Luck Plays a Role in How Language Evolves
Read a few lines of Chaucer or Shakespeare and you’ll get a sense of how the English language has changed during the past millennium. Linguists catalogue these changes and work to discern why they happened. Meanwhile, evolutionary biologists have been doing something similar with living things, exploring how and why certain genes have changed over generations.
Restoring Active Memory Project Adds Task and Patient Data to Publicly Available Human Brain Dataset
The Restoring Active Memory project run by the University of Pennsylvania has just released human intracranial brain recording and stimulation data for 102 new patients and a new spatial-navigation task developed by researchers at Columbia University. The total RAM dataset now includes such recordings from 251 patients and more than 1,100 experimental sessions, making it the largest publicly available dataset of its kind.
Geometry Plays an Important Role in How Cells Behave, Penn Researchers Report
Inspired by how geometry influences physical systems such as soft matter, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have revealed surprising insights into how the physics of molecules within a cell affect how the cell behaves.
Karen Goldberg Is First Vagelos Professor in Energy Research
Dean Steven J. Fluharty is pleased to announce that Karen Goldberg has joined Penn as the Vagelos Professor in Energy Research. She also serves as the inaugural Director of the Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology.
Megan Robb Named Julie and Martin Franklin Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Megan Robb, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, has been named Julie and Martin Franklin Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. Robb is an accomplished scholar of South Asian Islam, with a particular focus is on the history of interpretative communities and literary publics. Her first monograph, Print and the Urdu Public: Muslims, Newspapers, and Urban Life, 1900-1950, is under contract with Oxford University Press.
Ileana Pérez-Rodríguez Joins Penn Arts and Sciences Faculty as Elliman Faculty Fellow
Steven J. Fluharty, Dean of Penn Arts and Sciences, is pleased to announce that Ileana Pérez-Rodríguez has joined Penn as Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and Elliman Faculty Fellow.
Andrea Mitchell a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania
Andrea Mitchell, CW'67, was recently selected as a 2017 Daughter of Pennsylvania. She and the other 2017 honorees were recognized at ceremony hosted by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and First Lady Frances Wolf.
The Water Center at Penn to Explore Systemic Issues
Howard Neukrug, Professor of Practice in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science, is establishing The Water Center at Penn, which will be dedicated to advancing water policy research and urban water innovation by combining the expertise of academics, industry experts, and community representatives. The goal is to find real-world solutions to shared water problems, including issues such as toxins in drinking water, extreme storm events, and rising tides.
Daniel Q. Gillion Named Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Presidential Associate Professor of Political Science
Daniel Q. Gillion, Associate Professor of Political Science, has been appointed Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Presidential Associate Professor of Political Science. Gillion studies racial and ethnic politics, political behavior, public policy, and the American presidency.
Penn Arts and Sciences Names Eugene Mele Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics
Eugene Mele, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, has been appointed the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Physics. Mele joined the faculty in 1981, and has spent most of his academic career at Penn. A condensed matter theorist whose pioneering research has resulted in predicting the existence of materials with non-trivial topological order, Mele’s research findings have influenced the course of quantum electronic phenomena research in solids.
Physicists Help Spot Explosive Counterpart of LIGO Discovery
Masao Sako, a member of the Dark Energy Survey and an associate professor of physics and astronomy, was on vacation with his family when he got the news that the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, or LIGO, had made a fifth detection of gravitational waves, which expand and contract space time.
Dorothy Roberts Among Penn Faculty Elected to National Academy of Medicine
Dorothy Roberts, George A. Weiss University Professor of Law and Sociology, Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights, and Professor of Africana Studies, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the nation’s highest honors in biomedicine. Roberts, a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, is one of seven Penn faculty inductees.
Researchers Discover Which Brain Region Motivates Behavior Change
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Columbia University, and Duke University now better understand what motivates behavior change. The research points to a region in the brain called the posterior cingulate cortex. Neurons in this central location ramp up firing rates, peaking just before a divergent behavior occurs. The team published their findings in the journal Neuron.
Study Identifies Genes Responsible for Diversity of Human Skin Colors
Human populations feature a broad palette of skin tones. But until now, few genes have been shown to contribute to normal variation in skin color, and these had primarily been discovered through studies of European populations. Now, a study of diverse African groups has identified new genetic variants associated with skin pigmentation.
Benson, Teele Are Named Janice and Julian Bers Assistant Professors
Etienne Benson, Assistant Professor of History and Sociology of Science, and Dawn Teele, Assistant Professor of Political Science, have been named Janice and Julian Bers Assistant Professors in the Social Sciences.
Marci Hamilton Appointed Penn Arts and Sciences’ Third Professor of Practice
Marci Hamilton, one of the country’s leading church-state scholars, has been appointed a Penn Arts and Sciences’ Professor of Practice in the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program. Practice professorships bring accomplished leaders from business, government, or the arts into Penn Arts and Sciences’ classrooms to complement the expertise of the School’s standing faculty. Hamilton also serves as a Fox Family Pavilion Senior Fellow in Residence in the Robert A.
Penn Arts and Sciences Names Lauren Sallan the Martin Meyerson Assistant Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies
Lauren Sallan, Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Science, has been named the Martin Meyerson Assistant Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies. Sallan is a scholar of paleobiology and paleontology. Her research, which uses the fossil record of fishes as a database to investigate macroevolutionary trends, aims to understand the long-term effects of global events including mass extinction, ecological dynamics, and environmental change.
Earth’s Tectonic Plates Are Weaker Than Once Thought
No one can travel inside the earth to study what happens there. So scientists must do their best to replicate real-world conditions inside the lab.
Earth’s Tectonic Plates Are Weaker Than Once Thought
David Goldsby, teaming with Christopher A. Thom, a doctoral student at Penn, as well as researchers from Stanford University, the University of Oxford, and the University of Delaware, has resolved a long-standing question in the area of plate tectonics.
Penn Arts and Sciences Names Marc Flandreau the Howard Marks Professor of Economic History
Dean Steven J. Fluharty is pleased to announce that Marc Flandreau has joined Penn Arts and Sciences as the Howard Marks Professor of Economic History. Previously, Flandreau was professor of international history at the Graduate Institute of International Studies and Development in Geneva.
Russian and East European Studies Department Expands Approach to Region’s Languages and Literatures
To expand Penn's multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approach to teaching and learning about the region, the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures was renamed the Department of Russian and East European Studies, or REES, before the start of the 2017-18 academic year.
Opera Composed by Penn’s Jay Reise Celebrates 10th Anniversary in Russia
Celebrating its 10th year on stage in Russia, an opera composed by music professor Jay Reise will be performed in Moscow’s new Stravinsky Hall this fall.The performances of Reise’s “Rasputin” by Russia’s Helikon Opera company are scheduled for Nov. 11 and 12 and will be conducted by Alexander Briger, founder and chief conductor of the Australian World Orchestra.
Researchers Focus on Optimizing Mental Health Treatments Using Big Data
What if with the click of a button, a clinician could improve and personalize a patient’s treatment for a mental illness like post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or panic disorder? That’s the goal of a new data tournament created by Robert DeRubeis and Zachary Cohen that will start in October and run through March.
Penn Arts and Sciences Names Music’s Timothy Rommen the Davidson Kennedy Professor
Timothy Rommen, Professor of Music, has been named Davidson Kennedy Professor in the College. An ethnomusicologist who specializes in the music of the Caribbean, Rommen is the author of two books, including "Mek Some Noise": Gospel Music and the Ethics of Style in Trinidad, which was awarded the Alan P. Merriam Prize by the Society for Ethnomusicology.
Anthropology's Nikhil Anand Offers Insight Following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma
The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through November, has already seen two of the strongest storms on record, with hurricanes Irma and Harvey bringing extreme winds, torrential rain and significant flooding to the population centers in their paths.
Rogers Smith Selected as President-Elect of American Political Science Association
Rogers Smith has been named as the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) president-elect for the 2017-2018 term. He is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean for Social Sciences.
Researchers Discover New Law Guiding the Way Humans Perceive the World
Laws of perception explain why people see the world the way they do. Alan Stocker and his former graduate student Xue-Xin Wei, now a postdoc at Columbia University, have discovered a new such law, one of only a handful in existence.
Penn Science and Lightbulb Cafe Lecture Series - Fall 2017
Enjoy an evening of engaging, stimulating conversation with expert faculty from the University of Pennsylvania! Presented by Penn Arts and Sciences, in partnership with the Office of University Communications, Penn Science and Lightbulb Café events allow faculty specializing in science, social sciences, arts and humanities to present and discuss their research with audience members.
Shrinking Swiss Glaciers Inspire Undergraduate Student’s Energy Research
Yann Pfitzer spent the heat of a Philadelphia summer in a lab, designing and testing ultrathin plates that could one day be part of systems that convert extreme heat to electricity.
Wolf Humanities Center 2017-18 Forum Examines “Afterlives”
The Wolf Humanities Center, which now has a permanent endowment from University of Pennsylvania alumnus Dick Wolf, multiple Emmy-winning creator of the “Law & Order” and “Chicago” branded series, is building upon the tradition of the Penn Humanities Forum through a wide-ranging 2017-18 season. A series of talks, conferences, films and live performances that are free and open to the public will be held to examine this year’s topic, “Afterlives.”
New Gift to Endow Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy at Penn
Andrea Mitchell, CW'67, and Alan Greenspan have made a gift to endow the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy. The Andrea Mitchell Center will provide an unparalleled platform for students, faculty, and a broad public audience to explore some of society’s most pressing concerns and enhance Penn’s stature as a hub for scholarship on democratic institutions and issues.
Penn Arts and Sciences Welcomes New Faculty for 2017-2018
Penn Arts and Sciences has appointed 30 new members to its standing faculty for the 2017-2018 academic year. The School is pleased to welcome:Juan Pablo Atal, Assistant Professor of Economics: Health economics; long-term health insurance contacts, particularly in Chile; public economics, including worker productivity and pricing; tax enforcement; industrial organization. Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Study Identifies How Squid Have Evolved to See in Dim Ocean Water
In a new paper published in Science, research led by postdoctoral fellow Jing Cai and Alison Sweeney, an assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy, provided a detailed look into how self-assembled squid lenses have evolved to adjust for light distortion, which allows them to see clearly in the dim waters of the open ocean.
Criminologist Richard Berk on the Future of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence has great potential to transform many facets of our society, from cars to health care to the way the criminal justice system uses information about arrest records. Richard Berk,Richard Berk, Professor and Chair of the Department of Criminolog, has studied machine learning and AI as it relates to criminal justice.
New Type of Graphene Sensor to Answer a Fundamental Nanotechnology Question
A team of physicists have invented a new type of graphene-based sensor that could one day be used as a low-cost diagnostic system able to test for biomarker molecules, which are indicative of disease states.
Successful Guide Dogs Have ‘Tough Love’ Moms
Much has been written of the pitfalls of being a helicopter parent, one who insulates children from adversity rather than encouraging their independence.A new study seems to back up this finding in dogs. Researchers showed that doting mothers seem to handicap their puppies, in this case reducing the likelihood of successfully completing a training program to become guide dogs.
Astronomers Contribute to the Most Accurate Measurement of Dark Matter Structure in the Universe
Map of dark matter made from gravitational lensing measurements of 26 million galaxies in the Dark Energy Survey. The map covers about 1/30th of the entire sky and spans several billion light years in extent. Red regions have more dark matter than average, blue regions less dark matter. Image credit: Chihway Chang of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, and the DES collaboration.