2019
Two College Juniors Chosen as 2019 Truman Scholars
College juniors Louis Lin and Ángel Ortiz-Siberón have been selected as 2019 Truman Scholars. The Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based award offered to U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals who want to go to graduate school in preparation for a career in public service.
Arts & Sciences Faculty Named 2019 Guggenheim Fellows
They are among 168 scholars, artists, and scientists chosen as 2019 Guggenheim Fellows in the United States and Canada based on “prior achievement and exceptional promise.”
Campbell Grey Named ACLS Fellow
The fellowship will support his current research project, Living with Risk in the Late Roman World.
Penn Arts & Sciences Announces 2019 Teaching Award Recipients
Steven J. Fluharty, Dean of Penn Arts & Sciences, and Paul Sniegowski, Stephen A. Levin Family Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2019 awards for distinguished teaching in the School.
Record Gift from Roy and Diana Vagelos to Create New Energy Science and Technology Building
P. Roy Vagelos, C’50, PAR’90, HON’99, and Diana T. Vagelos, PAR’90, have made a gift of $50 million to Penn Arts & Sciences for a new science center to house researchers focused on energy science.
Penn Arts and Sciences Faculty Receive 2019 University Teaching Awards
Three members of the Penn Arts and Sciences faculty are recipients of University-wide teaching awards.
Asif Agha Named Francis E. Johnston Term Professor
Asif Agha, Professor of Anthropology, has been named the Francis E. Johnston Term Professor.
Ivan Dmochowski Named Alan MacDiarmid Term Professor
Ivan Dmochowski, Professor of Chemistry, has been named the Alan MacDiarmid Term Professor of Chemistry.
Penn Arts and Sciences Names 2019 Dean’s Scholars
Penn Arts and Sciences has named 20 students from the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Liberal and Professional Studies, and the Graduate Division as 2019 Dean’s Scholars. This honor is presented annually to students who exhibit exceptional academic performance and intellectual promise.
Abdus-Saboor Named Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Professor
Ishmail Abdus-Saboor has joined Penn as the Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Assistant Professor of Biology.
Jessica Anna and Davi Maximo Receive Sloan Research Fellowships
The Fellowship recognizes early-career researchers and scholars in North America.
Ouss Named Jerry Lee Assistant Professor of Criminology
Aurélie Ouss, Assistant Professor of Criminology, has been named Jerry Lee Assistant Professor of Criminology.
Axilrod Term Fund in Health and Inequality Supports Recruitment of Three New Faculty Members
Richard A. Axilrod, WG’85, and Nancy M. Axilrod, parents, have made a $2 million gift to establish the Axilrod Term Fund in Health and Inequality, enabling Penn Arts and Sciences to recruit three new faculty members.
Three-Year Grant Supports the Water Center at Penn
Thanks to a gift from Spring Point Partners LLC, the Center will have a solid foundation from which to build its research agenda.
Lichtenstein Challenge Funds Support Arts and Sciences Scholarships and Annual Fund
Warren G. Lichtenstein, C’87, has made a $1 million gift to establish the Warren Lichtenstein Young Alumni Scholarship Challenge Fund and the Warren Lichtenstein Arts and Sciences Challenge Fund.
Zarmakoupi Named Morris Russell and Josephine Chidsey Williams Professor of Roman Architecture
Mantha Zarmakoupi has joined Penn as the Morris Russell and Josephine Chidsey Williams Assistant Professor of Roman Architecture.
Charles Bernstein, Donald T. Regan Professor of English, Wins 2019 Bollingen Prize for Poetry
Charles Bernstein, Donald T. Regan Professor of English and Comparative Literature in Penn Arts and Sciences, has been named the winner of Yale’s 2019 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry.
Penn Ph.D. Student Named Director of U.S. Muslim-Jewish Relations by American Jewish Committee
Ari Gordon, a graduate student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Penn Arts and Sciences, has been named Director of U.S. Muslim-Jewish Relations for American Jewish Committee (AJC).
Spencer Named Robert S. Blank Presidential Professor
Quayshawn Spencer, Associate Professor of Philosophy, has been named the Robert S. Blank Presidential Associate Professor of Philosophy.
State Department Awards Penn Team $2 Million to Preserve Cultural Heritage in Northern Iraq
The two-phase, three-year project aims to revitalize the city of Mosul and its culture.
The Nanotopography of an Atomic World
Physicists in the School of Arts and Sciences offer insights into the structure of atomically thin materials using nanoscale images of 2D membranes.
2018
Marking the Winter Solstice, from Neolithic Times to Today
In cultures the world over, the promise of longer days has provided reason to celebrate for millennia, according to Penn Arts and Sciences scholars.
Electric Bond
Behind the discovery of a new class of electronic materials is a 20-year collaboration between two Penn Arts and Sciences physicists, winners of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.
"A Home for the Holidays"
Center for Africana Studies Summer Institute for Pre-Freshmen alum Kyle Oden, C’20, and his family are featured in a CBS special celebrating families whose lives have been changed by adoptions.
A Global Rhodes for Penn
Senior Adamseged Abebe of Gondar, Ethiopia, has been awarded an inaugural Global Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford. Abebe is one of two inaugural Global Rhodes Scholars chosen from countries around the world.
Three Penn Arts and Sciences Faculty Receive Awards From American Physical Society
Three Penn Arts and Sciences researchers have been awarded prizes by the American Physical Society (APS). The recipients are Zahra Fakhraai, Associate Professor and Graduate Chair in Chemistry; Marsha I. Lester, Edmund J. Kahn Distinguished Professor in Chemistry; and Abraham Nitzan, Donner Professor of Physical Sciences and Professor of Chemistry.
College Senior Anea Moore Is Penn's Newest Rhodes Scholar
College senior Anea Moore has been awarded a Rhodes Scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford. Considered one of the most prestigious academic honors, the Rhodes is highly competitive.
Dry Conditions May Have Helped a New Type of Plant Gain a Foothold on Earth
Biologists in the School of Arts and Sciences paired physiological models with paleoclimate data to trace the evolution and expansion of C4 plants.
Department of History Appoints Two Endowed Professors
Antonio Feros, Professor of History, has been appointed Rose Family Endowed Term Professor of History, and Roquinaldo Ferreira joins Penn as the Henry Charles Lea Professor of History.
David Brainard Appointed Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences
David Brainard, RRL Professor of Psychology, has been appointed Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences in School of Arts and Sciences, effective January 1, 2019.
Behind the Scenes of Election Night Projections
John Lapinski, director of elections at NBC and the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science, discusses projecting elections.
Rogers Smith on Birthright Citizenship
A Q&A with the constitutional law scholar explores the intricacies surrounding birthright citizenship.
Tracing the Evolutionary Origins of Fish to Shallow Ocean Waters
A team led by paleobiologist Lauren Sallan finds that ancient fish species diversified in near-shore ocean areas, not coral reefs.
Ronald S. Lauder and Leonard A. Lauder Dedicate the Home of the Lauder Institute
The Lauder Institute’s rigorous joint degree graduate program integrates tailored arts and science course work, regional and global academic programs, advanced language study, and cultural immersion experiences.
Penn Arts and Sciences Faculty Among First Recipients of India Research and Engagement Fund Awards
Projects focus on climate change, health and sanitation, culture and conservation, and ethnic vs. national identification.
Eugene Mele and Charles Kane to Share Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics
The Physicists are recognized for work on topological insulators, materials with unique properties that may help usher in new, ultra-efficient electronic devices, even quantum computing.
Aronowitz and Krueger Are Named Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professors in the Social Sciences
Robert Aronowitz, Professor and Chair of History and Sociology of Science, and Dirk Krueger, Professor of Economics, have been appointed Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professors in the Social Sciences.
Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics Design Pairs New With Old
Located on the northeast corner of Walnut and 36th streets, the project involved the adaptive reuse and expansion of the circa 1925 Art Deco-style West Philadelphia Title and Trust Company building.
Turner Schulman Endowed Research Fund Supports the Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Immigration
CSERI is a first-of-its-kind research center, focusing on the intersecting narratives of ethnicity, race, and immigration in U.S. life and supporting research at the faculty, graduate, and undergraduate levels.
Daniel Mindiola Named Brush Family Professor of Chemistry
Mindiola’s many professional honors include the Presidential Early Career Award and the Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation.
Jonathan Moreno Receives Bioethics Lifetime Achievement Award
Describing him as “one of the world’s foremost experts in bioethics and politics and bioethics in national security,” the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities has awarded Penn Medicine bioethicist Jonathan D. Moreno its 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is the Society’s highest honor.
Philadelphia Managing Director Michael DiBerardinis to join Fels as Professor of Practice
Michael DiBerardinis, who has served as Managing Director for the City of Philadelphia under Mayor James Kenney since January 2016, will be joining the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences in January 2019 as a Professor of Practice at the Fels Institute of Government.
Pulitzer Prize Winner Jennifer Egan Is Artist-in-Residence at Penn
Egan will work with students and faculty, as well as share her work through public events.
Penn’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies Launches Online Bachelor’s Degree
Beginning in the fall of 2019, the Penn LPS Online platform will offer a fully-accredited, online education from Penn for working adults and other non-traditional students.
Nancy Hirschmann Named Stanley I. Sheerr Term Professor in the Social Sciences
Hirschmann is a scholar of the history of political thought, analytical philosophy, and feminist theory.
University of Pennsylvania Receives $2 Million from Marc J. Leder for Behavior Change for Good Initiative
The Behavior Change for Good Initiative (BCFG) unites scientists in the social sciences, medicine, computer science, and neuroscience.
Neil C. Tomson Receives National Institutes of Health Grant
The grant provides $1.6 million of support over five years.
New Arts and Sciences Faculty Announced
The School of Arts and Sciences welcomed 22 new standing faculty members for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Shlomo Benartzi Named Distinguished Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Behavior Change for Good Initiative
Benartzi is a professor and co-founder of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group at the Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles.
Klein and Lareau Named Kahn Chairs
Two distinguished faculty members have been appointed Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professors.