September 2005

September 29, 2005
Did You Know… that Penn engineering researcher John Crocker has been named one of Popular Science's "Brilliant 10"? Crocker is the Skirkanich Assistant Professor of Innovation in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and also a member of Penn's Institute of Medicine and Engineering. He is being recognized for his ongoing study of how living cells sense and respond to their environment. Crocker’s research could have vital impact on fields such as tissue engineering and cancer detection. Read more here.

See Popular Science's "Brilliant 10" full list.

Learn more about John Crocker and his research.

September 23, 2005
Did You Know... that David Silverman, the Eckley B. Coxe, Jr. Professor of Egyptology at Penn, is the national curator for the exhibition, "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs"? The exhibit is in Los Angeles through November, then travels to Fort Lauderdale, Chicago and Philadelphia over the next two years. Silverman is also Curator-in-Charge of the Egyptian Section at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology. To coincide with the King Tut exhibit, The Penn Museum is mounting its own display of Egyptian objects from its extensive collection.

Read more about Penn in Practice.

See the official King Tut website.

Visit the Penn Museum website.

Alumni clubs in LA, Florida, Chicago and Philadelphia are planning events in conjunction with the Tut exhibit's visit to their city.

Penn Club of Los Angeles hosts David Silverman and Richard Leventhal, Williams Director of the Penn Museum, at a brunch on Saturday, October 1.

For more information and to purchase tickets

September 9, 2005
In lieu of our traditional "Did You Know?," we wanted to inform you of Penn's response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Our thoughts are with those who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The terrible devastation inflicted by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast has drawn a worldwide response that has resulted in aid in all forms. On a local level, the University of Pennsylvania is doing all it can to assist. Penn is offering enrollment to students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, financial assistance to students from areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and administrative leave for those who are assisting with relief efforts.

For more detailed information, please visit: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/hurricane.php

We are also finding out about efforts being led by alumni clubs. If your club is participating in relief efforts and you would like to share what they are doing, please let your GAN liaison know so that we can share with the rest of the alumni leadership and the University community.

September 2, 2005
Did You Know ... that The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is this year's Penn Reading Project (PRP)? Each fall, incoming students read the selected PRP book and then participate in discussions led by volunteer faculty and senior administrators. This year's selection was intentional as we celebrate Penn's founder Benjamin Franklin's 300th birthday in 2006.

Get more information on the Penn Reading Project and this year's selection.

September 28, 2005
Anthropology professor Gregory Possehl's boat currently rests 6,000 feet beneath the Arabian Sea. After only hours on the water, the Magan III, a 40-foot boat made of reeds and bitumen -- a tar-like substance -- began sinking as heavy winds rocked the craft and water spilled over the sides. The idea of building a boat to replicate the journey of ancient mariners from Oman to India first began in 1995 to prove a theory that sea trade had been conducted throughout the Arabian Sea as far back as 2400 BC. [more]

September 26, 2005
Daniel Hoffman, 1973-74 Poet Laureate of the United States and founder of the creative writing program at Penn, is one of three authors who, along with The Authors Guild, are suing internet search engine Google, claiming that its plan to digitise major library book collections infringes author copyright. The Authors Guild has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The lawsuit seeks class action status, seeks damages and demands an injunction against further infringements. Google said it regretted the Authors Guild action, asked for more talks, and claimed its plans benefited writers. [more]

September 14, 2005
Penn alumni David and Florence Cohen were honored with the Paul Robeson Social Justice Award at Zellerbach Theatre in the Bread & Roses Community Fund's 17th annual Tribute to Change. The award is given to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to social change. [more]

September 13, 2005
College freshman Dana Rehnquist had been on campus for just three days when she got the phone call she had been expecting and dreading. She said she knew at the time that her grandfather, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, had only "a matter of days" to live. "When I found out that he passed away, it was really hard because I knew everybody knew he was my grandfather," she said. [more]

September 12, 2005
With a Penn master's degree in hand, Tiffany Webber, 28, has created her own line of African-American-themed greeting cards, complete with poems and words of praise and encouragement. She came up with the plan in 1999, but it took five years to get the business off the ground. [more]

September 7, 2005
Penn has joined the nation in rallying to fight the effects of Hurricane Katrina, pledging admission offers, paid leave and even hospital beds to those affected by the recent tragedy. "We're very grateful that we can have a positive impact in the wake of this disaster," said College of General Studies Executive Director Kristine Billmyer, who led the admissions process. The University will not be collecting tuition from these students, as almost all of them have already paid tuition to their original schools. [more]

September 7, 2005
Iran's Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization and Penn officials are on the verge of finalizing an agreement to resume archaeological cooperation after a 26-year hiatus. "It's a very general agreement in which we agree in principle to cooperate with each other," said History of Art professor Holly Pittman, who is also a curator in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. [more]

September 2, 2005
Dr. A.T. Charlie Johnson and Mr. Danvers Johnston, physicists at Penn, have developed a method to create functional electronic circuits by dipping semiconductor chips into liquid suspensions of carbon nanotubes rather than growing the nanotubes directly on the circuits. Semiconducting nanotubes make exceptional transistors, which is why so much attention has been devoted to finding a way to use them in electronics. [more]

September 2, 2005
With this summer's win at the U.S. Under-19 Men's Foil Championship in Sacramento, Penn sophomore Ron Berkowsky not only captured the gold, but also earned a ranking of fifth in the country. As he moves up in the ranks of national fencing, Berkowsky has also entered the scene as a competitor for the United States team at the World Junior Championships in 2006. [more]

September 1, 2005
This time next year, Penn alumnus and congressman Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) will know if he is one step closer to his goal of representing his state in the U.S. Senate. Ford -- who graduated from the University with a degree in American history in 1992 -- will battle Tennessee State Sen. Rosalind Kurita in the Democratic primary on Aug. 3, 2006. The winner will go on to campaign for the seat, which is being vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who has decided not to run for re-election. [more]