Penn in the Olympics
The University cleaned up at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, collecting 21 medals— 10 of them gold—in track and field events. Since then, there’s been a Penn presence at every summer games the US has participated in. On the eve of the 2012 London Games (which will make 25), here are some stories of Quaker Olympians through the decades.
“What’s ‘Ya’?”
While no one seems quite able to define what a Young Adult, or YA, novel is, exactly, lots of people—of all ages—are reading them. And quite a few Penn alumni (including the one who asked that question) are writing them.
Rush’s Remedies
Two centuries after its publication, Founding Father and early Penn faculty member Benjamin Rush’s pioneering work on mental illness prompts alarm and admiration—as well as reminders about ongoing challenges in the mental-health field.
Is That All There Is?
On the road with Zach and Buzz, Peggy Lee on the car stereo, and the meaning of life. An excerpt from Father’s Day: A Journey into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son.
Alumni Weekend 2012
Photos from the Alumni Weekend 2012 festivities
Needed: Winners for the “Losing Team”
Canada to Class of 2012: “Get in the game”
Honorary Degrees
Honorary-degree recipients
Bond Buyers Bet Penn Will Last Another Century
Buy and hold: University sells $300 million in 100-year bonds
Gutmann Gets Five-Year Contract Extension
Contract extension will keep Gutmann in College Hall until 2019
Garry Kasparov on Chess and Politics
Kasparov on politics: “The comparison with chess is not correct”
Celebrating 25 Years of TCPW, and a Nobel Prize Winner
Toni Morrison gets Beacon Award at TCPW’s 25th
Back To School
Penn offering free courses through Coursera online-education platform
Improving Women’s Health—One Man, Pig, or Cityscape at a Time
Nursing’s Center for Global Women’s Health holds first symposium
Findings
Blood Sugar, Brains, and Memory plus Pain: Separate but Unequal
Holocaust Archive Comes to Penn
Shoah Foundation’s Holocaust archives coming to Penn
False Credentials Prompt GSE Vice Dean’s Exit
GSE’s Lynch resigns over false credentials
From Golden Fleece to Golden Goose
“Golden Goose” awards will defend the value of research
To Err is Divine
Learning from Brilliant Mistakes
Sixteen Strokes to Glory
Scotty Williams C’12 leads men’s golf to Ivy title and NCAAs
Trauma by Number
Alan Schwarz C’90
The Rise of the Biocrats
From stem-cell research to HPV vaccinations, healthcare policy to genetic modification, bioethics increasingly provides the framework for weighing the costs and benefits of scientific progress. Long a leader in the field, the University is moving to make Penn the place where such work happens, and where the next generation of bioethicists will be minted.
Time for the Maya
No, the ancient Maya did not predict that the world will end in December 2012. Yes, the Penn Museum is taking advantage of the popular fascination with that distinctly North American misinterpretation of the Maya calendar to mount a wide-ranging exhibit examining Maya notions of time and much more about this rich, still-thriving culture.
The Artful Rebel
Francis Hopkinson signed the Declaration of Independence, designed the American flag, wrote some biting satire, composed the nation’s first secular music, and got some props for his scientific ingenuity. Not a bad career for the College’s first alumnus.
Character’s Content
Penn psychologist Angela Duckworth Gr’06 argues that character—not intelligence, quality of instruction, family situation, or income level—is the crucial determinant of achievement in school. Now she just has to figure out how to measure character—and influence it for the better.