Category Archives: Top Ten

February 13, 2012 · 12:26 pm

My Top Penn List: The Year of Did You Know… in Review

Author: Casey Ryan, C’93

The Penn powers that blog have played around with the schedule for this semester, which gave me an extra few weeks off from Frankly Penn.  I’m well-rested from the word-vacation; it was a nice change for the new year.  It also gave me some time to think about my next post.

In a prior post, I had mentioned that members of the Global Alumni Network (GAN) team, our Regional Club program, pen a weekly Penn fact-cum-update to our Regional Alumni Club Leadership – the Did You Know…  These are news stories or tidbits that underscore some of the outstanding work in study and research going on around campus as well as the notable contributions of our faculty, staff, and alumni at Penn and in the world at large.  These short articles are meant to bring the University a little closer to our alumni wherever they may be. To usher in my first post (and first My Ten Penn list) of 2012, I wanted to highlight my favorite “Did You Knows” of 2011, unedited.

10.          Robust Media System in Afghanistan, sent March 20, 2011

Did You Know… that the Annenberg School for Communication is involved with an effort to build a more robust media system in war-torn Afghanistan?

The Annenberg School’s Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) is helping to shape and execute a large scale United States Agency for International Development (USAID) effort to foster independent radio, create a supporting legal culture that can sustain a freer communications environment, and analyze what media approaches are most effective in sustaining democratic values. “We’ve assembled a distinguished team to design curricula and work with advocates, media management and regulators,” said Monroe E. Price, Director of CGCS. “This is an investment in the talent key to the operation of media in the future.”

This is the newest initiative to join the CGCS’s other Middle East-related projects including the Jordan Media Strengthening Program, the model for the current Afghan program.

For more information about the CGCS’s specific efforts in the Middle East, please go here.

9.            Global Warming Warning, from June 24, 2011

Did You Know… that Penn researchers link the fastest Sea-Level rise in two Millennia to increasing temperatures? An international research team including Penn scientists has shown that the rate of sea-level rise along the U.S. Atlantic coast is greater now than at any time in the past 2,000 years, and there is a consistent link between changes in global mean surface temperature and sea level. Benjamin Horton, associate professor and director of the Sea Level Research Laboratory, and postdoctoral fellow Andrew Kemp, both of Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences Department of Earth and Environmental Science conducted the study. Their work was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To view the press release, click here.

Check-out this Office Hours webinar by Professor Benjamin Horton by clicking here. Revisit Dr. Benjamin Horton’s discussion of the geophysical mechanisms behind earthquakes and tsunamis and the history of both in the context of Japan and the greater South/East Pacific.  Note: You must download the GoToMeeting Codec (G2M2 decoder) to view these recorded webinars. Visit www.gotomeeting.com/codec to download the codec.

8.            Penn in the Movies, from December 8, 2011

Did You Know…that Penn alumni wrote, produced, and directed several movies in the theaters? The Mighty Macs, tells the story of tiny Immaculata College winning the inaugural women’s NCAA basketball tournament in 1972. It was written/directed/produced by former Penn Football player Tim Chambers, C’85, and also produced by former Penn Basketball star Vince Curran, ENG’92, W’92. The Muppets, the first Muppets movie in several years, finds the Muppets fighting to save their theater. Todd Lieberman, C’95, and a Mask & Wig alumnus, is a producer on the film.  Mike Karz, C’89, W’89, and Class of 1989 president, produced New Year’s Eve, that shows how the lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine over the course of New Year’s Eve.

Let’s go to the movies! Read about The Mighty Macs in the Daily Pennsylvanian. Read more about New Year’s Eve and see a video clip of Mike talking about the film here. Read more about Todd Lieberman and why his Muppet cameo was cut from The Muppets.

7.            ENIAC Day, sent February 11, 2011

Did You Know… that Philadelphia City Council has officially declared February 15 as “ENIAC Day,” celebrating the 65th anniversary of the historic computer’s dedication at Penn? The Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC, was built to calculate ballistic trajectories for the Army during World War II. Under the direction of John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of Penn’s Moore School of Electrical Engineering (now the School of Engineering and Applied Science), construction of the 27-ton, 680-square-foot computer began in July 1943 and was announced to the public on February 14, 1946. ENIAC was the first electronic general-purpose computer and its six original programmers were all women.

To read more about ENIAC Day, visit this link. For further reading on ENIAC, go here.

6.            Helping the American Education System Address the Needs of Youth & Industry, from May 31, 2011

Did you know… that the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and the Penn Institute for Urban Research, co-hosted a two-day conference, “Preparing Today’s Students for Tomorrow’s Jobs in Metropolitan America: The Policy, Practice and Research Issues?”

Leading experts on education and policy-making came to campus to present strategies for innovation and planning to help the American education system address the needs of both youth and industry. In attendance was former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, C’65, who commented on the education system’s failure to train our student to fill positions in the job market. He noted that it takes careful planning to ensure that the education system prepares youth to learn the skills necessary for today’s workforce in order to maintain the US as economic power.  He emphasized this by stating that “the return on investment is to keep America great.”

For more information, visit this site.

5.            Penn’s Pulitzer Prize, from April 21, 2011

Did You Know…that Jennifer Egan, C’85, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for her novel, “A Visit From the Goon Squad?”

Egan, Penn’s first alumna/us to win the Pulitzer for fiction, also won the 2011 National Book Critics Circle award earlier this year. Set mostly in the world of rock music business, the novel’s storyline moves away from a traditional structure by wandering from a one narrative thread; each chapter functions as a self-contained story. However, all of the stories are linked by a common set of characters and themes, that come together throughout the novel.

Egan read at the Kelly Writers House on during Alumni Weekend on May 14, 2011 at 4:00 PM.

For a video excerpt from Egan’s prior engagement at Penn, visit this site.

For more information from the Penn Current, visit this one.

4.            Color a Dinosaur, from July 7, 2011

Did You Know… that paleontologists from the University of Pennsylvania, as part of an international collaboration, believe they may have found a way to see dinosaurs in living color?

Scientists have detected traces of a dark pigment called eumelanin, a form of melanin, in ancient bird fossils through the use of intense X-ray beams. The research was conducted by an international team working with Phillip Manning, an adjunct professor in the School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Earth and Environmental Science, and Peter Dodson, a professor in both the Department of Earth and Environmental Science and the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Animal Biology.

Go here to read the Philadelphia Inquirer story, and here for the Penn News article.

3.            Soccer Playing Robots, from July 29, 2011

Did You Know… that the robots of Penn and Virginia Tech’s Team DARwIn recently won first place in the Humanoid Kid Size competition at the 2011 RoboCup tournament in Istanbul, Turkey? The soccer-playing robots, whose name stands for “Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence,” were particularly skilled at the throw-in competition where a robot must pick up a soccer ball and throw it back onto the pitch.

Penn Engineering team members who traveled to the competition included Stephen McGill, Seung-Joon Yi (visiting faculty member); Yida Zhang, GEN’12; along with Jordan Brindza, ENG’10 GEN’11; Ashleigh Thomas, EE’13 GEE’13; Spencer Lee, ENG’14; and Nicholas McGill, EE’13 ENG’13 GEN’13, who are undergraduate and graduate students in the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory. For the competition, Penn developed the software framework that provided each robot with artificial intelligence (AI). This AI guided the robots’ walk, vision, and gameplay, among other things.

For more information on Penn’s victory, please see this link.

To watch a video of Penn’s DARwIn robots annihilating the Japanese team in the finals, please go here.

For more information on the RoboCup 2011 Tournament, please see this link.

2.            100th Ivy Win for Bagnoli, from October 27, 2011

Did You Know… that Penn Football’s victory over Yale in October 2011 was Head Coach Al Bagnoli’s 100th Ivy League win?  Only two other coaches have ever reached that number.  With the win the Quakers, (4-2, 3-0 Ivy) now have an 18 game winning streak in the League.

For a re-cap of the Penn – Yale game, see the Penn Athletics and Daily Pennsylvanian articles here and here.

Photo by Andrew Councill, The New York Times

1.            Zeke Emanuel, 13th PIK Professor, from August 11, 2011

Did You Know… that Penn named globally renowned bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel as its 13th Penn Integrates Knowledge professor? Emanuel will be the Diane v.S. Levy and Robert M. Levy University Professor and vice provost for global initiatives.  His appointment will be shared between the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy, which he will chair in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, and the Department of Health Care Management in the Wharton School.

Emanuel, one of the world’s leading scholars of bioethics and health care, will be the inaugural chair of the Perelman School’s new Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy. Prior to coming to Penn, he served as the founding chair of the Department of Bioethics at The Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health since 1997 and was appointed as a special advisor for health policy to the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget from February 2009 to January 2011.

The Penn Integrates Knowledge program was launched by President Gutmann in 2005 as a University-wide initiative to recruit exceptional faculty members whose research and teaching exemplify the integration of knowledge across disciplines and who are jointly appointed between two schools at Penn.

Read the news release  here.

To read a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer, please see this link.

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December 9, 2011 · 3:10 pm

My Ten Penn List: Bookstore Gifts for the Holidays

Author:  Casey Ryan, C’95

I’m assuming that most of you, like me, are in the middle of holiday shopping.  I’m busily trying to get all of my gifts sooner rather than later .  However, I eschew the malls and do most of my shopping on-line.  Usually, I get free shipping on my purchases or I find some good discount codes on Retail Me Not. When my packages arrive, our front desk receptionist will buzz me or e-mail me to let me know and it’s like I’m the one who is receiving the gift as I knock one more name off my long list.

To balance out my on-line purchases, I will venture out into our little neighborhood in West Philly and visit the nice little shopping area along Walnut Street.   There’s Douglas (for Mom), GAP (for my nephew and niece), American Apparel (for my friends) and CVS (for wrapping paper and cards!)  Lest I forget, there’s also the Penn Bookstore.  Luckily for me, my brother and sister-in-law are Proud Penn Alumni (C’99 and GEN’06, respectively) and my folks (including a CGS’97 alumna) still love wearing Penn gear.

Here are my choices for Penn-themed gifts at the bookstore. I’ve including the link to each item since you probably can’t just hop down to campus for a quick purchase.  Though, you can order it on-line and have it mailed to your office.  When your receptionist buzzes you, you can feel as good as I do when the mail comes.

Remember the Penn Bookstore Official Site is a Barnes and Noble site. Many B&N coupons, gift cards and promo codes can be applied to your purchase.

10. Alta Gracia Hoodie for $27.73
There’s nothing like a good hoodie to have around the house for a lazy day of watching movies or snuggling up with a good book.

9. Storm Duds Large Golf Umbrella for $28.98
I love a golf umbrella to keep me dry on a rainy day.  Though I don’t play, I appreciate the cover it provides.

8. Penn Gear Polar Fleece Full Zip Jacket for $33.73
A fleece is a good choice in jackets. It can be warm separately or paired up with a windbreaker or a vest when it’s colder out.

7. Penn Legacy Adjustable Twill Hat for $19.98
I love a good, simple split P hat to wear.  I wear it everywhere – to sporting functions, on road trips and out Holiday shopping when I forgot that I’m avoiding the malls.

6. Penn Men’s Wristwatch with Leather Strap (or Women’s) for $109.98
Keep the time with Penn on your wrist.  Stylish and functional, it keeps in line with Franklin’s appreciation of the most useful and the most ornamental

5. Penn Foam Basketball for $14.98
For a less serious gift, a foam basketball is a great toy for the future Penn student as well as young at heart alumnus or alumna.

4. Penn Business Card Holder for $42.98
Tasteful and reserved, this card holder exhibits Penn Pride in a confident manner.  I know there’s a Princeton joke that I could make here about how orange isn’t reserved.  However, I’ll be nice; it is the holidays.

3. Varsi-Tee Blanket for $124.98
I think that this is a great and different Penn accessory… so much so that I want this! So, Mom or Dad, if you’re reading, I would love to open this up when we exchange presents…

2. Penn Hydro Nalgene Bottle for $32.98
Be green and health-conscience in one fell swoop.  Let everyone at the gym know that you went to Penn.

1. Penn Yikes! Rolled T-Shirt for $14.99
A gift for all budgets, this Penn T-shirt is comfortable and durable.  Choose your favorite color and almost literally wear your Penn Pride on your sleeve.

So, those are my seasonal Penn-related recommendations. I would love to hear other ideas from those of you who have started your holiday shopping early this year.

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November 11, 2011 · 3:06 pm

My Top Penn List: Memories of Homecoming 2011

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

Homecoming this year was amazing.  The fall weekend was glorious with its bright light blue sky slightly dusted with clouds and the crispy cool air keeping any rain at bay.  The combination of great weather and engaging programming drew record numbers of alumni back home to Penn.  There is my list highlighting some of the incredible events from this past weekend.

10.          Pre-Game Coming Home Tribute: From Penn to Princeton — A Dedication to Lenape Land.

Penn and Princeton reside on Lenape soil and to pay tribute to their ancestors, the Association of Native Alumni and Natives at Penn came together for a touching ceremony honoring their land home.  The attendees found it poignant that this observance was held on the newest use of Lenape land, Penn Park.

9.            77th Annual Alumni Award of Merit Gala

The event to kick-off the Homecoming Weekend festivities, the Gala is the formal hallmark event of Homecoming.   President Amy Gutmann and Board of Trustees Chair, David Cohen, L’81, paid tribute to the following outstanding alumni, classes and club in a black and white game-themed party that accentuated the many years of love and appreciate that these alumni have for Penn.

  • Edward Anderson, C’65, M’69;
  • Susanna Lachs, CW’74, ASC’76;
  • Mae Agnes Pasquariello, CW’53, GRD’85;
  • Roy Vagelos, C’50; and
  • Paul Williams, W’67
  • Calvin Chen, C’97, W’97, Young Alumni Award of Merit
  • Catherine “Kaki” Marshall, CW’45, Creative Spirit Award
  • Class of 1986, Alumni Class Award of Merit
  • Class Award of Merit; Class of 2006, David N. Tyre Class Communications Award
  • PennClub of LA, Alumni Club Award of Merit.

    Festive decor at the Gala.

8.            Alumnus Stefan Fatsis, C’85, Celebrates the Creative Powers of Scrabble.

As Words with Friends takes over everyone smart phones, it’s refreshing to take a moment and recall the tiled game that started our love affair with making words.  Fatsis and follow alumni enjoyed a lively special discussion in celebration of the tenth anniversary release of his bestselling book, Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players.

7.            Alumni Bacchanal/Platt Fifth Anniversary Party

Those in the performing arts at Penn recall the annual Bacchanal, the end of the year costume party, fondly.  Capturing those memories, the Platt Student Performing Arts House invited alumni back to revel in the boisterous Alumni Bacchanal to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Performing Arts’ newest home on campus.

Platt House 5 Years at the Alumni Bacchanal

6.            Free-at-Noon Concert featuring Frank Turner

WXPN’s weekly “Free-at-Noon” concert at World Cafe Live featured Frank Turner. Turner is an English folk/punk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Winchester and formally the lead vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead. His musical style seems to be counter to his upbringing – educated on a scholarship at Eton College and studied alongside Prince William. Yet, his current directions are now acoustic-based which have critics calling his work “a fearless venture for an artist with something interesting to say.”

For the “Free-at-Noon” concert in its entirety, visit NPR: here.

5.            Feature Film Screening: Thunder Soul Presented by the Penn Alumni Film Festival

The pinnacle of Penn’s newest Homecoming tradition, the Penn Alumni Film Festival, this feature film did not disappoint. Jamie Foxx’s rousing documentary tells the story of Conrad O. Johnson, a music teacher at a predominantly black high school in Houston. Johnson replaced the mundane standards that students of the Kashmere Stage Band were learning to play with contemporary funk, jazz, and original compositions. He not only got their attention and their active participation in class, he changed their lives forever.

A darkened auditorium watching Thunder Soul

4.            Old Guard Brunch

This is the perennial favorite event for those in Alumni Relations and alumni alike.  Our distinguished alumni who have passed their 50th reunion are invited to this buffet brunch.  Our staff is enchanted by the stories of the Woodland Avenue Trolley, Althea Kratz Hottel, the Mungermen, and Rowbottoms, told so vividly by our alumni that they could have happened yesterday.  Fellow alumni are always excited to see and catch up with old friends as welling as making a new one along the way.  The gathering always ends with festive singing and cheering before folks head over to the game.

Our revered alumni enjoying each other’s company

3.            QuakerFest

The weather couldn’t have been better on this perfect fall day.  Music filled College Green and tents for food and tables for groups to meet up dotted Blanche Levy Park.  Partnered with the Penn Alumni Arts Fair, QuakerFest was the place to be to tailgate before kickoff. In time for the game, the Quaker mascot joined the crowd to lead alumni and friends to Franklin Field!

College Green full of Penn Pride

2.            Taste of Penn: A Global Celebration

Taste of Penn is the flagship festival of the Penn Alumni Diversity Alliance. This year’s party was a tour de force celebrating Penn’s cultural diversity – accentuating its global scope.  Complete with a globe centerpiece with all roads leading to Philadelphia, alumni and friends danced to hip-hop, rock, reggae, salsa, and pop as well as enjoying the flavors from these rich cultural identities in savory entrees and refreshing cocktails.

Peruvian courtship dance by Cynthia Paniagua, who the subject of “Soy Andina,” directed by Mitch Teplitsky, W'80, and featured in this Homecoming’s Penn Alumni Film Festival

1.            Penn Football:  Homecoming Game vs. Princeton

We have a saying in Alumni Relations, “Homecoming isn’t just about the game, but it IS about the game.”  This is always the biggest draw for the weekend. Alumni and friends travel from New York, Washington, Boston, and beyond to be back in Franklin Field and cheer on our football team. The Quakers Homecoming victory over the Tigers continues to give Pennsylvania the chance of being Ivy Champs this year.  It was a thrilling match up, but thankfully, a definitive win, which fueled our hope for another Ivy Title.

Below, you can view for yourself the post game  press conference given by head coach Al Bagnoli, wideout Ryan Calvert, C’12, and linebacker Erik Rask, W’12,  held to celebrate the Quaker’s fifth straight win over Princeton.

Thanks to everyone who returned and we hope to see you back on campus for Alumni Weekend 2012, May 11-14!

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October 14, 2011 · 9:19 am

My Top Penn List: The Class of 95’s Top Singles

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

I jetted up to Boston for an alumni event with Eric Furda this Monday. While that event will be a future Locust Walk Talk entry, some of the particulars of the day inspired me to pursue a nostalgic topic for my Top Penn list today.

I had scheduled 6:05am flight to Boston. I rushed to the gate and learned there was a major delay with the flight. While I was waiting in line at the counter to learn about the delay’s impact on my travel I saw a fellow classmate and reunion planning committee member, Christine, heading down to her gate for an early morning flight too. We said “Hi” and waved, like two ship passing the night.

While finally en route, I cursorily scanned the invite list, so I didn’t notice that surprised that laid in store for me. Finally in town and at the Boston Marriott Copley Place, I set up the event and I remained oblivious to my future good fortune. As I was checking in attendees, someone called my name and I knew that she wasn’t reading my name tag. It was one of my Class’s Vice Presidents, Ari. We caught up a little as I checked her in and directed her into the reception.

Before the Dean arrived, I looked up and saw yet another classmate. I shared with Clé, who was on the reunion planning committee also, that I saw Christine in the morning. We also had a nice moment to chat before the program started and I was generally energized by seeing three of my classmates unexpectedly that day.

At the end of the program, I was able to chat a little longer with my classmates and we all were pleased about our very mini-reunion. Musing on our last quinquennial reunion, we all had remembered how good the song list was. I know from my days in Classes and Reunions how diligently our student volunteers, College House Alumni Ambassadors (CHAA) , worked to come of with a good list of songs for our DJ to use to plan the reunion’s music. I remember in one meeting that we, the committee, suggested that the CHAA students look up the top singles from our last year at Penn. That would be a great source of songs that would be evocative of our senior year. They did it and it brought us back to 1995.

Reminiscent from seeing my classmates, I looked up the 10 Billboard Hot 100 songs for our last year at Penn. This list ranks the best-performing singles in the United States on a weekly basis. Ending with the best performing single of our senior week, I give you the last Ten Hot 100 number-one singles for the Class of 1995.

10. “Bump n’ Grind,” R. Kelly

9. “The Sign,” by Ace of Base first hit the best single list on March 12, 1994, and ran for four weeks until R. Kelly dethroned it.  After a month of “Bump n’ Grind,” “The Sign” came back an bumped R. Kelly from the number-one position and earned the top spot in time for the Class of 1994’s senior week.

8. “I Swear,” All-4-One held on for eleven weeks as number one during the summer before our senior year.

7. “Stay (I Missed You),” Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories

6. “I’ll Make Love to You,” Boyz II Men ruled the airwaves for 14 weeks, defining our fall semester.

5. “On Bended Knee,” Boyz II Men

4. “Here Comes the Hotstepper” Ini Kamoze

4a. “On Bended Knee,” Boyz II Men took a break for two weeks for “Here Comes the Hotstepper” and resurged back on the list. Our senior year was the year of Boyz II Men; their two singles were on the list for a total of 17 weeks!

3. “Creep,” TLC

2. “Take a Bow” Madonna, and, if you know me, you know that I’m very happy to include her!

As the class of 1995 donned its graduation robes and lined up in Superblock (now known as Hamilton Village), the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of the day was:

1. “This Is How We Do It” Montell Jordan, which is a great song for the Class of 1995, and this is the song that heralded us onto College Green as we marched in the parade for our 15th reunion.

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September 16, 2011 · 2:53 pm

My Top Penn List: Ten to Penn

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

I’m currently on vacation but I wanted to make sure that I still wrote a blog entry on schedule.  In honor of Penn Park’s opening this weekend, I wanted to pay homage to my follow bloggers, Jason and Leigh Ann, with my Top Penn List’s Ten to Penn.

10.

It’s a quiet morning, right outside my apartment door. It’s sunny and a wonderful day to walk to work, snapping pictures on my iPhone for a Ten to Penn blog post. It looks like Roosevelt’s and Wharton MBAs survived another night together.

9.

Walking a mere block west, I see Penn on the horizon. What I didn’t take a picture of was the upcoming traffic on 76 since the trek is limited to 10 pictures and I wanted to focus on pictures with a strong Penn theme. It’s traffic like that which makes me happy I can walk to work.

8.

The Cira Center juts out behind 30th street and the old United States Post Office-Main Branch, the Art Deco building on the National Register of Historic Places that Penn now owns as part of the Postal Lands purchase.

7.

The pièce de résistance of this entry, Penn Park. Originally the asphalt parking lot of the Postal Lands purchase, it is a vibrant, verdant open space for our Penn athletes, students and community to enjoy.

6.

World Café Live is the home of WXPN, member-supported radio from the University of Pennsylvania and two live venues for music. I have been lucky to see my classmate, Gabriel Mann, C’95, of the Rescues, John Forté, Heart, Tori Amos and Carly Simon at shows here.

5.

I love this bold announcement of Penn on the side of the train trestle. “Welcome to University City.”

4.

Here’s the back view of the Cathedral of Basketball, the Palestra. Beyond to the left, you can see some of Franklin Field poking through and to the right, there stands Irvine Auditorium.

3.

Here is the construction site of the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology, which promises the future collaboration, exchange, and integration of knowledge in this emerging field.

2.

Known more for designing the Gateway Arch and choosing Jørn Utzon’s winning plans for the Sydney Opera House, Eero Saarinen is the mastermind behind the architecture of Hill College House. I thought that I would take a more pedestrian view of the building since I don’t view the main entrance along my walk to Sweeten.

1.

Finally, I am at campus, stepping onto Locust Walk (though technically it’s Woodland Walk here.) I’m ready to start the workday, and I check in on foursquare to see if I remain the Mayor of the University of Pennsylvania.

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August 19, 2011 · 8:19 am

My Top Penn List: National Register of Historic Places on Campus

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

As a member of the GAN alumni network staff, I contribute periodically to the Did You Know?, the weekly Penn update to our Regional Alumni Club Leadership.  We review Penn news, read local newspapers, scan recent and upcoming news magazine shows and more for the leads for our stories that we start off with our stylized phrase: “Did You Know…”, like in the following:

Did you know… that Philadelphia is the site of one of only 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the US? Independence Hall was bestowed this honor since it was “directly or tangibly associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, or with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of outstanding universal significance.” Obviously the “works of outstanding universal significance” are the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, all of which have influenced lawmakers, politicians and governmental charters around the world.

Independence Hall

I bring this up because I was recently watching Anderson Cooper 360° and someone made a passing reference to UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I figured that I should read up more on World Heritage Sites, having been to a few like the above mentioned Independence Hall, Great Barrier Reef and Delos.  Since I was using Wikipedia for my research, I searched on so many links, and, as was mentioned in a prior entry, I ended up on an interesting reading journey. I eventually landed on the entry on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania from my starting point of the Independence Hall Wikipedia article.

Independence Hall is the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park, a United States National Historical Park.  This NHP, in turn, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Did you know what else is on this register? The University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District.  This is a significant part of campus is bounded by portions of Woodland and Hamilton Walks, Convention Boulevard,  32nd, Walnut, 36th, Spruce, and 39th Streets. This area comprised of 28 contributing properties.

The Fisher Fine Arts Library, Interior (number 9)

Here are my favorite ten historic contributing properties:

10.          The Quadrangle (a.k.a. University Dormitories) – 1895-1910. The popular dormitory building just had to be on my list.

9.            The Fisher Fine Arts Library (a.k.a. Furness Library) – 1888-1891, and Duhring Wing, 1914-1915. This library is one of the pure architectural gems on campus designed by Frank Furness.

8.            Irvine Auditorium – 1926-1928.  Though there is a false story about the blueprints being an alumnus’s failed thesis, this building holds a grandiose charm.

Towne Building (number 3)

7.            Veterinary School and Hospital – 1906, 1912. Another quadrangular historic building of note on Penn’s campus that hosts Pennsylvania’s only veterinary school (also mentioned in yesterday‘s post).

6.            Richards Medical Research Laboratories – 1964. Like Furness, the Richard Labs are notable for having a famous designer, Louis Kahn.

5.            University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (a.k.a. University Museum) – 1895-1899; additions, 1912, 1929, 1979, 2002. The original proposal for the museum had planned for the building to be 3 times its size, but it was

250 S. 36th Street, "The Castle" (number 2)

4.            Franklin Field – 1904, 1925. The first double tiered collegiate stadium needs to be on this list.

3.            Towne Building – 1903. The astronomy class that I had in this building always had a feel of being the stereotypical Ivy League setting, so I needed to include the building.

2.            250 S. 36th Street (a.k.a. “The Castle” -Tau chapter of Psi Upsilon Fraternity) – 1897–1899. The lead house on Locust Walk dominates many traditional shots to demonstrate college life.

Irvine Auditorium, Interior (number 8)

1.            College Hall – 1871-1872. The oldest building on the register which house the Office of the President and of the Secretary is the administrative and symbol heart of campus.

An honorable mention goes to the building that houses Alumni Relations, E. Craig Sweeten Alumni House (aka Delta Tau Delta), 1914.

College Hall (number 1)

For a complete list of all 28 buildings, visit Wikipedia’s University of Pennsylvania Campus Historic District entry.

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July 22, 2011 · 3:08 pm

My Top Penn List: “Do Over”

Author: Casey Ryan, C’95

Working in academia, I have so many opportunities for education, whether it’s taking a class, listening on a guest lecture, or visiting one of the many museums on campus.  The one thing I can’t do is revamp my undergraduate career.  Recently, while checking out the 2011-2012 course register for potential graduate level classes, I found myself wishing that some of the currently-offered undergraduate classes were available when I was a student.  Here are the 10 elective courses I would have liked to have taken if I could get a “do over” (some descriptions have been edited for length).

10.          LING051 (Linguistics) Proto-Indo-European Language.  Noyer.

Most of the languages now spoken in Europe, along with some languages of Iran, India, and central Asia, are thought to be descended from a single language known as Proto-Indo-European, spoken at least six thousand years ago. Speakers of Proto-Indo-European eventually populated Europe in the Bronze Age, and their societies formed the basis of the classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, as well as of the Celtic, Germanic and Slavic speaking peoples. Students will learn the basis of reconstructing a language and explore the culture and society of the Proto-Indo-Europeans and their immediate descendants. In addition, we will examine the pseudo-scientific basis of the myth of Aryan supremacy, and study the contributions of archaeological findings in determining the “homeland” of the Indo-Europeans.

9.            ENG 019 (English) History of the English Language.

This course traces the history of the English language through English literary history, from Anglo-Saxon England to 21st-century America. We will consider the relationship between different language systems (e.g., syntax, morphology, orthography, grammar) and the relation of those systems to the literature of different historical periods. We will also consider the social and political events influencing language change, such as the introduction of Christianity, the Norman Conquest, the printing press, colonialism, educational policies, and mass media.

Image courtesy of the Furness Theatrical Image Collection

8.            HIST 050 (History) England and the British Isles to 1707. Todd.

The subject of this course is the history of the British Isles from the Roman Conquest in 43AD to the creation of the United Kingdom in 1707. Between these two dates the various societies and cultures in the British Isles were brought into the orbit of the Roman Empire, converted to Latin Christianity, and developed distinctive cultures and strong ties with the Continent. From the twelfth century on, the kingdom of England began to exert its power over Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. The Anglo-Norman continental empire of the Plantagenet dynasty also played a large part in shaping the English monarchy, as did the playing out of the Hundred Years War, the internal divisions in fifteenth-century English society, and the rise of the Tudor-Stuart dynasty.

7.            PHIL018 (Philosophy) The Idea of Nationalism. Steinberg.

Nationalism is one of, if not, the major geo-political forces of the past two hundred years. Its continuing power has been amply demonstrated by recent events in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. This course will focus on the conceptual and theoretical issues raised by competing notions of nationalism, rather than on its history or expression in particular cultures.

Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Library Image Collection

6.            URBS012 (Urban Studies) The History and Politics of Space. Schneider.

How do we understand the places in which we live? What is the relationship between workplace and home, downtown and suburb, inner city and gated communities, department store and mall, row house and ranch house? How are our lives defined by place? The city is a social and a spatial system, and its organization both reflects and reproduces social categories of race, class, and gender. The current city is also the product of past decisions about where to locate communities and how to allocate resources. Through reading sociological, historical, theoretical, and primary texts, through studying maps and photographs, and through your ethnographic explorations, we will explore the presence of the past in the city around us, the evolution of different kinds of urban and suburban places, and the encoding of wealth and power as well as inequality and poverty in the urban landscape.

5.            IPD509 (Integrated Product Design) Needfinding.

Needfinding is an approach that puts people and their needs at the center of product development and business strategy creation. Over 90% of new products introduced into the marketplace fail. A good portion of these failures are due to lack of understanding of end consumers and their needs. Designers and engineers need tools and techniques to get beyond what people can explicitly state and determine their implicit needs. In this class students will gain a tool set from which to develop their own approaches to conducting researching for design: learning how to think about other people, about culture, and about new perspectives. They will also learn tactical skills: how to define research questions, how to conduct observations and interviews, how to interpret results, how to synthesize them into fodder for design, and how to communicate their findings in a way that is compelling and actionable for designers, marketers, and business strategists.

4.            GSWS240 (Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies; Cross listed HIST240) Gender and Athletics. Miller.

Have women started to “play hardball” on a “level playing field” in the American sporting culture? From the commercial successes of the WNBA and World Cup Soccer to new studies that document the positive effects of athletics on girls’ self-esteem, women finally seem to be turning the American obsession with sports to their own advantage. This course will examine how physical fitness and organized athletics for men and women have both reflected and helped to create norms of masculinity and femininity over the past one hundred and fifty years.

Image courtesy of the of Women's Club Basketball Team

3.            PSCI135. (Political Science; Cross Listed GAFL135 – Government Administration and HSOC -135 – Health and Societies) The Politics of Food. Summers.

This academically based community service seminar will explore the politics and institutions that have shaped – and continue to shape – food production and consumption. Students will use the readings, their community service, and ongoing “food events” at Penn to analyze the politics of food in many arenas: from farms, kitchens, supermarkets, schools, and communities of faith to corporations, research institutions, the media and international trade.

2.            MUSC014. (Music) Songwriting in the 20th Century. (M) Weesner.

This course will alternate between an analytical approach and a critical approach to the study of a wide range of songs composed throughout the 20th century. We will study musical techniques such as melody, harmony, form, rhythm, instrumentation, style, and text-setting. We will also pose far-ranging questions, such as, what makes a song a song? What makes a song a good song? What is the difference between an art song and a pop song? This course will occasionally focus on specific composers, such as Cole Porter, Charles Ives, John Harbison, and Liz Phair, and will also consider the musical ramifications of collaboration, covers and re-makes.

1.            ANTH 230 (Anthropology; Cross listed ANTH633) Forensic Anthropology.  Monge.

This course will investigate and discuss the various techniques of analysis that biological anthropologists can apply to forensic cases. Topics include human osteology, the recovery of bodies, the analysis of life history, the reconstruction of causes of death, and various case studies where anthropologists have contributed significantly to solving forensic cases. Discussions will include the limitations of forensic anthropology and the application of DNA recovery to skeletal/mummified materials.

Image courtesy of the of Penn Museum Blog

I encourage you to wax nostalgic and peruse the course register, maybe your favorite class is still being taught by your favorite professor or you might find a course that inspires you to go out and learn more.

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July 1, 2011 · 2:09 pm

Philadelphia is Your Oyster

Author: Amanda M. D’Amico

While reading Frankly Penn, I came across two posts: the first by Dan, C’14, and the second by Casey, C’95.  Dan talks about a new found love for DC (where he’s spending his summer), while Casey talks about things to do at Penn during the summer.

Having lived in DC for two years, I have a special place in my heart for the nation’s capital as well.  What I liked best about DC was the plethora of things to do – many at little or no cost.  From the Smithsonian Institution to listening to jazz in the National Sculpture Garden, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

I’ve been back in Philadelphia for a couple of years now, but I haven’t taken advantage of the city very much.  Casey’s list of things to do at Penn during the summer inspired me to create a similar for Philadelphia.  After some research, I compiled my top ten things to do in Philadelphia this summer (with a few Penn things mixed in).

Watch the Independence Day Parade and then watch The Roots perform at the 4th of July concert.

  1. Take a guided tour of the Morris Arboretum.
  2. Play mini-golf at Franklin Square.
  3. Listen to country and blue grass bands at the Reading Terminal Market’s Pennsylvania Dutch Festival.
  4. Walk through Penn Park after construction is completed.
  5. Check out one of XPN’s Free at NoonLive concert series.

    Penn alumnus, John Legend at WXPN

  6. Have a picnic at the Horticultural Center and visit Shofuso – The Japanese House and Garden in Fairmount Park.
  7. View important archaeological and anthropological finds and listen to live music at PM @ Penn Museum Summer Nights.
  8. Catch a movie at Penn’s Landing and then come back for a jazz concert.
  9. Stroll around Old City during First Friday.

This is just a small snippet of interesting things to do around the city this summer.  Check out “Things to Do” on www.visitphilly.com for more ideas.

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June 24, 2011 · 2:58 pm

My Top Penn List: When the Students Aren’t Here

Casey R., C’95

There is something almost surreal about being on campus during the summer.  The campus is beautiful but it is a calmer version of itself than in the academic year.   In turn for the buzz, the campus gains serenity.  The idyllic images that one sees on the webpage of ivy growing on a building or the flag fluttering above a seated Ben in patina in front of a similarly green College Hall are now real, and not just great photographs that, by chance and patience, captured such a peaceful scene.

The summer affords me the opportunity to slow down and enjoy some of my favorite Penn activities without the frenetic bustle that we’re used to in the school year.  It’s the same campus that I love, but now it’s more mine than the students’.  It’s like being backstage at a concert and getting to play with the instruments and the props while the performers are still at the hotel.  I’ll be off the stage before the curtain time of September.  For now, though, I’ll enjoy having campus to myself.

Here is a list of my favorite things to do on Campus during the summer break.

10.          Visiting the ICA.  The Institute of Contemporary Art is one of the country’s leading museums dedicated to exhibiting the innovative art of the current day.  Having no permanent collection, the Institute hosts new exhibits that are shown three times a year and has featured the works of Andy Warhol, Laurie Anderson, Agnes Martin, and Robert Indiana. With fewer people on campus, the museum has a more pensive feeling to it where I can get lost in my thoughts inspired by the artwork I see.

Odili Donald Odita’s Third Space from his 2009 exhibition

9.            Checking out fiction from the Library. The Van Pelt Library of the Penn Library system has a wonderful collection of recent best-sellers and current fiction.  Now that school isn’t in session, students and faculty have less demand for books and I can check out the latest Dan Brown novel or other guilty pleasure for free.

8.            Ordering from Magic Carpet. The iconic long lines for the Magic Carpet, though still long, are noticeably shorter.  I get my favorite vegetarian meal, Bella Donna – a top-secret recipe of tofu meatballs (which everyone on campus calls Magic Meatballs) and red sauce on top of rice served with a salad.  I always order mine with cheese and extra hot sauce.

7.            Sitting on a bench in Blanche Levy Park.  When the weather is nice on campus, which is about half of the summer days, I enjoy my lunch, perhaps from Magic Carpet, on a bench on College Green or read my most recently borrowed library book.

Blanche Levy Park (College Green) in its summer green

6.            Working out in the evening.  During the academic year, I follow a schedule of morning workouts at the David Pottruck Health and Fitness Center since that is the best time of day to have access to all of the machines, weights and lockers without much of a wait. However, as the daylight hours grow longer, I sleep later in the morning knowing that I can run over to Pottruck and enjoy after-work workouts without spending more time there than I have to.

5.            Taking a moment for me in a roof top lounge. As staff members with Penn Cards, we can access the public areas of the College Houses, including McClelland Hall and the High Rises’ roof top lounges.  My favorite roof top lounge is the Heyer Sky Lounge of Harrison College House, which is great place to perch to get a great view of West Philadelphia and Center City, as well as, to read The Lost Symbol without anyone knowing what I’m reading.

Entrance to the Heyer Sky Lounge

4.            Strolling leisurely down Locust Walk. (n.b. Not this summer…) The site of the long stretching Locust Walk through the rather literal center of campus is a site that I remember from the Penn application brochure or some other admissions piece years ago.  However during my years as I student I never saw that view recreated.  It wasn’t until summers at Penn that I saw the real version of the picture I remembered in my mind.

Idyllic Locust Walk

3.            Riding the Penn Bus. The Penn Bus is one of the best perks that students, staff and faculty have.  Two Penn routes take members of the Penn community in to West Philadelphia as far as 48th Street and into Center City as far as 20th. Whether or not the students are in town, the ride is convenient for me since it’s practically door to door. However, in the summer, the usually standing-room only bus has plenty of seats.  With the air conditioning on, the bus is comfortable and I have some room to sit separately from others especially if I just came from the gym.

2.            Spending a few minutes in the Arthur Ross Gallery.  In addition to the ICA, the Ross Gallery is another University art space showcasing temporary art exhibitions.  This single-room gallery was established in 1983 to view the eclectic program of changing exhibitions in all fields of the visual arts and cultural artifacts from around the globe.  When I am limited on time, this is a wonderful gallery to get lost in for 15 minutes, then I take a peek at the Furness architecture of the Fisher Fine Arts Library before heading out.

Example of an exhibition in the Arthur Ross Galley

1.            Dining at Roosevelt’s.  This is a little bit of a cheat since Roosevelt’s isn’t on campus.  However, when I get off the bus to go home from an evening workout and I don’t feel like cooking, I have a place to go.  It’s great to walk into the pub, pony up to the bar, and order a $2 or $3 beer – depending on the happy hour special that day – and burger without having to wait for all the MBA students’ to get their food before me since they’ve been there since 4pm.

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May 27, 2011 · 11:30 am

My Top Penn: Public Art

In 1959, Philadelphia passed a law that called for 1 percent of construction costs to be set aside for fine arts projects. Since then the University has acquired campus art that is displayed inside and outside many of the University building. Throughout campus there are many interesting pieces of art that are the part of the fabric of campus, and I wanted to share with you my favorite 10 outdoor pieces of Public Art.

10.          Quadrature #1 (T. G. Miller Plaza, Hamilton Walk, between HUP and Medical Education Building) – personally, I have likened it to the Medical School’s own Covenant.

9.            125 Years (Hill Square) – this public work has transformed the pathway diagonally crossing Hill Square, aka Hill Field.

8.            Tribute to Tuskegee (20-22 39th Street – South Wall) – one of the few murals that Penn has supported through this program.

Tribute to Tuskegee

7.            Column + Capital (Hayden Hall Rear Lawn) – this subtle and sometimes unnoticed piece of art is nod to engineering, highlighting the skill of the Greeks and Romans in the middle of Penn Engineering’s buildings.

6.            Solomon (36th Street Walk, South of Walnut street) – this legendary king of Israel both blends in with the grass and flora due to its a green patina and stands out due to its massive size.

Solomon

5.            George Munger (Franklin Field) – Mungermen have left an indelible mark on the football program at Penn  and this homage to Coach Munger is a fitting tribute.

4.            Love (Blanche Levy Park) – this Robert Indiana classic has been a backdrop for many pictures, ranging from wedding save-the-dates to holiday cards.

Love

3.            Ben Franklin – this is a cheat since there are 3 statues of Ben on campus: The prominent Franklin (Blanche Levy Park, in front of College Hall), young Ben Franklin (Weightman Hall on 33rd Street) and the life-sized Ben on the Bench (37th & Locust Walk, South East Corner).

2.            Covenant (Hamilton Village, spanning Locust Walk at 39th Street) – the given name to the large cheery-red sculpture of rolled steel that dominates Hamilton Village, aka Superblock.

Covenant

1.            Spilt Button (Blanche Levy Park at Van Pelt Library) – this one needs no introduction.

To learn more about the Public Art at Penn, visit the PennCurrent article, here and to view a map of public art at Penn, visit Penn’s Facilities Map and check the “Public Art” box.  Are there pieces that you wished I included?  Which ones would you switch out from my list?

In addition, when on campus, art lovers or admirers can learn more about Penn’s outdoor art through the University’s free “Discover Penn” audio walking tour. Launched in 2008 by the Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services, this program provide a number to call, posted on a small, red ground-level sign posted at various sites around campus to hear a short narration about significant University buildings, sculptures, historical events and other points of interest.

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