The Pennsylvania Gazette

06/27/2024

Our Jul|Aug 2024 issue has just been posted online! View the entire magazine here. 👀

Vol. 122, No. 6

06/03/2024

The late jazz legend Allan Jaffe W'57 was honored in his hometown of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, last month with a historical marker outside of his father's wallpaper and paint store on North Centre Street. Jaffe accredits his time working at his father's store to his success in managing Preservation Hall, a venue in New Orleans dedicated to preserving the culture and sound of jazz music. It is widely known as a must-visit destination in New Orleans. Jaffe was also instrumental in establishing the Preservation Hall Band in 1963, for which he played bass horn. He died in 1987 at the age of 51.

A community honored musician and Schuylkill County native Allan Jaffe who made waves in the New Orleans jazz scene in the 1960s.

05/20/2024

Over a decade-long photographic journey, Christopher Payne GAr’96 has explored the world of American manufacturing, from pianos to jet engines, pencils to 3D-printed rockets.
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Read more in "The Making of Things" in our May|Jun issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/the-making-of-things/
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📝: John Prendergast C'80 | 📸: Christopher Payne GAr’96 | 🏷️: Christopher Payne Photography

Over a decade-long photographic journey, Christopher Payne GAr’96 has explored the world of American manufacturing, from pianos to jet engines, pencils to 3D-printed rockets.

05/20/2024

Penn’s SNF Paideia Program aims to foster dialogue, civic engagement, community service, and wellness—and both students and faculty are enthusiastically signing on. But the program’s contours can be murky, and its role in bridging campus divisions remains a work in progress.
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Read more in "Creating Civil Citizens" in our May|Jun issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/creating-civil-citizens/
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📝: Julia M. Klein | 🎨: Martin Leon Barreto | 🏷️:

Penn’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program aims to foster dialogue, civic engagement, community service, and wellness—and both students and faculty are enthusiastically signing on. But the program’s contours can be murky, and its role in bridging campus divisions remains a work in prog...

05/20/2024

On May 20, more than 9,000 students are eligible to graduate at the University-wide Commencement ceremony, and Penn will confer six honorary degrees.

05/14/2024

Five years after his two teenage children were killed by a drunk driver, Colin Campbell C’91 is finding new ways to grieve—while helping others deal with bereavement through his new book, support groups, and a one-man show he calls the “feel-bad story of the year.”
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Read more in "Good Grief" in our May|Jun issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/good-grief/
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📝: Caren Lissner C’93 | 📸: Ethan Pines | 🏷️:

Five years after his two teenage children were killed by a drunk driver, Colin Campbell C’91 is finding new ways to grieve—while helping others deal with bereavement through his new book, support groups, and a one-man show he calls the “feel-bad story of the year.”

05/10/2024

Congratulations to Penn music professor Tyshawn Sorey, who has been awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music! Sorey, whom we profiled in our Sep|Oct 2023 issue, was recognized for his musical composition "Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)," a concerto for saxophone and orchestra that premiered in Atlanta last spring.

Take a listen below, while you read our cover story here: https://thepenngazette.com/time-stretcher/

05/06/2024

Our May|Jun 2024 cover stories include:

✔️ Colin Campbell C’91 wants to talk about grief;
✔️ Penn’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program fosters civic engagement and community service;
✔️ Christopher Payne GAr’96 photographs American manufacturing; and
✔️ Penn labor and environmental economist R. Jisung Park assesses the implications of a warming world.

Read the issue on our website 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/mayjun-2024/

05/02/2024

04/10/2024

Edward Goodfellow C1848 G1851, spent his career at the US Coast and Geodetic Survey (a precursor to today’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), working on the agency's eclipse expeditions.
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This photo from his collection is from the August 7, 1869, solar eclipse, which spanned across America from Alaska to North Carolina. It was one of the first popularized celestial events in the US.
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Read more in "'The Dark Day'" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/the-dark-day/
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📝: Nicole Perry | 📸: Courtesy University of Pennsylvania Archives | 🏷️: #1869

Looking back at the solar eclipse of 1869.

04/09/2024

“My life was transformed during those minutes of totality,” says Debra Ross C’91, recalling the 2017 total solar eclipse in Missouri.
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“I was aware of four bodies in the entire universe: the sun, the moon, the earth, and me. You can read about celestial mechanics; you can watch Neil deGrasse Tyson; you can look through a telescope; but you feel the celestial mechanics with your body during an eclipse. You’re not just looking at something, you’re in something.”
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The experience ultimately led her to become cochair of the American Astronomical Society’s solar eclipse task force, which helped cities in the 2024 path of totality prepare for yesterday's extraordinary event.
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Read more in "Total Eclipse With Some Heart" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/total-eclipse-with-some-heart/
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📝: Robyn Ross | 🎨: Gracia Lam | 🏷️:

Debra Ross C’91 has Rochester, NY, ready for this April’s solar eclipse.

03/21/2024

At the Commencement ceremony on Monday, May 20, Mukherjee will receive an honorary doctor of sciences degree, along with the other 2024 Penn honorary degree recipients.

03/13/2024

Rabbi David Wolpe C’81 spoke with actor and Jewish advocate Jonah Platt C’08 at Penn’s annual Interfaith Commemoration of the Life of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which focused on allyship between the Black and Jewish communities.
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“The kinship of our communities is so important to me,” Platt said. “I’m very excited and hopeful for what’s on the horizon.”
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Read more in "Facing Hate with Allyship" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/facing-hate-with-allyship/
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📝: Dave Zeitlin C'03 | 🏷️:

Interfaith Commemoration highlights Black–Jewish allyship.

03/13/2024

Dental School Dean Mark Wolff has been leading a University-wide task force to combat antisemitism on campus.
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“There’s a lot of hurt and pain when we look at our Jewish community on campus, when we look at our Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities on campus,” Wolff said. “That makes this both a very important mission, and it makes it a somewhat emotionally painful mission. It’s that combination, that exists for everybody, that’s most challenging.”
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Read more in "Fighting a Pernicious Evil" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/fighting-a-pernicious-evil/
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📝: Dave Zeitlin C'03 | 🎨: Melinda Beck | 🏷️:

The head of Penn’s task force on combating antisemitism on progress so far.

03/12/2024

On January 2, Cherelle Parker G’16 LPS’16 was sworn in as the 100th mayor of Philadelphia—the first woman to hold the position. The 51-year-old former member of the Philadelphia City Council, who holds a master’s degree in public administration from Penn’s Fels Institute of Government, won a crowded Democratic primary last May and defeated Republican David Oh in November. She’s stressed that her administration will focus on public safety and providing economic opportunities for all residents. Among the Penn alums serving in Parker’s administration is Tiffany Thurman G’16 LPS’19, her chief of staff.
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Cherelle Parker G’16 LPS’16 is Philadelphia’s 100th—and first woman—mayor.

03/12/2024

A fierce believer in the value of universities to society and a defender of academic freedom, Penn’s new volunteer leader is determined to ensure that “no one is afraid to be who they are” on campus.
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Read more in "Ramanan Raghavendran Elected Trustees Chair" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/ramanan-raghavendran-elected-trustees-chair/
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📝: John Prendergast C'80 | 🏷️: Penn Alumni

Ramanan Raghavendran EAS’89 W’89 LPS’15 elected trustees chair.

03/12/2024

Women’s lacrosse’s senior standouts Niki Miles and Izzy Rohr are the reigning Ivy League Attacker of the Year and Defender of the Year, respectively.
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“We’re united in the fact that we’re competitive and we want to win more than anything,” Miles says.
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Read more in "The Niki and Izzy Show" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/the-niki-and-izzy-show/
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📝: Dave Zeitlin C'03 | 📸: Tommy Leonardi C’89 | 🏷️: Penn Athletics Penn Women's Lacrosse

Women’s lacrosse’s senior standouts Niki Miles and Izzy Rohr.

03/11/2024

Claire M. Fagin Hon’94, former interim Penn president and giant of the nursing profession, died on January 16 at age 97 at her home in New York.
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As interim president of the University in 1993–94, she was one of the first women to lead an Ivy League school. In addition, her many contributions to Penn Nursing as dean were honored by the school’s building being renamed for her.
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Read more in "Claire M. Fagin, 1926–2024" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/claire-m-fagin-1926-2024/
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📝: John Prendergast C'80 | 🎨: Nelson Shanks | 🏷️: Penn Nursing University of Pennsylvania

Interim president and transformational Nursing Dean Claire Fagin Hon’94.

03/11/2024

Alumnus Roy Vagelos and his wife, Diana, strengthen science research and education with their transformative gift to the University of Pennsylvania.

03/11/2024

03/11/2024

The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and Vagelos Institute for Energy Science and Technology are hosting Energy Week March 11-15, with more than two dozen events featuring Penn faculty, students, and outside experts.

03/11/2024

Ramanan Raghavendran EAS’89 W’89 LPS’15 elected trustees chair.

03/11/2024

Nine Penn affiliates—six fourth-year students and three recent graduates—have each received a Thouron Award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. Each Thouron Scholar receives tuition for as long as two years, as well as travel and living stipends.

Read More: bit.ly/43jKcO0

03/11/2024

Emily Wilson’s new translation of the Iliad brings the strange and brutal beauty of Homer’s world into the English-speaking now.
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Read more in "Shattering Violence, Shimmering Prizes" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/shattering-violence-shimmering-prizes/
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📝: Stephanie McCarter | 🎨: Hadley Hooper | 🏷️:

Emily Wilson’s new translation of the Iliad brings the strange and brutal beauty of Homer’s world into the English-speaking now.

03/08/2024

Chip Zien C’69's acclaimed starring turn in "Harmony" was cut short by the harsh economics of Broadway musicals, but the theater, film, and TV stalwart is still looking ahead after seven decades in the spotlight.
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Read more in "The Chip Zien Show" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/the-chip-zien-show/
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📝: Jonathan Takiff C’68 | 📸: Nathan Bajar | 🏷️:

His acclaimed starring turn in Harmony was cut short by the harsh economics of Broadway musicals, but the theater, film, and TV stalwart is still looking ahead after seven decades in the spotlight.

03/07/2024

From test-optional applications, to questions about ChatGPT, to the Supreme Court’s new limitations on considering race and ethnicity, college admissions are in flux. Admissions Dean Whitney Soule dissects the current state of play and how prospective applicants can navigate it.
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Read more in "Admissions in Transition " in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/admissions-in-transition/
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📝: Trey Popp | 🎨: Laura Liedo Illustration | 🏷️:

From test-optional applications, to questions about ChatGPT, to the Supreme Court’s new limitations on considering race and ethnicity, college admissions are in flux. Admissions Dean Whitney Soule dissects the current state of play and how prospective applicants can navigate it.

03/07/2024

For the past 20 years, Aaron Karo W’01 and Matt Ritter L’05 have been part of a unique friendship tradition called “Man of the Year” with their childhood buddies. Now, the fellow comedians and writers have launched a podcast of the same name to encourage other men to create, maintain, and grow their own friendships.
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Read more in "We Should Be Friends" in our Mar|Apr issue 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/we-should-be-friends/
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📝: Dave Zeitlin C'03 | 📸: Ethan Pines C'92 | 🏷️:

For the past 20 years, Aaron Karo W’01 and Matt Ritter L’05 have been part of a unique friendship tradition called “Man of the Year” with their childhood buddies. Now, the fellow comedians and writers have launched a podcast of the same name to encourage other men to create, maintain, and gr...

02/29/2024

Our Mar|Apr 2024 cover stories include:

✔️ A podcast from Aaron Karo W’01 and Matt Ritter L’05 encourages men to grow their friendships;
✔️ Admissions Dean Whitney Soule describes how college admissions are in flux;
✔️ Chip Zien C’69 looks ahead after seven decades in the spotlight; and
✔️ Professor Emily Wilson has a new translation of the Iliad.

Read the issue on our website 👉 https://thepenngazette.com/the-magazine/current-issue/

01/23/2024

Claire Fagin, the former Nursing dean who served as Interim President of Penn in the early 90's, died Jan. 16. Members of the Penn community share their thoughts on Fagin's legacy.