We are family

In what has become an autumn tradition, staff and faculty are invited to bring their family and friends to the 18th annual Penn Family Day on Saturday, Oct. 2. Participants will get a chance to cheer on Penn’s football and women’s volleyball teams, stroll through the University Museum, go for a skate at the Class of 1923 Ice Rink and attend the Penn family tailgate party. All of the activities are being hosted by the Division of Human Resources in association with Penn Athletics.

Advance tickets are required to attend the tailgate party and/or football game and visitors must bring their PennCards. The tailgate party will be held on the north side of Franklin Field. Staff and faculty can reserve up to four free tickets. Additional tickets cost $8 each. Tickets must be ordered by Sept. 27. Free parking will be available with a faculty or staff PennCard. For more information about the day’s schedule of events, maps, directions, parking information and how to order tickets, visit the Penn Family Day website at www.hr.upenn.edu/Quality/StaffRecognition/FamilyDay.aspx or contact the Division of Human Resources at 215-898-1012 or QOWL@hr.upenn.edu.

New dean at Penn Med

J. Larry Jameson is the new executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and dean of Penn’s School of Medicine effective July 1, 2011. He joins Penn from Northwestern University, where he has served since 2007 as vice president for medical affairs and the Lewis Landsberg Dean of the Feinberg School of Medicine.

Penn President Amy Gutmann called Jameson “an eminent researcher, educator and clinician with a sterling track record of inspired leadership, a deep appreciation for Penn Medicine’s exceptional faculty, students and clinical programs, an unwavering ethical compass, and a desire to broadly engage with the entire Penn community.” Known as a proponent of interdisciplinary research and education, Jameson will be responsible for the oversight and strategic management of all of Penn Medicine’s academic programs, research activities and clinical services.

Night at the Museum

This fall, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology has introduced expanded evening hours on Wednesdays and has opened a new café for visitors. Each Wednesday evening, the Museum galleries will remain open until 8 p.m., with half-hour gallery tours at 5:30 p.m. The evenings will also include interactive programming at 6 p.m. The first Wednesday of each month will feature Restaurant Associates’ “Chef’s Corner.” Second Wednesdays will be devoted to Quizzo, hosted by Quiztine; third Wednesdays will highlight world music and dance performances; and fourth and fifth Wednesdays will feature classes in ethnic dance, yoga, drawing, flower arranging and more. An updated schedule is available at www.penn.museum/pm.

Also on Wednesday evenings, visitors can purchase wine, beer, soda and light supper offerings at the new Pepper Mill Café until 7:30 p.m., and the Museum shop will remain open until 8 p.m. The Penn Museum is located at 3260 South St., across from Franklin Field.

Extreme energy makeover

The University has been awarded more than $12.5 million to join a national research effort to make commercial buildings more energy efficient. The Energy-Efficient Building Systems Design Hub, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a $159 million, five-year federal and state-funded effort to develop building-integrated photovoltaic systems, advanced indoor air quality management and sensor networks that will optimize energy use inside buildings.

Located at the Philadelphia Navy Yard Clean Energy campus in South Philadelphia, the hub will bring together researchers from government and academic institutions including Penn State University, Carnegie Mellon University, Princeton University, Rutgers University and Virginia Tech. Penn will play a leadership role in the new innovation hub. Faculty from the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the School of Design’s T.C. Chan Center, the Penn Institute for Urban Research and the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership at the Wharton School, as well as the Wharton Small Business Development Center, will conduct research on campus and at the site.

Researchers from across the Penn campus will collaborate on such advances as building glass that admits different amounts of light depending on the time of day and wall materials that absorb heat and humidity to lower cooling costs. They also will help to develop policies and incentives for building occupants to adopt these new tools. An interactive website will allow the public, and specifically building engineers, to follow the team’s progress.