News Archives

Studying fish immunology for the greater good

Now that many wild fish populations are too depleted to harvest, aquaculture offers a way to provide an ever-expanding global population with fish to eat. This rising demand has made fish farming the fastest growing food industry on Earth.

Taking aim

Penn Collaborative Study Explores Indian-American Entrepreneurship

The success stories of immigrants coming to America are legion. William Morris of the famed William Morris talent agency (now WME) came to America from Germany.  Newspaper editor Joseph Pulitzer of Pulitzer Prize fame hailed from Hungary.  Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Austria.  In the past 20 years, many of the entrepreneurs making a mark on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley are from India.

Penn Museum’s new director

Julian Siggers has been appointed the Williams Director of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, effective July 1. Siggers is currently vice president for programs, education, and content communication at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada’s largest research museum.

Penn dentists to provide free care to underserved Philadelphians

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one-third of all adults in the United States have untreated tooth decay, and dental cavities affect American children more than any other chronic infectious disease. Many Philadelphians do not receive adequate oral care for a variety of reasons, including the cost of treatment, a lack of time, and a dearth of nearby accessible providers.

Penn reaches thousands online with Coursera

Call them the daring dozen. As part of Penn’s new partnership with the start-up online education platform called Coursera, 12 professors have agreed to be the first to venture into the unchartered waters of large-scale cyber teaching.

Staff Q&A with Andrea Gottschalk

In the past dozen years, Andrea Gottschalk has coordinated exhibitions for the Rare Book & Manuscript Library as wildly diverse as a historical perspective of the comic strip and a look at education in the age of Ben Franklin. Gottschalk, in that time, has coordinated 75 shows—a remarkable number that reflects how she is a de facto one-woman show of her own.

Free Saturday Summer Concerts in University City

Saturday nights in University City are going to be more lively this summer with the sounds of eclectic local and international bands. The University City District’s 40th Street Summer Series of four concerts kicks off June 23 with the group Slavic Soul Party. The Brooklyn-based band plays an acoustic mash-up of Balkan and Gypsy sounds, weaving the gospel, techno, funk, dub, jazz and Latin influences of New York’s neighborhoods.  

For the Record: Penn ‘College Girl’ postcards

Pen-and-ink drawings by illustrator Charles Dana Gibson, originally satirizing the upper class, wound up having a profound influence on popular culture in the early 1900s, with both men and women aspiring to become a Gibson Girl or Gibson Man. The attractive and aloof Gibson Girl, with her impossibly tiny waist, upswept hair and air of serene self-confidence, became an iconic image women wanted to emulate. The Gibson Man was handsome and also self-assured. They were considered the Barbie and Ken dolls of that era, the ideal woman and man.

Making Penn Shuttle routes more efficient

Dear Benny, How do the drivers of Penn’s shuttle buses know the best route to take when they’re dropping off passengers in the neighborhood? It seems like there’s the potential to waste a lot of gas as drivers drop off people at their various destinations.—Concerned about conservingDear Concerned,