News Archives

Afaf I. Meleis, Ph. D., Fann, Named Dean Of Penn's School Of Nursing

PHILADELPHIA -- Afaf I. Meleis, PhD, FAAN, RN, an internationally acclaimed nurse and medical sociologist, has been named dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania, Penn President Judith Rodin announced. She will begin her new position in January.

Biologists Find A Gene Required For Tolerance Of Heavy Metals, Previously Known Only In Plants, In An Animal

PHILADELPHIA Biologists at the University of Pennsylvania have discovered the first biochemical pathway in animals responsible for the detoxification of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and cadmium. They have established that the enzyme phytochelatin synthase, which had previously been found only in plants and some fungi, is also present in some animals.

Penn Engineers Develop Fuel Cell That Uses Liquid Diesel, The First Such Device To Run On A Widely Available Fuel

PHILADELPHIA Chemical engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a prototype fuel cell that the first to run on a readily available liquid fuel source, in this case ordinary diesel fuel. The work nudges fuel cells closer to viability, offering the promise of compact, portable power sources that offer much more bang for the buck than combustion engines or existing batteries.

“Electing the President, 2000: The Insiders’ View”

Edited by Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman 240 pages, $17.95 paper The contest to elect the 43rd president of the United States was the costliest in the nation’s history. With the outcome uncertain for 36 days after the nation voted, it was also the country’s longest general election to date. “The election of 2000 will be scrutinized and debated for generations,” wrote the political staff of The Washington Post.

Egypt shares its treasures

Behind the June 1 announcement of giant dinosaur bones discovered by two Penn doctoral students is a story of Egyptian connections, kids who were dreamers, and faculty with the goods. We’ll start with the bones, which Penn Ph.D. Josh Smith (Gr’01) and doctoral student Matt LaManna quarried in Egypt in 2000. The bones belong to a gargantuan new genus of plant-eater, Paralatitan. Picture a four-legged creature taking up most of College Green at 80 to 100 feet long and weighing 60 to 70 tons. The genus might have been the largest dinosaur to walk the earth.

Chilean Shantytown Leaders Visit Penn To Discuss Their Experience As Subjects Of Ethnographic Research

PHILADELPHIA Anthropology students rarely get to meet the people whose lives are documented in their professor books. But in September Julia Paley, an assistant anthropology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, will bring students face-to-face with some of her subjects. Four members of a grassroots health group from Chile who participated in Paley ethnographic study will join her from 3 to 6 p.m., Sept. 12, in a panel discussion on ethnographic research. The session will be in the Class of 1949 Auditorium of Houston Hall, 3417 Spruce St. in Philadelphia.

A Penn venture seeds its first tech business

You’ve got a project to complete today. You turn on your trusty personal computer, only to see the blue screen of death. Uh-oh. Your Windows got broken. Your drivers won’t drive. Your PC has become a useless hunk of metal. But don’t reformat your hard drive yet. There’s good news. Some University of Pennsylvania researchers have created and patented software to prevent problems like yours. Here’s the bad news. You can’t buy that software — yet.

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Sickle cell hits home — and homeland

As a young man in Ghana, Professor of Pediatrics Kwaku Ohene-Frempong knew he wanted one day to do something that would benefit the children of Africa. He discovered what that something was by chance, as a Yale undergraduate. “I didn’t know anything about sickle cell disease in high school,” he said. But a lecture he attended at Yale Medical School introduced him to the genetic disorder that affects mainly people of African descent. “Afterwards, looking around, I realized that this was what killed my cousin,” he said.

Tips on getting into college

Now is the time when high school juniors and seniors start thinking about college. Which one is right for me? What sorts of courses will help me improve my chances of getting in? Should I do a lot of extracurricular activities? How important are test scores and essays? The staff of Penn’s Undergraduate Admissions Office knows the answers to these and many other questions about the college admissions process, and they’re willing to share them with you and your family.