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Wortham Tapped as Interim Education Dean at Penn
PHILADELPHIA -- Stanton Wortham, professor of education and associate dean for academic affairs in the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, will serve as the school's interim dean, beginning Aug. 1. He will succeed Susan Fuhrman, who is leaving Penn to become president of Teachers College at Columbia University. Wortham, recently named the Howard P. and Judith R. Berkowitz Professor of Education at Penn, previously served as acting GSE dean in 2002 while Fuhrman was on a leave of absence. A search for a permanent dean will begin this summer.
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The Penn Science Cafe Presents: "How's Johnny Doing in Calculus?: Mathematics and Mathematics Education for the 21st Century"
WHAT: The Penn Science Cafe, is your chance to ask your questions directly to leading scientific experts. WHO: Dennis DeTurck, professor of mathematics and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.WHERE: The MarBar, 40th and Walnut streets, PhiladelphiaWHEN: 6 p.m., Monday, May. 22Doors open at 5:30 p.m.Menu items available for purchaseWhy is math hard? Or rather, why does it seem so hard?
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Statement on the Barbaro Surgical Procedure
Major surgery on Barbaro began at 1 p.m. this afternoon and ended at approximately 7 p.m. According to orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dean W. Richardson, the operation went satisfactorily and Barbaro is in his recovery stall. "Barbaro presented with a case that was about as difficult as such an operation could be," said Richardson.Barbaro had fractured his leg in three places. During the surgery, the bones were set and will be allowed to fuse in place over time. Recovery will take many months.
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"Bubble Bassets" Cured of Genetic Disorder by In-Vivo Gene Therapy Technique
PHILADELPHIA -- In-vivo gene therapy successfully restored the immune system in basset pups with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency, or XSCID, a life-threatening genetic disorder that effectively disables the immune system. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease injected a retrovirus containing a corrective version of the gene responsible for XSCID, an important proof of principle for the technique of "in-vivo" gene therapy.
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Staff Q&A: Isabel Boston
STAFF Q&A/Twenty years after leaving college to start a family, Isabel Boston took a job at Penn—and soon started the long journey of finishing her degree. “I thought I’d be a fool not to do it.” Ask Isabel Boston what it’s like to go back to college after a 20-year absence—taking Ivy League courses in everything from Medieval music to Latin while also balancing a husband, five kids, and a day job—and she’ll tell you: It’s really hard.
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Alice Parker
WHO SHE IS: Accounting Clerk, Department of Transportation and Parking YEARS AT PENN: 12. Parker started her Penn career as a temporary employee.
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Artists in residence
Taking up residence from May 12 through June 5 in the ICEBOX Project Space—a new visual arts gallery in Fishtown—is a collection that includes hand-cut paper mandalas, a light-based installation and, at right, the delicate charcoal work, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” by Phillip Adams. Intrigued? You should be, since this is the work of recent Penn MFA recipients. Work by 19 emerging artists—selected by Institute of Contemporary Art Senior Curator Ingrid Schaffner—is feaured in the show, including painting, video and performance, photographs and sculptures.
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Looking east
We’ve been hearing about the “Postal Lands” for a while now, and finally, next spring, the University will officially acquire the 24 acres of real estate that stretches between the campus and the river and includes the 30th Street Post Office Building and Postal Annex. Taking possession of the Postal Lands is a very big deal, says Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, who, with Provost Ron Daniels, heads up the Campus Development Planning Committee.
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For The Record: The rites of spring
Beginning in the 1920s, Penn’s female students welcomed in spring with dancing, song and the crowning of a May Queen. The May Day tradition is no longer in practice, but in its heyday, the celebration included a procession, dancing, pantomime—which the women’s student newspaper, Bennett News, called “a whimsical affair”—and, finally, the crowning of the queen whose identity was “cloaked in mystery” until the celebrations of May Day.
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Documenting Nick Drake
Nick Drake was one of the most troubled and most talented songwriters of his generation. He released just three studio albums in his all-too-brief career, none of which sold particularly well, and after battling depression all his life, died of an apparent overdose of antidepressant drugs in 1974. He was 26. Only in the decades since his death has the music world come to appreciate Drake’s genius: Cited as an influence by such varied artists as Lucinda Williams, Peter Buck of R.E.M.