The rising fourth-year swimmer won gold in the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials on Wednesday in Indianapolis.
Matthew Fallon is the first American swimmer in Penn’s program history to qualify for the U.S. national team, and only the fifth men’s student-athlete in program history to qualify for the Olympics.
(Image: Tyler Kaput/IUPUI Athletics)
In record-breaking fashion, rising fourth-year Matthew Fallon of the men’s swimming and diving team earned a spot in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games on Wednesday by placing first the 200-meter breaststroke at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis.
Fallon’s winning time of 2:06.54 set a new American record and is the fastest time in the world so far this year. He is the first American swimmer in Penn’s program history to qualify for the U.S. national team, and only the fifth men’s student-athlete in program history to qualify for the Olympics.
The Polyhedral Structures Laboratory is housed at the Pennovation Center and brings together designers, engineers, and computer scientists to reimagine the built world. Using graphic statics, a method where forces are mapped as lines, they design forms that balance compression and tension. These result in structures that use far fewer materials while remaining strong and efficient.
From ancient tombs and tiny robots to personalized gene editing and AI weather models, Penn’s 2025 research portfolio showed how curiosity—paired with collaboration—moves knowledge into impact and stretches across disciplines and continents.
Centering joy in AI development and implementation
PIK Professor Desmond Upton Patton—of Annenberg and SP2—and collaborators introduce a joy-informed framework designed to initiate conversations among engineers, designers, and researchers.
Reflecting on Jane Austen, 250 years after her birth
English professors Michael Gamer and Barri Joyce Gold have been teaching courses specifically dedicated to Jane Austen for years. They spoke with Penn Today about their approach to teaching her novels, how they challenge common readings and myths, and what makes Austen’s work so enduring—and adaptable to the screen—more than two centuries later.
Electronic medical records help save lives of HIV patients
Wharton’s Leandro “Leo” Pongeluppe and colleagues found that HIV clinics in Malawi that switched from paper to electronic medical records saw an estimated 28% reduction in deaths in five years.
