Penn hosted a week of academic bootcamps organized by the Warrior-Scholar Project, a nonprofit that supports enlisted veterans in their transition to college.
Through a week of intensive seminars and workshops taught by university faculty, 15 veterans participated in this year’s Warrior-Scholar Project academic bootcamp at the University of Pennsylvania.
For 15 veterans, an academic boot camp at Penn helped them hone their ability to think critically about a text, give and receive feedback on classmates’ writing, and develop evidence-based arguments.
The week-long training was organized by the Warrior-Scholar Project, a national nonprofit that helps former military personnel consider and prepare for academic life.
“We do want to give them the confidence to walk into a college classroom and feel like, ‘I know what I'm doing,’ or feel like this is familiar. I know how to engage in seminar-style discussions, collaborate with others in the classroom, critically read and write about academic texts,” says Amy Brown, a lecturer in Penn’s Critical Writing Program. “I want them to know how to create knowledge and how to ask questions that push their knowledge forward.”
Alexander Phillips McPherson, who served in the Marine Corps for four years, says that for him the program has achieved its goal so far.
“I came to the Warrior-Scholars Project because I realized in the military all the potential I had and that Ivy League institutions were not out of the picture, which is exactly the opposite of what I thought as a teenager,” McPherson says. “This program has given me the confidence to pursue higher education.”
This is Penn’s second year hosting the Warrior-Scholar Project on campus. Thanks to support provided by Penn and the Project, the week-long program is provided to the veterans free of charge.
The academic boot camp is aimed at giving participants confidence in making the transition from the military to academia.
Amy Brown, a lecturer in Penn's critical writing program, co-led a workshop as part of the program. Students honed their ability to think critically about a text, give and receive feedback on classmates’ writing, and develop evidence-based arguments.
Matt Johnson of the critical writing program also led activities during the workshop.
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.
