Who, What, Why: David Clark and the Peer Wellness Coaching program
Clark, a student in the School of Nursing, began working with the new initiative this spring. The program from Wellness at Penn is designed to help student well-being in a nonclinical setting.
David Clark, a Penn Nursing student, works in Wellness at Penn’s new Peer Wellness Coaching program.
Who
More than six years ago, David Clark earned a degree in environmental engineering. But after college, he found the work was not as fulfilling as he had hoped. Clark, who is originally from Middleton, New Jersey, was motivated by the idea of service, enjoyed engineering, and wanted to protect the environment. But he didn’t want to sit behind a computer all day. “I wanted to more directly help people and get to talk to people all day,” he says.
After extensive research and volunteering, he decided to go back to school. He’s now in the accelerated bachelor of science program in the School of Nursing. He graduates in December and plans to return for a master’s degree to specialize in psychiatry later in his career.
What
As a nursing student, Clark applied to work in the Peer Wellness Coaching program, a new initiative launched by Wellness at Penn in spring 2023 that is designed to help students with their well-being in a nonclinical setting. After a six-month training program, Clark became one of three coaches who meets in one-on-one sessions with students to discuss everything from sleep habits to relationship issues to finding friends. If someone comes in with a range of issues, “we’ll start with one thing and focus on that,” Clark says, making it “more likely that they’ll follow through with the actionable step.”
Using coaching skills defined by the International Coaching Federation, Clark helps people identify their goals and bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be. It’s not about offering advice, he says. “You don’t need to be an expert. You just need to ask the right questions and empower the student to solve their own problems.”
Why
The program was born to help students create healthy change, Clark says. “It’s important to take the time to see where your life is going,” both in the short term and long term, a skill that students build in coaching sessions by talking about their values and identifying and solving problems.
It also builds confidence, he says. “I solved all these problems in the past by doing X, Y, and Z. How can I take what I've learned and apply that in the future?”
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.
