Five Penn faculty were named recipients of the coveted Alfred P. Sloan Jr. Fellowships, awarded annually to promising young faculty. Each of the five will receive a two-year grant of $35,000 for their research.
The recipients are:
Rajeev Alur, associate professor of computer and information science, who was selected for his work building computer-aided design systems and research to improve the reliability of systems;
Randall Kamien, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, whose work focuses on problems in condensed matter theory and is currently exploring liquid crystals, biologically inspired physics, superconductors and nematic polymers;
Chung-Pei Ma, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, whose work on the National Scalable Cluster Project explores intriguing issues about the formation and evolution of galaxies and large-scale structures in the universe;
Tony Pantev, assistant professor of mathematics, who splits his time between mathematical physics, algebraic geometry and string theory; and
Mary Pugh, assistant professor of mathematics, who studies equations that model the motion of the interface between two fluids that do not mix with each other, such as oil and water.
The Sloan Fellowships are awarded annually to encourage further research by promising young scholars in the fields of physics, chemistry, pure mathematics, neuroscience, applied mathematics, economics and computer science. Fellows are nominated by established faculty within their chosen field. One hundred Sloan Fellowships are awarded each year; 21 past Sloan Fellows have gone on to win Nobel Prizes.
Primosch wins Stoeger Prize
James T. Primosch, associate professor of music and co-director of Penn Contemporary Music, is one of this year's two winners of the Elise L. Stoeger Prize, awarded by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
The Stoeger Prize is a cash gift of $10,000 given annually by the CMS to each of two composers in recognition of distinguished achievement in the field of chamber music composition. Primosch was honored for his contemporary and electronic chamber music, which has been praised for its combination of wit, scholarship and accessibility. The other Stoeger Prize honoree this year is Scott Wheeler, artistic director of Boston's Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble.
The CMS will perform Primosch's "Piano Quintet" (1996) during its 1999-2000 season.
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New Penn research shows that Hurricane Ida wasn’t a once-in-a-century anomaly but a preview of how climate change, urbanization, and aging infrastructure are rewriting flood risk.
The Fed explained: What it does and why it matters
Former Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker and financial historian Peter Conti-Brown, both Wharton professors, unpack the central bank’s origins, its unusual structure, and the quiet ways it shapes the economy
How population changes are impacting primary education worldwide
Research from Penn sociologist Emily Hannum and colleagues reveals regional trends in whether school-age populations are increasing, plateauing, or decreasing—and shows how different countries are responding.
A bioengineered bean gum from the lab of Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell is found to reduce the levels of three microbes associated with head and neck squamous cell cancer to almost zero, without affecting the beneficial bacteria normally found in the mouth.
Fighting oral cancer with bioengineered chewing gum
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes linked to worse outcomes in oral cancers, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies.
