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.
Novel plant-based approach to a better, cheaper GLP-1 delivery system
Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell investigates the use of a lettuce-based, plant-encapsulated delivery platform as a new oral delivery of two GLP-1 drugs previously approved by the FDA in injectable form.
No brain, no gain: Neuronal activity enhances benefits of exercise
Research led by Penn neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley and collaborators finds that hypothalamic neurons are essential for translating physical exertion into endurance, potentially opening the door to exercise-mimicking therapies.
In honor of Valentine's Day, and as a way of fostering community in her Shakespeare in Love course, Becky Friedman took her students to the University Club for lunch one class period. They talked about the movie "Shakespeare in Love," as part of a broader conversation on how Shakespeare's works are adapted.
In Becky Friedman’s English course Shakespeare in Love, undergraduate students analyze language, genre, and adaptation in the Bard’s plays through the lens of love.
Beating the heat: Designing cooling for bodies in motion
Dorit Aviv, director of Weitzman’s Thermal Architecture Lab, studies how humans, technology, and design intersect, paving the way for the development of novel approaches to cooling people efficiently.
