The University will confer four honorary degrees at the 243rd Commencement, in addition to the honorary Doctor of Laws degree that will be awarded to Commencement speaker Robert E. Rubin.
Isabella Lugoski Karle, Ph.D., will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree for changing the world of crystallography with her seminal contribution to X-ray crystal structure determinations. Karle is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Billie Jean King, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. King dominated tennis for two decades, winning 20 Wimbledon titles, 13 U.S. Open titles, the French Open, the Australian Open and 20 Virginia Slims singles titles, and was instrumental in turning women's tennis into a major professional sport.
Gerda Lerner, Ph.D., will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. A founder of the field of women's history and of African-American women's history, she established the country's first graduate program in women's history, at Sarah Lawrence College, and built the premier Ph.D. program in African American women's history at the University of Wisconsin.
Earl R. Stadtman, Ph.D., will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree for his pioneer work in the field of enzyme regulation, which led to more recent investigations in the basic biology of aging, including studies of the role of oxygen radicals and the mechanisms of repair in damaged cells. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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.
