Penn in the News

Mark Yim and May graduate Foster Collins of the School of Engineering and Applied Science are highlighted for developing a spherical robot arm with a spiral zipper joint.

Andrew Rayo knows Towson University’s policy on sexual consent won’t make him look like a Hollywood stud, swooping in to hustle someone into bed. Today’s sexual climate calls for more caution than that. Instead, Mr. Rayo, a junior English and theater major, follows the rules. At Towson that means getting a green light through "affirmative words or actions" before any intimate contact. He does that, he says, to make sure his partner is truly interested. He also knows it will keep him out of trouble.

The Obama administration Tuesday night released final rules -- feared by many higher education administrators but eagerly awaited by some employees -- that will require employers to make overtime payments to millions of workers who aren't now eligible. The administration also reiterated many exemptions in established law for higher education employees (those who can be seen as teachers). And those exemptions may disappoint some adjuncts, postdocs, graduate student employees and many research assistants who had hoped the new rules would increase their paychecks.

Angela Duckworth of the School of Arts & Sciences is interviewed about “grit” and success.

Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education comments on the lack of diversity in the STEM workforce.

Undergraduates Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao are featured as winners of the 2016 Wharton Business Plan Competition.

Tenure denials happen all the time, and they’re most often accepted by fellow professors and students as an unpleasant byproduct of the tenure system. But sometimes such denials rock an institution. That’s what’s happening now at Dartmouth College, regarding the failed bid of Aimee Bahng, an assistant professor of English who faculty members and students alike say deserves a permanent position on campus.

David Yaden of the School of Arts & Sciences says, “There have been studies comparing walking in nature with walking in an urban environment and testing people on their mood, different aspects of depression and in some cases, brain scans.”

Marybeth Gasman of the Graduate School of Education is quoted about a new report titled “Investing in Student Success: The Return on Investment (ROI) of Minority Serving Institutions.”

Jonathan Moreno of the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Arts & Sciences co-authors an article about the need for unbiased medical exams for presidential candidates.