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Eric Sucar
Articles from Eric Sucar
University of Pennsylvania receives $25 million gift to create data science building
President Amy Gutmann, alum Harlan M. Stone, and Penn Engineering Nemirovsky Family Dean Vijay Kumar (left to right) at the gift agreement signing to support the construction of a new Data Science Building. Photo by Eric Sucar, University Communications.

University of Pennsylvania receives $25 million gift to create data science building

The largest gift in Penn Engineering’s history—a $25 million commitment from alumnus Harlan M. Stone to support the construction of a new Data Science Building—will serve as a hub for cross-disciplinary collaborations that harness expertise, research, and data across Penn’s 12 schools and numerous academic centers.
Paideia’s spring course offerings highlight wellness, service, and citizenship
A group of students sit on the lawn under a cherry blossom tree on College Green.

Paideia’s spring course offerings highlight wellness, service, and citizenship

The first four courses offered to Penn undergraduates as part of the new Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program will focus on passion, civility, effective communication, and a deep dive into American Chinatowns.

Kristen de Groot

A second life for leaves
Two researchers stand in a roped-off area of land, backlit by the rising sun. A study site marked with pink flags is at their feet.

Eliza Nobles, a Morris Arboretum intern, and Jessie Buckner, an ecologist with Applied Ecological Services, set up the first plots at Penn Park on a sunny morning in October. Their study will examine how using leaf mulch or allowing fallen leaves to remain on a site impacts soil health and ecology.

A second life for leaves

Taking a scientific approach to managing campus land, Facilities and Real Estate Services is partnering with soil scientists and ecologists to study how mulching plots with leaves fares for soil health and biodiversity.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Decolonizing the syllabus
Five faculty members and graduate students seated around tables, talking and laughing

Assistant Professor Ramah McKay and Senior Lecturer Andi Johnson discuss next steps at a workshop debrief with graduate students Claire Sabel, Taylor Dysart, and N. J. Dharan. 

Decolonizing the syllabus

Faculty and graduate students in the History and Sociology of Science Department are reconsidering the way they teach, moving towards a more collaborative, innovative approach that incorporates a wide base of global sources.

Kristina García

How does opioid exposure affect brain development in young children?
Two people standing in a building entryway. Windows are on their left, a yellow wall with a portrait are on their right. They're both looking into the camera and smiling.

The new NIH-funded work from researchers Dylan Tisdall of Penn Medicine and Allyson Mackey of the School of Arts and Sciences will work to develop an MRI method geared specifically to three- to five-year-olds and calculate how exposure to opioids can impede neurocognitive development of children in that age range.

How does opioid exposure affect brain development in young children?

That’s the question Allyson Mackey and Dylan Tisdall hope to answer, through a new grant from an NIH initiative focused on addiction research.

Michele W. Berger

Penn President celebrates new voting machines by exercising her civic duty
Penn President Amy Gutmann exits the voting booth at Vance Hall

Penn President Amy Gutmann exits the voting booth at Vance Hall on the evening of Nov. 5.

Penn President celebrates new voting machines by exercising her civic duty

Amy Gutmann cast her ballot at Vance Hall two hours shy of polls closing in this off-year election, with new voting machines on site and across the entire city.
What factors predict success?
A person sitting at a desk covered in papers, with a computer screen in the background. Four people are blurry, in the foreground. They are all engaged in conversation.

The findings of this latest work add to the canon of overall knowledge about what factors predict success. They also strengthen Duckworth’s original theories about grit and, at the same time, highlight other attributes key to long-term achievement.

What factors predict success?

New research from Angela Duckworth and colleagues finds that characteristics beyond intelligence influence long-term achievement.

Michele W. Berger

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