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Louisa Shepard
Senior News Officer
Louisa Shepard covers English, history of art, music, theater, classical studies, and cinema and media studies, among other subject areas, in the School of Arts and Sciences. She also supports coverage for the Kelly Writers House, the Graduate School of Education, the Penn Libraries, the Penn Museum, the Arthur Ross Gallery, and the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, as well as fine arts in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.
From the Archives: Raymond and Sadie Alexander family home movies
The University Archives’ Alexander Family Papers document the professional and personal lives of Penn trailblazers Raymond and Sadie Alexander, as well as some of their family members. Included are more than 100 home movies, dating from 1930 to 1961.
ICA exhibition surveys artist Carl Cheng’s career
A new exhibition at Penn’s Institute of Contemporary Art is the first in-depth museum survey of the six-decade career of California artist Carl Cheng, on view through April 6.
New campus choir finds harmony
The new Penn Staff & Community Choir, formed by Penn’s Office of Social Equity and Community in the fall, will have its debut mini-concert on Feb. 4, led by director Ruth Naomi Floyd.
Gobhanu Sasankar Korisepati is making an impact around the world
Gobhanu Sasankar Korisepati co-founded the international microfinancing nonprofit Sustaining Women in Financial Turmoil while in high school, and, as a student at Penn, he continues as executive chairman.
The practice of art collection as a collaboration
As part of an undergraduate course, Penn faculty and students curated an Arthur Ross Gallery exhibition of works from the Neumann family’s extensive collection of modern and contemporary art.
Two Penn alumni named 2025-26 Schwarzman Scholars
Two members of the Class of 2023, Chuanyuan (Suzanne) Liu and Habib Salim, have each received Schwarzman Scholarship funding for a one-year master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
What’s That? Black squirrels
Penn Today spoke to Sarah Tomke in the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Wildlife Futures Program about the black squirrels regularly seen on College Green. They are black because of a genetic mutation in the melanin receptor protein, which regulates pigment.
Penn staff make the Philadelphia area a better place through side gigs
The 12th piece in Penn Today’s Side Gigs for Good series highlights staff who mentor and empower Latino professionals, lead Girl Scout troops, donate hand-knitted items to people in need, and connect Philadelphia children with music opportunities.
Two fourth-year students chosen as 2025 Marshall Scholars
Fourth-years Tej Patel and Sridatta Teerdhala, both in the Roy and Diana Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management, a dual degree in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School, have been chosen as 2025 Marshall Scholars.
Caretaker of 9,000 works of art
As the director of the Penn Art Collection in charge of nearly 9,000 artworks, Lynn Smith Dolby manages the conservation, registration, and display of all University-owned art, indoors and outdoors across campus.