Sandy Smith

Frank Chiachiere (C/EAS’00) came to Penn intent on pursuing a career in cognitive research. Not long after he got here, his academic interest took a dramatic turn.

While critics and proponents of affirmative action have been arguing its merits, a program that began two decades ago at the Wharton School has been quietly demonstrating how affirmative action ought to work.

Photo by Daniel R. Burke STEPHANIE JOHNSON Position:

Since it's used as a case study in a Wharton School business-ethics course, you could say that the story of how Merck & Co. decided to just give away a valuable new drug is a textbook example of routine corporate social responsibility.

The world is now interconnected in ways scarcely imaginable a short time ago, and we cannot afford to disengage from it. And in our engagement with it, we must remember that nothing is certain and shape our decisions accordingly.

Talk about gut-wrenching. You've just poured your soul out to a group of people you've never met, trying to convince them with slides and self-assurance why they should pour millions of their own dollars into your would-be business. Then one of them asks, "Have you done any research that would indicate that there is a real demand for this?"

Jed Ryan (W'99) drinks a non-alcoholic toast to dear old Penn. Photo by Candace diCarlo Jed Ryan (W'99) almost didn't live to tell this story.

Photo by Daniel R. Burke

Whoever said that engineers have no social conscience never met Joseph Bordogna (EE'55,GrE'64).

Like musician Paul Simon, Eric Schneider was fascinated by the tale of the Capeman. Unlike Simon, Schneider didn't let his fascination lead him into a dead end.