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Awards and accolades for Penn faculty
College Hall seen through the archway of Fischer Fine Arts.

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Awards and accolades for Penn faculty

A roundup of appointments and awards for various members of Penn’s faculty across several schools.

2 min. read

20 breakthroughs of 2025
Masoud Akbarzadeh holding up one of the fabricated materials.

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.

(Image: Eric Sucar)

20 breakthroughs of 2025

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.

5 min. read

Centering joy in AI development and implementation
Desmond Patton seated at his desk.

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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.

2 min. read

Analyzing feminism and traditional gender roles on social media

Analyzing feminism and traditional gender roles on social media

In a new paper, Annenberg School for Communication Dean Sarah Banet-Weiser and doctoral student Sara Reinis analyze popular “tradwife” social media accounts, which embrace traditional gender roles and the rejection of “the rejection of hustle culture.”

Hailey Reissman

2 min. read

Pulitzer-winning political cartoonist collection donated to the Annenberg School for Communication

Pulitzer-winning political cartoonist collection donated to the Annenberg School for Communication

The newest notable gift to the the Annenberg School for Communication is from Pulitzer-prize winning American editorial cartoonist and children’s book illustrator Tony Auth, who is best known for his syndicated work originally drawn for The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1971 to 2012.

Brain activity reveals what makes persuasive messages stick

Brain activity reveals what makes persuasive messages stick

A new study by the Communication Neuroscience Lab at the Annenberg School for Communication and colleagues reveals that activity in brain regions associated with reward and social processing can predict the effectiveness of messages.

From Annenberg School for Communication

2 min. read

Analyzing youth voter turnout

Analyzing youth voter turnout

Researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center and the Annenberg Communication Neuroscience Lab find that Voting in an election helps shape the government to work on their behalf; however, the majority of U.S. youth don’t vote regularly.

What can mainstream journalism learn from prison journalism?

What can mainstream journalism learn from prison journalism?

In their study of the prison publication News Inside, Annenberg School for Communication associate professor Sarah J. Jackson and doctoral candidate Liz Hallgren find lessons for mainstream news.

New members of American Academy of Sciences and Letters
Alan Charles Kors (left) and Philip E. Tetlock.

Alan Charles Kors (left) and Philip E. Tetlock, elected members of the members of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.

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New members of American Academy of Sciences and Letters

Alan Charles Kors and Philip E. Tetlock have been invested as members of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, a nonprofit that promotes scholarship and honors achievement in the arts and sciences.

2 min. read