President's Engagement Prizes

Marcus Henderson and Ian McCurry of Penn to Connect Homeless With Health Care

A Google search back in 2013 started things off. Typing in “Philadelphia,” “homeless” and “church,” Ian McCurry, then a freshman in the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Nursing, found a way to reach out to a vulnerable community that he could assist and support using his growing knowledge of health care.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Using Mobile Technology to Help Farmers in India Boost Their Productivity

The majority of India’s labor force is dependent on agriculture for a living, so crop-damaging disease, floods, droughts, and pests imperil tens of millions of people. Vaishak Kumar, a political science major who graduated from Penn in May, grew up in an Indian farming community in the state of Karnataka.

Jacquie Posey



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

A Philly exoneree works to free other wrongly convicted people. First up: His codefendant

Penn students and alumni, including the President’s Engagement Prize winning team behind Project Hope, have been working with the Terrance Lewis Liberation Foundation to support wrongly convicted people.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn hoops star Princess Aghayere is using her passion for teamwork to save girls’ lives in Liberia

The senior leader of Penn’s 2019 regular season Ivy Champions left Philadelphia after graduation, and traveled 4,600-mile to Liberia. With Penn friends Summer Kollie and Oladunni Alomaja, Aghayere started Rebound Liberia, a youth program whose goal is to use basketball to empower girls in the small West African country.

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Philadelphia Inquirer

9 Penn students win big prizes to fund projects to promote social change

Penn has awarded nine graduating seniors with the annual President’s Engagement and Innovation prizes. President Amy Gutmann said, “Each of the prize recipients has demonstrated a purpose-driven desire to get out and make a difference in their community, across the country, and around the world.”

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