Campus & Community

Cover story: An experimental era

Q&A/This spring the 6th floor of Van Pelt is celebrating Ben Franklin with an exhibit on Colonial education in the Delaware Valley. We talk to the library staff who brought “Educating the Youth of Pennsylvania” from a rough idea to a fully realized exhibit. “Charter schools today remind me a lot of what was going on during the Colonial period.”

Tim Hyland

Staff Q&A: Maria Tessa Sciarrino

STAFF Q&A/A booster for the local music scene, Maria Tessa Sciarrino can’t get enough of the Philadelphia sound. “I think it’s great that everybody’s getting the attention.” Maria Tessa Sciarrino studied photography in college, but admits she wasn’t the best student: “I was too busy going to concerts.”

Heather A. Davis

Remains of the day

Q&A/Penn Museum’s keeper of physical anthropology talks about scanning mummies, making molds of Neanderthals and why human babies are born so small and helpless. “I’m one of those people who have crazy loves and I have a love for everything about evolution.”

Judy West

Doctor of dialects

Q&A/After decades of groundbreaking work, linguist William Labov remains at the forefront of his field. His most far-reaching research, a comprehensive atlas of North American English, has just been published. “In almost every language change, there’s something going on underneath the hood.”

Tim Hyland

Staff Q&A: Parker Snowe

STAFF Q&A/Parker Snowe helps Wharton MBAs get immersed in global business. He also helps them park their bikes on campus. “It’s my way of saying, ‘This is the difference I can make.’” A year ago, after 15 years of bike commuting, Parker Snowe treated himself to a Brompton folding bicycle.

Judy Hill

Penn Commencement Live on the Web

PHILADELPHIA  Family and friends unable to attend Penn's 247th Commencement in person will be able to view the entire ceremony online thanks to a live Webcast. Coverage of the ceremony at Franklin Field  from processional to recessional and all the pomp and circumstance in between  will be broadcast live on the Internet beginning at 9 a.m. (EDT), Monday, May 19.

Jacquie Posey

Desmond Tutu to Speak at Penn Commencement

PHILADELPHIA -- Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel laureate and one of the world's foremost Christian leaders to oppose apartheid in South Africa, will deliver the address at the 247th Commencement ceremony of the University of Pennsylvania May 19.

Jacquie Posey



In the News


Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn student awarded Rhodes Scholarship to continue cancer research at Oxford University

College of Arts and Sciences fourth-year Om Gandhi from Barrington, Illinois, has been awarded a 2025 Rhodes Scholarship to continue his cancer research at Oxford University.

FULL STORY →



Philadelphia Inquirer

Penn is offering free Narcan through vending machine on campus

A vending machine on Penn’s campus will offer free Narcan and other wellness and health products, with remarks from Jackie Recktenwald and Benoit Dubé of Wellness at Penn.

FULL STORY →



Technical.ly Philly

A sneak peek inside Penn Engineering’s new $137.5M mass timber building

Amy Gutmann Hall aims to be Philadelphia’s next big hub for AI and innovation while setting a new standard for architectural sustainability.

FULL STORY →



6ABC.com

New building at University of Pennsylvania aims to become hub for AI research

Amy Gutmann Hall, set to open in early 2025, is dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence and data science. 

FULL STORY →



Philadelphia Business Journal

First look: Inside Penn’s new Amy Gutmann Hall, the region's largest mass timber building

Amy Gutmann Hall will be a catalyst for groundbreaking artificial intelligence research and collaboration across disciplines, with remarks from Dean Vijay Kumar of the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

FULL STORY →