| THE PENNSYLVANIA JUL AUG20 GAZETTE

Coexisting with the Coronavirus What Would Churchill Do? Canine Cure for Stress Celebrating From a Distance FOLLOW US ONLINE

THEPENNGAZETTE.COM @PENNGAZETTE THE PENNSYLVANIA Features GAZETTE JUL|AUG20 Penn and the Pandemic Power of the Pup How the University and Therapy dogs are reducing alumni have responded to stress and bringing joy to patients 28 the current crisis. 50 and staff across the Penn By Gazette Staff and Contributors healthcare community. By Kathryn Levy Feldman Seeds of Insight Rob Rosenheck C’89, CEO of Virtual Alumni Weekend Lord Jones—purveyor of CBD- Celebrating from a distance— 44 infused candies, creams, and until we can meet again. other products—is high on the cannabis 57 industry’s potential to promote a revolution in economics, health and Courage Through History wellness, culture, and consciousness. From storms to serial killers to By Susan Karlin shipwrecks, bestselling author 58 Erik Larson C’76 has made his name writing about frightening moments in history. When a new one came in the form of a global pandemic, readers found unlikely comfort in his latest book—a story of leadership, perseverance, and hope in the bleakest of times 80 years ago. By Dave Zeitlin

COVER Illustration by Joe Anderson

Vol.118, No.6 ©2020 The Pennsylvania Gazette Published by Benjamin Franklin from 1729 to 1748.

THEPENNGAZETTE.COM More Sports More Arts & Culture More Letters Latest News THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Departments VOL. 118, NO. 6

––––––––––– EDITOR John Prendergast C’80 3 From the Editor | Facing hard times, present and past. SENIOR EDITOR Trey Popp

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave Zeitlin C’03 4 Letters | Economic arguments, DP memories, Ernie Beck’s message.

ASSISTANT EDITOR Nicole Perry

ART DIRECTOR Catherine Gontarek Views

PUBLISHER F. Hoopes Wampler GrEd’13 8 Notes from the Undergrad | “It is the 42nd day of quarantine.” 215-898-7811 [email protected] ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR Linda Caiazzo 10 Alumni Voices | New doctor, new disease, new parent. 215-898-6811 [email protected] 12 Elsewhere | A reluctant—and roundabout—return from Antarctica. ––––––––––– EDITORIAL OFFICES 14 Expert Opinion | “Recreational” DNA tests can have profound impacts. The Pennsylvania Gazette 3910 Chestnut Street Gazetteer Philadelphia, PA 19104-3111 17 Commencement | A virtual sendoff to the Class of 2020. PHONE 215-898-5555 FAX 215-573-4812 EMAIL [email protected] 20 Campus | Penn Family Center marks 10 years serving student parents. WEB thepenngazette.com 21 Racial Equality | Initiatives to “propel progress” on inclusion and equity announced. ––––––––––– ALUMNI RELATIONS 22 Instruction | Losses and gains from remote learning. 215-898-7811

EMAIL [email protected] 23 Planning | Possible scenarios for the Fall semester. WEB www.alumni.upenn.edu 24 Admissions | Dean Eric Furda C’87 on the incoming “COVID class.” –––––––––––

UNIVERSITY SWITCHBOARD 24 Sustainability | Penn signs solar power purchase agreement. 215-898-5000 25 Honors | Presidential Prizes for Engagement and Innovation announced. –––––––––––

NATIONAL ADVERTISING 26 Sports | Women’s basketball’s rising star Kayla Padilla.

IVY LEAGUE MAGAZINE NETWORK Heather Wedlake 27 Tributes | Light show salute; health workers show solidarity with protests. EMAIL [email protected] PHONE 617-319-0995 Arts WEB www.ivymags.com 65 Calendar CHANGE OF ADDRESS? Go to QuakerNet, Penn’s Online Community at myquakernet.com to access and update 66 Digital Design | Penncraft project recreates campus online. your own information. Or contact Alumni Records, 68 Fiction | Absorbing and episodic tale of an imperfect heroine. Artifact: A Novel. University of Pennsylvania, Suite 300, 2929 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-5099; [email protected]. 69 Fiction | An imaginative—and macabre—medical story. Night Theater. upenn.edu; Phone: 215-898-8136; Fax: 215-573-5118. THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE (ISSN 1520-4650) is published 70 Briefl y Noted bimonthly in September, November, January, March, May, and July by Penn Alumni, E. Craig Sweeten Alumni 71 Music | Composer James Primosch G’80 gets vocal. House, 3533 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6226. Periodicals postage paid at Philadelphia, PA, and addi- Alumni tional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Pennsylvania Gazette, Alumni Records, Suite 300, 73 Aldo Melpignano WG’05 wants to reinvent tourism for Italy. 2929 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-5099.

PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE COMMITTEE: David S. Graff C'79 75 Samantha Vinograd C’05 analyzes national security issues on CNN. WG'84 (Chair); Miriam Arond C’77; Jean Chatzky C’86; Dr. Alan Filreis, Faculty; Eliot J. Kaplan C'78; Randall 77 Taylor Jenkins W’07 is the second-youngest coach in the NBA. Lane C’90; Michael R. Levy W'68; James L. Miller W’97; Sameer Mithal WG’95; Steven L. Roth W'66; Robert E. 80 Events Shepard C'83 G'83; Joel Siegel C’79; Ann Reese CW’74, President, Penn Alumni. 80 Notes 87 Obituaries The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty and staff from diverse back- grounds. The University of Pennsylvania does not discrimi- nate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, 96 Old Penn | Alumni Day, 1920. color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or status as a Vietnam Era Veteran or disabled veteran.

Printed by The Lane Press, Burlington, Vermont FROM THE EDITOR

ings forced to make her way assisted therapy programs at home from a much-antici- Children’s Hospital of Phila- The COVID pated Antarctic trip; to a delphia, HUP, and Presbyte- new doctor thrust into rian Hospital, as well as her emergency service treating own involvement (with her COVID patients at the same dogs Millie and Franklin) as Issue time that he and his wife are a volunteer. And Susan Kar- expecting their first child. lin C’85 profiles cannabis Associate editor Dave Zeit- industry entrepreneur Rob ack in April I wrote in out of the crisis, putting the lin C’03’s feature profile of Rosenheck C’89, CEO of Lord this space that we would current pandemic into his- author Erik Larson C’76, Jones, which sells CBD-in- soon know more about torical context, and telling “Courage Through History,” fused candy and other prod- the impact of the novel how individual alumni have also resonates with the pres- ucts, in “Seeds of Insight.” Bcoronavirus, and unfortu- been affected. ent moment. Larson’s recent Among the consequences nately much of what we’ve Included, among others, book, The Splendid and the of Penn’s necessary decision learned in the intervening are reports about a research- Vile, deals with London under in March to close down the weeks has been grim, start- er working on a possible vac- campus and cancel all public ing with more than 110,000 cine, an expert in elder care’s events until further notice lives lost in the US and a advice on how to improve Much of what was the loss of the tradition- worldwide death toll exceed- nursing homes going for- al spring ceremonies of ing 400,000 as of early June. ward, what it’s like to take we’ve learned in Alumni Weekend and Com- Along with the disease and over a big city public trans- mencement, which we nor- associated stay-at-home or- portation system on the eve the intervening mally cover in this issue. ders has come economic dev- of a pandemic, and a leading weeks has been Both went forward in virtual astation and unprecedented restaurateur’s experience versions, however, with in- job losses. And there have navigating his operation and grim, starting person celebrations resched- also been examples of hero- staff through the crisis to with more than uled for next May, the week ism among health profession- eventual reopening. And after regular 2021 events als and other essential work- Penn Medicine’s leaders de- 110,000 lives lost will take place. ers, resilience and mutual scribe the Health System’s A summary of what Univer- support within communities, contributions to treating pa- in the US. sity Chaplain Chaz Howard and promising efforts at de- tients and providing testing C’00 called “a commence- veloping more effective treat- sites in the community, inno- the Blitz and the inspirational ment unlike any other” ap- ments and a vaccine. All parts vations to ensure safety and leadership of Winston pears as the lead story in of our current era of adjust- support staff mental health, Churchill early in World War “Gazetteer” and, in place of ing to the presence of this and a “12- to 18-month play- II. While he doesn’t push too our usual Alumni Weekend virus in our world, probably book” to harness Penn’s ex- hard on the parallels, Larson photo album, we share some for a good while to come. pertise to help understand does admit some similarities, images of scattered cele- I also promised that in this and control COVID-19. both in small things like prod- brants (and kids, and pets) issue we would report on Our essayists also weigh uct shortages, and in larger gathered from social media. how the Penn community the impact, from a graduat- terms. “In London at that While there’s nothing like has responded to, and re- ing senior’s column drawing time, everybody had to pull being there, one advantage flected on, the challenges connections between her together,” he told Dave. “We in this case is that you can posed by COVID-19 in these current quarantine in West have to pull together now.” still view these events online early days. Our cover pack- Philadelphia, her teenage Elsewhere in the feature if you happen to have missed age, “Penn and the Pandem- online life, and a project early well, we offer tales of two them at the time. ic,” collects stories from a in her interrupted final se- very different forms of stress variety of perspectives con- mester to work a hand-oper- relief. In “The Power of the cerning patient care and re- ated letterpress; to the tribu- Pup,” frequent contributor search, how teaching and lations of a traveler caught Kathryn Levy Feldman learning may change coming in the wave of border clos- LPS’09 describes the pet-

3 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 3 LETTERS We Welcome Arguing economics and life, Letters Please email us at [email protected]. Please note, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, missing the DP, Ernie Beck Gazette offices are closed until further notice and we cannot retrieve postal mail at this time. Letters should refer to material published in the on AJ Brodeur and an old magazine and may be edited for clarity, civility, teammate, and more. and length. dozens—some equally talented and in- dustrious—who struggle or go broke. That’s not necessarily fair, but that’s Inverse Relationship Between what drives our economy forward. In the Value and Compensation hope of success, some people are moti- It was gratifying to fi nally read that vated to risk everything against seem- someone on the Wharton faculty is fo- ingly impossible odds. For whatever cusing on the fundamental inequalities reason, some few succeed. inherent in the US capitalist economy If I ran things, I’d leave Wall Street [“Inequality Economics,” May|Jun alone, and I’d tax the following industries 2020]. Benjamin Lockwood’s examina- out of existence: the cosmetics industry, tion of the inverse relationship between the “fashion” industry, the fi rearms in- the value to society and the amount of dustry, the tobacco industry, the corn compensation paid to working Ameri- syrup industry, and, with the professor, cans is a long-overdue echo of the re- the soda pop and bottled water busi- search done by Karen Ho more than a nesses. Talk about industries that waste decade ago, which she included in her resources and generate negative exter- book Liquidated: An Ethnography of nalities. I’d also take a close look at the Wall Street. There is something funda- economics business. Seems to me it mentally wrong with a system when the hasn’t made even a marginal contribu- brightest and the best of our graduates “The great thing tion to anything since Keynes and Hayek. are being siphoned off to the nancialfi The great thing about our capitalist sector, when society would be far better about our capitalist economy is that it is not run by me or by served if they brought their energy and the professor or by any single individu- intellect to bear on the enormous prob- economy is that it al or committee exercising arbitrary lems that are created by unbridled cap- authority to decide what’s best for ev- italism (environmental, social, medical, is not run by me or eryone else. Instead, it is guided by hun- public education, energy, waste manage- dreds of millions of consumers and busi- ment, and the list goes on … ). I hope to by the professor nesses who daily vote with their dollars read more about Professor Lockwood’s or by any single for the kind of industries and academic work in future issues of the Gazette. disciplines they want and don’t want. Helen E. Pettit CW’65 CGS’76, Lambertville, NJ individual or com- For better or worse, then, the economy we have, like the government we have, The Economy We Elected mittee exercising is the economy we have elected. If Professor Lockwood ran the econo- Charles Cranmer WG’82, Haverford, PA my, he’d tax Wall Street out of existence, arbitrary authority.” or at least all of its most successful den- Donors Make Education Aff ordable izens. It is true that some folks on Wall ably earn in excess of their marginal It is ironic that the May|Jun 2020 issue Street have made billions of dollars. contribution to social welfare. That’s of the Pennsylvania Gazette has a cover Some, I suppose, were privileged. Some true of many of us. But I can assure the story on grappling with inequality and were lucky. Some were just plain smart. professor that for each individual who also includes the latest data on annual I concur that some of these folks prob- hits the jackpot there are dozens upon tuition, room and board, and fees at Penn

4 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 of $76,826, a 3.9 percent annual increase Better to ruminate on how to teach rying photo gear since 1989. Before I had [“Gazetteer”]. This increase certainly ex- individuals to understand and use what- graduated, I had been (and still am) the ceeds infl ation and the absolute value of ever The Sower’s broadcast brought to most prolifi c photographer in the his- it is outside the reach of much of the them than to fool around with more tory of the DP. The DP is where my Penn world’s population. Reference is made to ways to tax individuals’ monies and photography life started. It was the $256 million of fi nancial aid, which puts properties for whatever government place where not only did I learn photog- attendance at Penn within reach for many employees think. raphy, but where I learned how to be a of the students. It is worth remembering Stu Mahlin WG’65, Cincinnati professional photographer. At the DP, I that this education has become more af- quickly learned to be creative on de- fordable due to the generosity of donors Adult in the Room mand, not only when I felt inspired. who have funded an endowment that pro- The saga of Eric Jacobs’ tenure at the And there I was again, inside the stair- vides these scholarships and other forms Daily Pennsylvanian was, indeed, “a well leading to the place that had shaped of fi nancial aid. The generosity of these marriage made in heaven” [“Paper Man,” my career—on the day it felt as if it was donors, the group that is responsible for May|Jun 2020]. The paper needed “an suddenly gone. the inequality referred to in this article, is adult in the room,” who brought organi- I felt disoriented until I entered the funding the education of our next genera- zational and foresight expertise to a very DP offi ces. There was EJ! He smiled at tion. Thank you to them! popular and—in some cases—challenging me through the glass wall in his private Paul C. Kelly WG’82, Longmont, CO campus publication. The paper had very offi ce. He, of course, was a fi xture at the diffi cult missions: (1) to publish daily; DP when I was there. And he still had Life’s Inequalities and (2) to “tell it like it is.” I’m familiar that same “EJ way” about him, too. You What’s missing from the article is a with this yin and yang, having been the know how some people change—really summary of the worldviews held by Pro- editor in chief of the Pennsylvania News, change—when they get older? EJ hadn’t. fessor Lockwood and his research col- the women’s newspaper, during the ear- Same person, same energy. leagues. Those worldviews would help ly 1960s. Jacobs’ infl uence on the DP be- The familiarity of seeing EJ at this me, for one, get a handle on the conclu- coming independent and “going digital” suddenly uncertain time was like a mag- sion that replacement of a bad teacher is to be highly commended. net. I walked quickly toward him and, with an average one raises the future Jacqueline Zahn Nicholson W’62, Atlanta, GA being emotional, I approached to hug salaries of the kids in the classroom by him as he stepped toward me, too. Two $250,000 a year. Back to the DP, Briefl y feet away, we both stopped in our tracks. For that conclusion has no utility. Tommy Leonardi C’89, who photographed “Pa- We could not hug. Two Penn alumni Within any classroom there is an uneven per Man,” emailed this after the shoot, and later with a deep connection during a scary mixture of talents and potentialities— agreed to let us run it here.—Ed. time weren’t allowed to hug. Social dis- aka students. They were not born equal On the way to photograph Eric Jacobs, tancing was the call of the day. (except in the sight of their Maker); they I experienced the freakish and disorienting It took at least an hour before we even will not be treated equally in this life; sight of a near-empty campus on a sunny tried to set up the shoot. That’s because they will not respond equally to what- March afternoon. Having been at Penn as I quickly realized how “off ” the Penn ever (and unequally) crosses their paths; a student and a photographer consistent- world had become to EJ as well. For over and they will certainly not be evenly ly for almost four decades, I’ve developed four decades, EJ had also lived off the distributed over some income and an intuitive visual rhythm of the academ- Penn energy, but through a diff erent, achievement curve or another. ic seasons. I know what the campus is sup- fi gurative lens. He knew when the stu- The inequalities of life—and life’s eco- posed to look like just by the sun angle at dents would arrive at the DP. It was en- nomics—are most easily understood by any given moment. When I say “look like,” tirely predictable. But it now was mid- taking a hard look at the statue of The I also mean “feel like.” There is a com- March and the students were not there. Sower who strides the Great Plains from pletely predictable ebb and fl ow of ener- Instead, we talked about, well, every- atop the Nebraska State Capitol. Hand- gy—marvelous energy—at Penn. And I’ve thing. First the virus, then the current fuls of seed are unequal in size and com- fed off that energy for almost four decades. state of the DP, and then the memories. position; where the seeds fall is up to The emptiness I experienced this time felt Through much of the conversation, we gravity and the breezes of springtime; so weird—and wrong. toured the offi ces, discussing the chang- and how each seed fares after that is I then walked up the stairs to the DP es: the walls that were removed and unknowable and unpredictable by mere offi ces. Halfway there, I realized that I added, and the people who used to work man—let alone a teacher. hadn’t trudged up those stairs while car- in each space.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 5 LETTERS

That’s when I started to feel a bit normal fi rst. We played our games at Hutchinson Lasting Lessons from a Super Teacher again. Then we set up the shoot. I felt won- Gym, next door to the Palestra, against Henry J. Abraham [“Obituaries,” May|Jun derfully light. I was able to “lose myself” other freshman Ivy League teams because 2020] was at the top of the super teachers in the shoot and the world was right again. of the rule. Nicky also made the varsity, I was blessed with at Wharton. He taught Just after the shoot, however, I looked and we both played three years on the political science that stayed with me over at my phone. It had blown up with alerts varsity basketball team. And we had a the many years since I sat in his classroom of the latest coronavirus news. Reality great coach, Howie Dallmar. in Logan Hall. Recently I came across an came right back. My scoring record was for three years, Abraham classroom video published by After I broke down my equipment, I not four. Some consolation! However, the University of Virginia, where he taught was chatting a bit with EJ and another congratulations again to AJ Brodeur. after Penn. There he was—all over again— DP employee. I said, “I know that the Ernie Beck W’53, West Chester, PA endowing an entirely new student gen- idea of a ‘safe zone’ on campus is some- eration. It is teaching like Abraham’s that times mocked. But if I could be back Beautifully Written makes Penn-Wharton such a jewel in the here at the DP in the late ’80s until this Thank you to Nick Lyons for “Those crown of collegiate education. Henry lives crisis ended, I would. Since that’s not Woodstock Summers,” a beautifully on in the lives he enriched. possible, I guess I’ll have to go home.” written letter to his younger self and Walter L. Zweifl er W’58, New York Tommy Leonardi C’89, Philadelphia beloved wife. I can’t wait to read Mr. Lyons’s forthcoming memoir, Fire in the Coming Through in Trying Times Winner, All-Time Record Straw: Notes on Inventing a Life. Your May|Jun Gazette was amazing, for Sportsmanship Irene Jacobsen Gr’02, Urbana, IL showing once again how Penn comes I just received the May|Jun 2020 edition through in trying times. Of course you of the Pennsylvania Gazette and was hap- Outstanding Teachers, Diff erent Eras cannot fi nd mention of the 1918 infl u- pily surprised. Normally, as a 90-year-old I enjoyed “Mind Traveler,” the short enza in your archives [“From the Edi- graduate from Penn, I look fi rst at the article on Renée Fox [“Gazetteer,” tor”], because Philadelphia was the very obituaries to see if any of my old class- May|Jun 2020]. It brought back memo- epicenter of myopic indiff erence to the mates had recently passed away. Then, ries of my days at the medical school spread of this disease, as described in when I turned back to the sports section, and Wharton grad in the latter ’60s and many accounts of the time. Similar mis- there was a picture of me congratulating earliest ’70s when I fi rst learned of her judgments are occurring today, but AJ Brodeur, now the all-time leading concept of the “training for detached Penn, as you know, will not stand by scorer in Penn’s varsity basketball history. concern” of medical students. This so- quietly. Thank you. I was at the Palestra the night when he ciological concept that physicians need- Ken Klein C’67, St. Paul, MN broke my record, having been invited to ed to be able to blend a degree of emo- the game by Steve Donahue, who has tional detachment with ongoing con- Earth Day Memory done a great job in his years as head cern for their patients in order to prove Your 50th year recollections of Earth coach. The smile on my face is sincere eff ective resonated for me when I fi rst Day 1970 [“Old Penn,” May|Jun 2020] for I had the scoring record long enough became aware of it. I think it correlates brought back the memory of my own (67 years). AJ certainly deserves the nicely with the earlier stated concept of involvement on that day, which was not honor for he is a well-rounded basket- medical pioneer Sir William Osler, who in Fairmount Park. I was in a party of ball player as not only a scorer but great taught at Penn in the 1880s, of equa- about 50 who were sitting in at Philadel- as a passer and on defense. nimity in balancing a vigorous eff ort on phia City Hall, bearing an eight-foot Then, to top it off , I turned to an earlier behalf of patients, while realizing that diameter version of an Earth Day but- page of the Gazette to the story “Those eventual outcomes in patient care were ton. I have been proudly donning my Woodstock Summers” [“Elsewhere”] and often beyond the physician’s control (smaller) version of that button every found it was written by Nick Lyons W’53, and must be accepted for good or ill. Earth Day since then. an old basketball teammate at Penn. He Both have been outstanding teachers at Bill Tracy WG’75, Denver played on the freshman basketball team the University in their respective eras. with me in 1949. Nicky was a tough little It is good to know that Renée Fox re- Home Run guard on the team. We could not play var- mains a vigorous “mind traveler,” al- Nice job on your Mar|Apr 2020 issue. sity because of the Ivy League rule in those though more restricted than earlier in I read and enjoyed all four feature arti- days that freshmen could not play varsity her geographic journeys. cles, a real home run. but should concentrate on their studies Peter L. Andrus M’70 WG’76, Lakeway, TX Bill Mosteller C’71, Fairfax, VA

6 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 VIEWS P. 8 P.10 P. 12 P. 14 Notes from the Undergrad Alumni Voices Elsewhere Expert Opinion

Illustration by Martha Rich GFA’11 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 7 VIEWS Notes from the Undergrad

has started a small porch garden and is mending socks, occupying time previ- ously spent in a vanished job. My other roommate, Taty, fi lls the kitchen with dishes and scents to rival the most ex- travagant of eateries, leaving brownies on the table with a handwritten note and a smiley face. My friend Ivy invites us to join him on video as he sews an endless array of colorful scarves. “[These things] are almost like stim- ming,” my online friend Vin Tanner muses as we discuss this over Discord, referring to the grounding, repetitive physical behaviors most associated with autism. “Knowing you exist beyond typed words.” It is the 42nd day of quarantine. I am sitting on my carpeted bedroom fl oor, which at this point hides too many memories of Pop-Tart crumbs past. I am imagining a time where the fi rst thing that comes to mind is not this ever- looming pandemic. I am waiting for a day where the fi rst and last things that occupy my hours do not involve sitting in front of my laptop or scrolling end- lessly through my phone. But this feeling is not new to me. I spent four years of high school sleep- deprived, mostly friendless, and per- petually online: nestled in my basement, sneaking blue-tinged Skype messages back and forth between e-friends and enemies. I became intimately aware of the ways in which technology can bring us together—teenagers baring their souls in text and digital drawings, pour- ing our hearts and traumas into one nce a week, a package arrives on my another like so many mother birds. I Traces doorstep. Art prints fresh from became just as familiar with the ways it friends’ Etsy pages. Holographic can wedge us apart, spending enough A dispatch from O stickers to plaster on my laptop. hours burning my eyes against a bright Small gifts to myself, their presence an- white screen that I barely spoke with the Zoom life. nounced by email notifi cations, or my any of my real-life, fast-fading friends— By Amber Auslander roommate’s tiny Maltese mix, Dellie, an Ouroboros of isolation. frantically barking at the door. My mother used to question the pres- In this new world of Zoom parties and ence of “the real” in my online friend- endlessly updating group chats, many ships. “You don’t even know these peo- people are returning to hobbies of the ple,” she’d scold, exasperation masking heart and hand. My roommate, Dmitri, her lurking curiosity. “How do you know

8 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Illustration by Jenny Kroik they’re not older men? How do you everything could Transient traces of human presence, a know they’re not trying to hurt you?” happen unless friendly bookshelf haunt. I think of the What she was really wondering about nothing does ladies of the letterpress sitting in front was what any of our interactions truly of their keyboards, the way I am sitting meant—what does it mean to cry, to Cherry blossom, in front of mine, and I try to remember laugh, to be present in a space where I await your arrival the scent of air when tinged with metal hands or shoulders cannot touch? IMPATIENTLY and ink.

This semester—my fi nal semester at Daff odils pop up Dellie’s anxious barking pierces the University of Pennsylvania—I was to say HELLO! through my fog, and a bolt of instinctual given the opportunity to conduct re- alarm drives me to my feet. Down the search on Virginia Woolf, the letterpress, The days march on. Barred from the stairs, just past the door and the wide-eyed bookmaking, and paper under and for letterpress by the pandemic and penned dog, kneeling to retrieve the package left essayist and novelist Beth Kephart, in my room, I fi nd myself returning by some quick-moving delivery driver. whose class I had taken the year before. again and again to that three-hour eter- The most exciting part of any birthday One cold afternoon in late January, Beth nity, to the scrape of the ink knife party is fumbling through the wrapping and I explored the press fi rsthand through against the palette. To conversations I paper to the prize beneath. Dashing an introductory workshop at the Univer- had with letterpress-owning women, back up to my reluctant refuge, I rip past sity’s Common Press, crafting a collabora- who spoke with me about the tangible the brown cardboard envelope fl ap and tive broadside with the workshops’ other we now all so crave. peel my gift from its container: a new participants. Each of us was given an op- Lauren Faulkenberry, a North Carolina print from Vin’s Gumroad store, a digital portunity to craft a single sentence and printer, told me, “I feel like the printer drawing of a woman disappearing into place it upon the page, themed to the po- puts her mark on works that are made a virtual forest. I scan the edges of my etry of a season. Mary Tasillo, the studio by hand, and when you hold a book that room with a smile, wondering where its manager, guided us patiently through the is letterpress printed, you get to experi- golden tint might best catch the sun. history of the letterpress, the supply and ence some of what the printer experi- Here is the present. Here are the fl ags imperfections of the type available to us, enced while making it. For me, there’s and prints that line my walls, the over- how to place our text upside-down on a no substitute for feeling the various exposed Polaroids from long-ago sunlit composing stick before fi nally inlaying the textures that you feel in a handmade, days. Here is this new piece of art, in its page with furniture. hand-printed object. It has a special vibrant yellows and greens and blues, a For spending three hours in this un- kind of life in it that you feel when you friendly name staring back at me. Here derground room, our reward was two- hold it in your hands.” is a single tree outside of my bedroom fold: we were given the freedom to use Another printer, Joey Hannaford, con- window, in my backyard where the sun the press however we would like (during templated the appeal of the press: “Set- barely brushes. open workshop hours, of course), and ting type is physical, time consuming, Here are its blossoms, patiently blooming. we left that day with a copy of our fi n- and therefore a contemplative activity. ished broadside. It sang verdant, inked For many people, the slow, deliberate Amber Auslander C’20 lives in West Philadelphia. in Kelly green, with all the petrichor of process of setting type can increase one’s spring. My hands smelled of lead for awareness of the deeper meanings of hours afterwards, despite repeated words and their relative range of inter- washings. The press had embedded the pretive possibilities.” Alumni in Business smallest pieces of itself into me. Holed up inside my bedroom, I am Advertise your business weightless in a way that leaves me prone or profession with us a ray of to wonder, the curious counterpart to and reach 270,000 HOPE mind-wandering anxiety. Where I once fellow alumni. blitzed through a book at breakneck ■ Must be a Penn graduate rare soft birdsong speed, I take time to think about the ■ All ads prepaid I still miss other fi ngers that may have graced the See the current ALUMNI IN BUSINESS on knowing you less page. I consider the placement of each page 85. For more information, call Linda at word in poetry, the potent intricacies of 215 898-6811 or email: [email protected] white space.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 9 VIEWS Alumni Voices

tors were expected to perform the initial exam on each of their patients every morning, which would later be repeated by more senior doctors. To preserve per- sonal protective equipment and limit exposure to the virus that causes COV- ID-19, the process has been streamlined. It’s now my job to gather, from a distance, information like ventilator settings, drip rates, and vital signs while more experi- enced clinicians examine our patients. Even when I do enter patients’ rooms, all of them are intubated and uncon- scious, unable to interact. I have taken care of unconscious patients before, but never only unconscious patients. I have not had a conversation with a patient since mid-March. That is just one novel feature of being a doctor in the time of COVID-19. We are all trekking through a forest of firsts. It’s the first time these rooms have been used as an ICU—two months ago they were just regular hospital rooms. A sticky note taped to the door with “ICU” handwritten in block letters attests to the change. It’s the first time many of our patients have ever been hospitalized. It’s the first time nurses are using baby monitors to watch over ICU patients rather than being by their bedsides. For me, it’s my first time working in an ICU. The nature of the work—following up labs, monitoring vital signs, placing or- ders, calling consultant physicians—is familiar. What is different is the distance: my patients are behind closed doors in Welcome to Year Zero rooms I enter only when they need me. What to expect when you’re expecting. Still, the intimacy of the relationship shines in unexpected ways. I immedi- By Christopher Magoon ately recognize the voice of this patient’s family on the phone and know the pre- cise volume of urine that patient has made over the past 24 hours. It’s mean- edicine is typically an intimate in- was surprised to learn that this distanced ingful work. But I can’t tell you the color teraction with its one-on-one con- care extends to intensive care units. of my patients’ eyes or what languages versations and physical exams As a first-year doctor specializing in they speak. When this is all over, I’m not M behind closed doors. COVID-19 is psychiatry, I was redeployed in the begin- sure I would recognize any of them changing that as doctors and other clini- ning of March to work in the newly cre- walking down the street. cians are learning to care for patients ated ICUs in my New York City hospital. In the quiet moments, I think of two while social distancing via telehealth. I Before COVID-19 emerged, first-year doc- people close to me who are also unusu-

10 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Illustration by Anna Heigh ally far away: my pregnant wife, Alison, ID-19 who are intubated will die from and the baby she is carrying. The baby the illness, despite all of our efforts. is our first, due at the end of May, mean- Caring for patients in their final days is ing that the first five months of preg- among the most human acts that clini- nancy were BCE: before COVID era. cians can perform. In normal times, we On BCE weekend walks through Riv- could try to buy enough time for family erside Park, Alison and I sketched the and friends to hurry to the hospital to say details of transitioning into parenthood. goodbye. I could take a patient’s hand, We filed away which strollers could skin to skin, and try to comfort him or navigate bumpy sidewalks and chuckled her by saying something like, “This is a about our dog adjusting to life as second safe place. We are here for you.” fiddle. A website told us that at seven Not today. Nurses provide the most weeks a developing baby was the size of direct comfort to dying patients. Their a blueberry. The name Blueberry stuck, poise and compassion are unmatched. even as she progressed to avocado, pa- Even so, most intubated patients will die paya, and pumpkin. apart from their loved ones, surrounded At the start of Pol Pot’s deadly regime by figures wearing masks, gowns, and in Cambodia, the despot declared 1975 face shields. as “Year Zero” in the country. It’s now Given the odds, it is hard to know clear that Blueberry will be born under what is reasonable to hope for. In the the reign of a tyrant, a virus that forces end, I want my patients to be comforted, children off playgrounds, teachers out even unconsciously, by how hard we are of classrooms, and far too many people trying. My day is not done until I have into early graves. In this Year Zero, all had an unhurried conversation with plans made BCE are extraneous. each patient’s family on the phone. And That Blueberry would be born in the when there is no hope of survival, I offer hospital where I work and come home to to hold the iPad while the family says our apartment was once as manifest as goodbye via FaceTime. the growing bump in my wife’s belly. Then Similarly, I hope that Blueberry knows Students Aiming for Top Tier Colleges... we found ourselves packing a rental car —or will someday understand —how pres- so Alison, entering her third trimester, ent I am for her even though she is hun- could move to her parents’ home in New dreds of miles away. Photos of my wife England for the foreseeable future. prove that time is moving forward as Blue- This decision, though steeped in privi- berry asserts herself further in the world Receive strategic advice, tools, and guidance from the nation’s premier college consultants, helping lege, was difficult. How could separating each day. Sometimes I imagine Alison students for over 20 years: our family unit make us safer? That’s not turning in just the right direction to align DR. MICHELE HERNANDEZ how humans evolved. But vindication Blueberry between Manhattan and her- Former Assistant Director of Admissions at came a few days later when I was unusu- self, like we are three points on a line. Dartmouth Author of A is for Admission ally tired after my bike ride home from On the phone, Alison and I repeat to MIMI DOE Parenting guru, educator & author of the hospital. That night I spiked a fever, ourselves, almost like a mantra, that if Busy but Balanced then spent the next 10 days shuffling be- we can come out on the other side of this tween bed and couch, intermittently alive and with a healthy baby, then we • Unparalleled success rate • Advising and facilitating every step of the way short of breath, but glad that Alison and can shoulder the rest. Blueberry is our • Lessen stress and increase college choices Blueberry were safely quarantining three proof there is a future —the calendar for Join our small group of students for personal states away, with no symptoms. (My hos- after Year Zero waiting to be un- admissions consulting. Call now for information. pital didn’t have enough swab tests at the wrapped. Right now, that means a lot. time, but an antibody test weeks later was positive for COVID-19.) Christopher Magoon M’19 is a doctor in I’m now recovered and back at work. New York. He and Alison were together on toptieradmissions.com Statistics, though cursory, show that May 30 when their healthy baby girl was 781.530.7088 more than half of patients with COV- born in Massachusetts. [email protected]

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 11 VIEWS Elsewhere

lissingen, 14 March 2020. Dear Passengers,” read the letter on my stateroom bed. I’d just re- “V turned to the Plancius, a 115-pas- senger expedition ship, after a morning exploring Neko Harbor, Antarctica. My boots were dripping a mixture of disin- fectant and penguin guano onto the carpet, but I was too curious to take off my gear. “While you were onboard our vessels enjoying the Antarctic and South Georgia environments, the world has changed significantly because of the COVID-19 outbreak…” Regrettably, I was aware. Although there was no cell signal, and the ship’s satellite WiFi was prohibitively expen- sive—€300 per gigabyte—folks had man- aged to receive and share daily headlines about the outside world that we had traveled so far to escape. But these were intrusions. In my view, once we’d em- barked from Ushuaia, Argentina, on March 9, all news had ceased to matter except the weather forecast for the Drake Passage. And when we arrived at the Antarctic Peninsula, I wanted to fo- cus on what had lured me here: days filled with kayaking, climbing walls of ice, and photographing Gentoo pen- guins, crabeater seals, and minke whales. One morning a pod of hump- backs took interest in our zodiacs, and one spouted so close that I was momen- tarily trapped in a cloud of whale breath. It was putrid. I was enthralled. “In a few days we will return back to Ushuaia,” the letter continued. This was according to plan, except for one detail: Argentina’s government had suspended Goodbye to All That international flights for 30 days. “We can only suggest you inquire with your travel When COVID-19 hit I was in Antarctica, a year agent to seek advice on your travels home.” It was reasonable to assume that people into a nomadic life I was bent on continuing. wanted to go home. But I no longer had Fate had other plans. one. I’d shed my apartment and most of my possessions to spend 2019 in a work- By Lindsay Motlin and-travel program called Remote Year. I moved to a new city each month with a group of 25 new friends, chasing summer from Cape Town to Lisbon, Hanoi to Me-

12 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Illustration by Tracy Walker Downtown San Francisco Commercial office sublet (full floor). Market attractive dellín. For some participants the experi- work from, I didn’t mind staying in Ush- pricing. Great BART accessibility. ence felt like a dream, but for me, it felt uaia for an extra week or so. There were Four-year term. like waking up. When the program end- beautiful hiking trails just outside town. Contact: Will Scovill ed, I decided to keep traveling solo: this An impromptu ship-wide meeting con- 415.515.7198 splurge of a trip to Argentina and Ant- firmed the rumors. But instead of [email protected] arctica in March, and then less-expensive “stranding” us in Ushuaia for an inde- BRE#01751649 travel through Chile and Colombia in terminable length of time, the ship April, Spain and Italy through July. would sail directly to Buenos Aires to One thing I knew for certain was that I maximize our chances of reaching a wouldn’t return to New York. The quasi- functioning airport. I could roll with minimalist traveler’s lifestyle had liber- that: it would add five days to our jour- ated me from countless decisions of daily ney, but simplify my path to choripan. on board, the four-week journey to Vliss- life, and constant exposure to different While my friends on the ship scram- ingen sounded promising. If most of the cultures gave me an energy I’d lost in NYC. bled for flights, I used the now-free WiFi passengers left, the WiFi might be work- And I’d convinced my employer to let me to update my boss, and ask my mother able. And maybe we could upgrade to telecommute indefinitely. So this letter not to register me with the US embassy. larger rooms. Besides, Europe in May didn’t faze me. My next flight had a do- I didn’t want to be associated with any had been my original plan. mestic layover in Buenos Aires, where I repatriation efforts. A decision from the higher-ups was an- hadn’t spent enough time yet. I’d simply As we sailed north, the temperature nounced: those with flights out of Mon- skip the second leg, and eat lots of chori- rose, the waves mellowed, and the Plan- tevideo would be escorted from the Plan- pan until international flights resumed. cius transformed into a summer camp cius directly to the airport check-in coun- Two days later, we received another at sea. All our needs were met, from food ter; everyone else would proceed to notice. Argentina had imposed a new to laundry to fun. We had fitness classes Vlissingen. But problems remained: the rule: we had to remain quarantined for in the morning, trivia at night, and a port dates were not confirmed, airlines 14 days before reentry. This meant an scavenger hunt in between. There was kept cancelling flights, and the Dutch had extra day in Antarctica. Some passen- a pirate costume contest, a BBQ dance closed their border to Americans. Who gers were flustered due to upended party, and a night of camping on deck knew if those restrictions would relax by travel plans. But for me, this was a steal! under the stars. the time the Plancius arrived? I’d been given a 10 percent extension on Yet the seriousness of the situation en- I texted some friends and family. Did the most expensive trip of my life. veloping the outside world became hard- anyone have a list of countries with open On our last day of Antarctic exploration, er to ignore. The ship’s doctor took an borders? No. Was I being ridiculous? Yes. we toured a whaling factory and research inventory of passengers’ medications and Begrudgingly, I conceded I should fly from stations, walked on a black volcanic sand arranged to restock them, preparing for Montevideo to New York. But this decision beach, and jumped into the freezing water an extra month at sea. Frazzled passengers too was easier made than executed. After for a polar plunge. Back aboard the Plan- paced the hallways at all hours, trying to much fruitless searching I found a seat on cius, the crew greeted us with spiked hot contact airline agents. And although we a GOL Airlines flight for March 25. After cocoa. I drank mine in the shower as sen- were temporarily isolated from COVID-19, my payment was processed I learned that sation crept back to my toes. headlines about worldwide contagion and GOL Airlines had shut down the week The return trip across the Drake Pas- deaths grew more severe each day. before; Expedia just hadn’t gotten the sage featured nonstop, 5- to 7-meter About halfway up the coast, we had memo. Hours later I purchased a newly waves. The crew lined the ship’s hall- another ship-wide meeting. This time, available ticket on LATAM Airlines. When ways with empty barf bags. I helped the news was that Argentina had closed I tried to download my boarding pass, the myself to a few. The dining hall became its borders entirely. flight had been cancelled. I felt defeated. less a place for eating and more a place The next-best options, we were told, I hadn’t even wanted to go the US, but for sliding furniture and broken dishes. were Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Mi- now every single path off this ship seemed As I fixated out the window on the dis- ami, or, if all else failed, Vlissingen, the to be blocked. appearing and reappearing horizon, ship’s home port in the Netherlands. The I watched the sun rise behind shipping rumors swirled that the Ushuaia airport Americans lobbied for Miami. The Eu- containers on the Montevideo dock in a had suspended all operations, even do- ropeans wanted whichever city had the riot of purple and orange. I decided I’d mestic flights. This wasn’t ideal, but as nearest airport. The Argentinians cursed try to disembark with my still-active long as I could find a cafe with WiFi to their luck. But to me and another nomad Expedia reservation for a non-operation-

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 13 VIEWS Expert Opinion

al airline, and hope to snag a no-show’s seat at the airport. The crew collected passports from the 30 passengers dis- embarking that day. Hours later, mine returned with a Uruguayan entry stamp. I couldn’t believe it was working. We squeezed in some last hugs, put on our masks and gloves, and descended the gangway. Uruguayan agents greeted us with clipboards and quickly checked our passports against their lists. Most were ushered straight onto the bus, but a handful of us were asked to step aside. After re-confirming their flights, all but three got on the bus. A married couple and I were informed what I already knew: our airline had shut down, so we would not be allowed to proceed. A hundred onlookers watched as we hauled our luggage off the bus and pre- pared for an awkward return. There were a few tense moments when the captain refused to let us back onboard, since we might have been infected dur- ing our moments off the ship. “It’s fine,” I called. “Could you just throw me a sleeping bag?” At that point I was ready to camp out on solid ground. Ultimately we were allowed onboard, and I man- aged to secure a flight for the next day. My parents met me at JFK with gloves, Identity, Revised masks, and disinfectant wipes. I quar- antined for two weeks in my old bed- How genetic testing marks the end room on Long Island. On my birthday, of family secrets. they left a cake by the door and sang from the kitchen. “Don’t blow out the By Libby Copeland candles… seriously,” my dad said. Thank- fully, none of us got sick. Not far from the US epicenter of CO- From The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is castle,” and that’s what he believed he VID-19, I am suspended in a cocoon of Upending Who We Are, Abrams Press was building—a new life, a new iden- safety and now-foreign comforts. I have tity. Nobody in his family stopped him, appliances with settings in English. Po- osario Castronovo grew up with- though he’d later learn that many of table water and reliable utilities. Costco- out much in the way of cultural them knew this was a fable. sized stockpiles of everything. All con- identity, but he clung to his moth- Come to think of it, a lot of the deci- sidered, I am very lucky. But I can’t help Rer’s story that she had Sicilian sions Rosario made as a younger man but want my freedom back. I want to get heritage. At 21, when he decided to were nods to a heritage he’d later learn back on the road. legally change his name to distance he could not claim. He joined the Cath- himself from a father he describes as olic church as an adult and was bap- Lindsay Motlin EAS’08 works remotely for abusive, he chose Italian fi rst and last tized. He studied and began singing Parachute Health, while plotting her escape names in a nod to his mother’s culture. opera. He proposed to his Italian Amer- from Long Island. He’d heard “Castronovo” meant “new ican girlfriend after fl ying her to Italy

14 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Illustration by Rich Lillash for the millennium. He was “trying to to her with the results of a DNA test when she had two children with Ro- defi ne who I was.” Many of us have fam- he’d persuaded her to take. sario’s black grandfather. Looking in ily stories, memories, holidays, habits, “I said, ‘Did you know?’ and she said, archives, he discovered his grandpar- and language to assist in the construc- ‘Yes,’ ” Rosario says. Rosario’s mother ents had both been sentenced for adul- tions of our ethnic identities. Rosario said, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t tery in the 1940s, though only his fi lled in the blank parts with what he want you to go through what I went grandfather served time, going in thought it meant to be Italian. He was through.” She told him about her diffi - when the two children they’d had to- “searching,” he’d say later. “What was cult life in foster homes, about her foster gether were small. Rosario did his- going to make me me?” father directing a racial slur at her and torical research and wondered if his It was when he was about to be mar- her little brother, about her brother be- grandfather’s race and his relationship ried, in the early 2000s, that he decided ing sent away to a boys’ home because, with a white woman were the real rea- to fi nd out more about the background she understood, “he had darker skin.” sons he wound up in jail. Part of the of his mother, an orphan raised in fos- judge’s ruling in Rosario’s grandmoth- ter care. Rosario wanted children, and er’s case was that she no longer “make he imagined that one day they’d ask Revelations from her residence” with his grandfather. where they came from, just as he’d She eventually divorced her white hus- asked his own parents. He wanted to genetic testing can band and married someone else, and be able to give them an answer. Rosario’s mother had only the haziest In the town hall in the small town in force a reckoning memories of seeing her biological par- Vermont where his mother had grown with history, with ents as a young child. It was as if her up, Rosario found not one but three family had never existed. birth certifi cates for her, and they were the things your I got to know Rosario while report- rife with redactions. Strange. One ing on the home DNA testing industry, listed the race of his mother’s father ancestors did in order the one that runs ads promising to as “negro.” Rosario was mystifi ed. Per- identify relatives or to tell you how haps his grandfather had been a dark- to be able to pass on Irish, Italian, or Korean you are. When skinned Sicilian mistaken for a black their genes to you. the industry fi rst emerged 20 years man. But more likely, he thought, put- ago with the founding of a company ting the information together with old called FamilyTreeDNA, genetic testing census reports that sometimes named And Rosario began to learn about the was cruder, and only the most dedi- his mom’s paternal side as black and history his mother had wanted to pro- cated and science-minded family his- sometimes as white, the birth certifi - tect him from. He researched the small torians saw the appeal of mail-in spit cate was right, and there were impor- town in Vermont his mom came from, kits. But over time, the technology has tant, fundamental facts he did not traced how the slate quarries and mills become much more sophisticated. know about himself and his mother. attracted black Americans, traced how Companies like 23andMe, Ancestry, He did not go to his mother yet be- the black families in the town peaked and MyHeritage have entered the cause he wanted more evidence before toward the turn of the 20th century space, and the industry has become he rocked her world. Maybe she and then began to disappear. He increasingly good at identifying rela- doesn’t know, he thought. learned of the death of his 30-year-old tives and returning ethnicity esti- Over the next few years, Rosario used great-uncle in what a 1930 newspaper mates. Spit kits have become so popu- genealogy resources to research his article called a “fi re of mysterious ori- lar, and prices so low, that they are mom’s side, but there were details he gin,” when many black families had left billed as entertainment and given as could not fi ll in from the paper trail the town, and wondered about the cir- gifts over the holidays. But sometimes, alone. So, like tens of millions of Amer- cumstances of that fi re. the outcome of so-called “recreational” icans by now, he embarked on home And eventually he came to under- genetic testing can be far more pro- genetic testing. He would eventually stand some of the context for why found than consumers expect. Well learn that he is about 18 percent sub- his mother had lived out her child- over 30 million people have tested Saharan African, as well as smaller hood as an orphan, even as her par- their DNA to better understand their amounts Native American and Asian, ents were both living nearby. He ancestries and family networks, and all through his mother’s side. His el- learned that his grandmother was of those, a signifi cant minority—well derly mother was uneasy when he went white and married to someone else over a million—have discovered some-

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 15 thing big and surprising in those re- and come up with their own defi nitions black woman. “It’s a social construct,” sults. For my new book The Lost Fam- of ethnic identity, informed by what Rosario told me. “I raised myself as an ily: How DNA Testing Is Upending they were told as children—as well as Italian man, I immersed myself in Ital- Who We Are, I’ve spent years inter- what they were pointedly never told. Is ian culture. What do I do now?” viewing consumers about how this your culture your lived experience, or We were talking on Independence technology is reshaping our under- is it the story of ancestors you never Day, and Rosario told me the more his- standing of identity, and about what knew? What if your forebears’ decision tory he learned about his black family, happens when secrets from the past to hide their own experiences was a about the lives of black people in Ver- collide with the present. For better or matter of survival? Might it be your mont and in the rest of America, the worse—and that determination varies duty to reclaim those now? This cate- more he wondered what he should be from person to person—DNA testing gory of revelations from genetic testing celebrating on this day, and if he should marks the end of family secrets. can force a reckoning with history, with be celebrating at all. “I have learned Most often, the genetic revelations the things your ancestors did in order more about African American history that consumers uncover fall into one of to be able to pass on their genes to you. in this country, and the more granular two scenarios: Either the consumer Rosario has had years to research and you get, the more bitter you become,” he learns he isn’t genetically related to his process the news that genetic genealogy said. “I never got to know my people.” own father, or he learns of a sibling he brought him, yet to this day he’s seeking And yet genetic genealogy had also didn’t previously know about. But there a deeper understanding of who he is given him an opportunity to know are other kinds of surprises, including and what this means. Over the years, about what had been hidden, to wrestle the discovery of hidden ancestry that he’s consulted spiritual mediums and with his mother’s pain, with his grand- may hint at painful historical truths, woken in the night believing he’d heard parents’ sacrifi ces, and with the wrongs including forced conversion and racial his grandfather’s voice. One of the last done to his family. DNA testing had passing. In my reporting, I encountered times I talked to him, he was planning given back to him and to his mother a a number of testers of signifi cant African to change his name again, this time to little of what was stolen by the past. American ancestry who did not know of Jerome Lafayette Naramore, to honor Rosario’s mother has Alzheimer’s this heritage till they tested. Growing up, the ancestral discoveries he’d made now, but there are moments of lucidity. they were told they were Italian, perhaps, through genetic genealogy. “Some peo- One day, Rosario took her to a quiet or Native American. In the face of these ple say what’s in a name?” says Rosario, spot in a church not far from her as- fi ndings, they have had to interview a restaurant server and union offi cer sisted living home, and handed her a family members, research census re- who lives in Manhattan. “I think every- framed copy of the only photograph he cords, interrogate their own memories, thing is in a name.” had of her father: the man’s mugshot, Rosario struggles with how to think from when he had served time for the Support about himself and how to present him- crime of adultery with a white wom- self to the world. “It’s kind of weird for an—for the crime, really, of creating ThE GAZETTE a guy who presents as white to say, ‘I’m Rosario’s mother. The old woman sat black,’” Rosario told me. “I’m still getting in a pew and stared at the image. She used to it.” Could he even claim black- wiped her eyes and held the photo- ness, he wondered, without that lived graph to her chest and kissed it. She experience and without any of the im- couldn’t get over how handsome her plications of what it means to be per- father was. ceived as a black man in contemporary “This is so wonderful,” she said. “I America? “I’ll never know what it’s like could just sit here and cry.” to be pulled over by a police offi cer and Rosario sat down in the pew and told fear for my life,” he said. “Can I call my- his mother they could do that together. self black and never have to experience it? It almost seems unfair, or like I’m Libby Copeland C’98 is the author of The Lost pandering.” Yet his mother’s elderly Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who cousin, who is more fair-skinned than We Are. Adapted excerpt from the new book he—and, according to her DNA results, The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending has less African ancestry than his moth- Who We Are (Abrams Press) by Libby Copeland thepenngazette.com/support-the-gazette er—is quite clear in her identity as a © 2020 Libby Copeland.

16 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020

Support_small.indd 1 6/2/20 8:03 PM GAZETTEER P.20 P.22 P. 24 P.26 A Home for Student Parents Room for Zoom Furda on Admissions Freshman Phenom

Quarantine Commencement Scattered around the world, the Class of 2020 was reminded of other graduates who left Penn in a time of “great adversity.”

Screenshots from Commencement 2020 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 17 GAZETTEER Commencement “Etched in stone, nveniemus Viam Aut side by side with friends, is given. Of other genera- forged in iron, Faciemus. waving to family, getting tions, much is expected.” For more than a century, those selfi es,” Gutmann said. “Etched in stone, forged in written on our IPenn students have walked “But we will reunite. You will iron, written on our hearts, hearts, the Penn beneath those words, which have the unforgettable com- the Penn story echoes across are inscribed atop the Class mencement you and your campus,” Gutmann said. “It story echoes of 1893 Memorial Gate, be- families have earned. In the speaks of resilience, courage, side Houston Hall. Some meantime, campus holds a and common cause, of dark across campus." probably never notice them. powerful message for you storms chased by brighter Fewer still likely know what about the unique experiences days. The story of the Class they mean: shared by the Class of 2020.” of 2020 speaks the same. It is For that reason, Nguyen is “We will fi nd a way or we After the virtual visit to the clear that of your generation, excited to attend next year’s will make one.” Class of 1893 Memorial Gate, much is expected. And I am ceremony. But she still made Penn President Amy Gut- Gutmann led the graduates proud to say, so far you have the most of watching from her mann invoked that Latin to the Hospital of the Univer- done beautifully.” Houston home this year. Her phrase during a video tribute sity of Pennsylvania, where Scattered around the coun- dad opened a bottle of wine. that highlighted the Univer- “so many of the ill were treat- try and world, graduates Her mom made a bouquet of sity’s 264th Commence- ed” during the 1918 fl u pan- watched commencement backyard fl owers and grabbed ment—“a commencement a leftover cucumber from the unlike any other,” remarked summer rolls she had made to chaplain Chaz Howard C’00 use as a microphone to inter- during the opening invoca- tion to a 40-minute online ceremony on May 18 that fea- tured Gutmann guiding the graduates on a virtual walk through Penn’s campus, be- ginning at that ornate gate. “In great adversity, it can be all too easy to turn back,” Gutmann said. “But your class has marched forward. demic; to an Ivy Stone on the from their homes, with only Joining with countless others north wall of Houston Hall close family to mark the oc- at Penn and beyond, you laid by the Class of 1944, casion. For fi rst-generation have both found and made a when the Penn community college graduates like Rosie way. Penn has graduated “showed their mettle” during Nguyen W’20, it stung to hundreds of extraordinary “another profoundly diffi cult miss out on wearing a cap classes but yours now joins a time”; to the War Memorial and gown and sitting with very small group that have Flagpole beside Shoemaker classmates inside Franklin made a way through times of Green, which “off ers testa- Field—even the uncomfort- enormous challenge.” ment to service and sacrifi ces able parts of it. “Someone Because of the “enormous of generations of Penn stu- tweeted about how it’s like view her daughter about her challenge” presented by the dents”; and fi nally to Frank- sitting for three hours under favorite parts of Penn. “It was COVID-19 pandemic, Penn’s lin Field, where President the sun while someone reads really sweet,” Nguyen said. on-campus commencement Franklin Roosevelt delivered a phone book,” she said. “She interviewed my dad and ceremony at Franklin Field a 1936 speech during the “Sure, but I never got to ex- brother too.” has been postponed until Great Depression that in- perience that. My parents Nguyen also thought the May 22–23 of 2021, delaying cluded words Gutmann said have never got to experience online commencement cel- for a year the opportunity for should hold “special mean- that in their lives. No one in ebration was “heartwarm- the Class of 2020 to walk ing” for the Class of 2020: the generations above me got ing,” pointing to a tribute vid- down Locust Walk, “side by “To some generations, much to experience that.” eo that featured graduates

18 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Screenshot from Commencement 2020; photo courtesy Rosie Nguyen (Facing page) President Amy Gutmann, Rosie Nguyen; (below) Natasha Menon, Penn performers singing “The Red and Blue,” chaplain Chaz Howard. Honorary discussing their academic campus to move out of her Karim El Sewedy EAS’20 Degrees experiences, favorite Penn apartment. And once back W’20 said he too appreciated Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie traditions, sporting events, home in Scottsdale, Arizona, the opportunity to watch Honorary Doctor of life in Philly, the campus arts she enjoyed cake and cham- commencement “intimately Humane Letters scene, and more. Before that, pagne with her parents and with your parents as opposed the Penn Band reunited virtu- brother (who graduated from to sitting in a crowd far away Anthony M. Kennedy Honorary Doctor of Laws ally to play the 100-year-old medical school the same from them.” El Sewedy was fi ght song “Fight On, Pennsyl- weekend) while watching the particularly moved by the Jhumpa Lahiri vania!” and Duval Courteau online celebration live. The “powerful” words of Chaz Honorary Doctor of C’20 belted out the national complete ceremony, which Howard, whose invocation Humane Letters anthem from her house. can still be viewed at com- struck a similar tone as a Jill Lepore “It was amazing that we mencement.upenn.edu, also speech El Sewedy gave at Honorary Doctor of were all over the world and included readings of this Wharton’s virtual gradua- Humane Letters yet all of these diff erent faces year’s honorary degree re- tion, in which he refl ected on Stanley A. Plotkin were on the screen,” Nguyen Honorary Doctor of Sciences said. “It felt like I almost got to see everyone again.” Sister Mary Scullion Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Gregg L. Semenza Honorary Doctor of Sciences Henry Threadgill Honorary Doctor of Music

Bios of honorands are at commencement.upenn.edu

cipients and senior award winners, brief words of ad- vice from commencement speaker Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the conferral of de- grees from the deans of every school, and a surprise ap- pearance by John Legend C’99 Hon’14 singing “The Red and Blue,” decked out in Natasha Menon C’20 a Penn sweatshirt, with all of GEng’21, the Undergraduate his Grammys behind him. Assembly president, admit- “I liked that I was able to sit newfound opportunities that has been an unpredictable, ted that it felt a little disori- with my family and be sur- may arise for this generation uncomfortable, and in many enting to graduate without rounded by them and see of graduates because of the ways disappointing ending to hearing her name called and their reactions,” Menon said. current crisis. their collegiate journeys walking across a stage (as “Otherwise, I would’ve been “May these graduates see somehow be redeemed. students do at their school’s amongst my friends, which is challenges not just as mo- “What an auspicious time graduation ceremonies, not great, but I wouldn’t have ments to survive but as mo- for them to graduate. Indeed a the University-wide com- been able to see [my family’s] ments to serve,” Howard said. season of tragedy and loss— mencement). But she or- faces from far away. It was “May they see interruptions yet also a new heroic age.” —DZ dered a graduation cap off nice to be in the comfort of as opportunities. May they, Amazon and snapped a few my own home, with my dogs.” even through tears, see catas- Beatrice Forman C’22 photos when she returned to Senior class president trophes as callings. May what contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy Natasha Menon; screenshots from Commencement 2020 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 19 GAZETTEER Campus

and breastfeeding shelves fi lled with books, and schedules were, un- plenty of toys. derstandably, far Any student parent is wel- from their minds. come, including eligible “It can be hard to post-docs. Hypolite says fi nd your student most of the center’s members parent community at are graduate-student fami- Penn,” says Kendra lies, though there are some Hypolite C’12 SPP’16. undergraduates, too. About a That’s why, 10 years third of its members are in- ago, the Penn Family ternational students. Center was born. On a campus that wasn’t Today Hypolite designed with toddlers in serves as associate mind, the Family Center director of the Family has been carefully built to Center, the student house everything parents parent support group and kids might need. It’s a that Pierson had dis- place where families meet covered. But the cen- other families and form ter’s family-focused deep friendships. Kids can eff orts extend far be- play with one parent while yond that. the other is in class or at a Hypolite says peo- meeting. There are two lac- ple often assume that tation rooms with breast the Penn Family Cen- pumps, a children’s library, ter is a daycare pro- and even a place for naps. gram. In fact, onsite Hypolite often spots fami- childcare is one of the few lies eating lunch there, en- Parental Bonds things it doesn’t off er. “We joying their time together A much-needed hub for student see ourselves as a hub—a while one parent is on a place to deliver program- break between classes. parents, the Penn Family Center ming and resources, but also For full-time Penn students, turns 10. to connect and advocate for membership comes with a student parents,” Hypolite free subscription to the popu- says. At last count, there lar (and pricey) childcare site hen Stephanie Pierson she says. “I don’t know how to were roughly 1,300 Penn stu- Care.com, along with a week LPS’20 SPP’21 showed do this while having a family.” dents who are parents. The of subsidized emergency up to a support group Until that meeting, Pierson center is open to any of them backup care. The center also W for Penn students who had been struggling to meet on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 helps administer two of have children, she didn’t ex- classmates who understood p.m. Membership is free, and Penn’s grant programs for pect that everyone would be her situation, even after a around 600 students are ac- PhD students: one that de- crying within the fi rst fi ve dozen years as a part-time tive members. frays childcare costs, another minutes, herself included. student. Though she was en- Located on the lowest level that off sets dependent health “It was just this collective rolled in the LPS program, of the Graduate Student Cen- insurance fees. sigh,” she remembers. “Every- most of her classes were with ter at 3615 Locust Walk, the “All of that really changes body knew the pent-up anxi- 20-year-old undergraduates Family Center has made a the experience for Penn stu- ety and frustration we were all who lived on campus, partied basement feel bright and dent parents, to the point dealing with.” The room in- through the weekends, and cozy. Its walls are pale green where they’re saying they cluded students from all had no problem scheduling and blue. Bright lights stream actually chose Penn because around campus, “but every- group project work late at down from the ceiling. There of these resources,” says Jes- body was feeling the same,” night. Emergency babysitters are soft couches and chairs, sica Bolker LPS’16, who has

20 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Illustration by Melinda Beck RACIAL EQUALITY

been working with the Fam- That’s been at the heart of Hope Amidst Despair ily Center since its earliest everything since the center days and became its director fi rst opened in January 2010, In a message to the University community in early June, in 2017. Noting that Penn was with Anita Mastroieni Penn President Amy Gutmann called the killings of George Floyd, “very much at the vanguard” GGS’99 GrEd'10 serving as its Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others that shocked the with its Family Center, Bolk- founding director. At the nation “grim manifestations of ongoing racism, repression, and er says the University is still time, she described the center infl ammation of hatred in our society.” the only Ivy League school as “a way to connect and de- “Yet out of our despair, we can also perceive hope,” she added, with a dedicated family cen- velop supportive networks.” pointing to the nationwide peaceful protests they spawned as a ter on its campus. Bolker says Mastroieni was “long overdue” opportunity to create meaningful change. inspired by both Penn gradu- “We must, as a country and community, resolve to fi nd better ways “We want fun ate student parents, who had forward to understand and address systemic racism and closely related been advocating for resourc- economic, educational, political and social inequities,” Gutmann said. es on campus, and by new things for kids “We must work together to build more hope for the future.” research that found PhD stu- For Penn to do its part, Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett dent mothers were both and we also want Gr’97 announced a set of new projects that “will propel progress in dropping out at higher rates our University, city, and society” toward more inclusivity and “help informative and struggling more to land and supportive tenure-track jobs. heal wounds, strengthen community, and create hope in our world.” Launching a family center The projects include: workshops “was not only about support- ■ Penn Projects for Progress: A $2 million fund to seed projects, ing our Penn students,” Bolk- grounded in Penn research, that offer new ideas on ways to eradi- for parents." er says, “but also supporting cate systemic racism; achieve educational equity; and reduce the academic pipeline, and health disparities based on race, gender, or sexual orientation. With help from a small team making sure academia is as ■ A Year of Civic Engagement: A mission to create programs, of student Family Fellows, diverse as possible.” workshops, student-led dialogues, and more opportunities to en- Bolker and Hypolite maintain When it opened, the center gage with communities outside campus throughout the 2020–21 a busy slate of programming was housed on the second academic year. at the center, all of it free. fl oor of Houston Hall, inside a ■ The Campaign for Community: Launched in 2015, this cam- There are weekly, kid-friendly dance studio. On weekday paign seeks to fi nd ways to discuss and understand social issues English lessons and the stu- mornings, Family Center staff that appear diffi cult or intractable. Moving forward, members of dent parent support group would push in their furniture the Penn community are encouraged to use Campaign funding that Hypolite, a social worker, and toys and books and and sponsorship for more small-group events (with consideration runs. Over the past few years, stuff ed animals from nearby for physical distancing due to the pandemic). there have been librarian sto- storage rooms. At 3 p.m., ry times and a sensory play they’d clear it all out again. Further details will be announced for these and other projects as series for toddlers. There are “Everything was on wheels,” the fall semester approaches. In the meantime, Gutmann tried to Saturday brunch playdates Bolker remembers. “It was a convey a feeling of optimism. and an annual ice-skating par- process, but we made it “We thrive when we join together, when we care for one another, ty at the Penn Ice Rink. There work.” Still, she says, “it didn’t when we speak and act with empathy for and in solidarity with one an- are lactation support groups feel like a permanent home.” other,” she said. “Today is not the fi rst time—and it will not be the last and workshops with children’s After several years of the time—that we speak up and stand up with our students, faculty, staff, sleep experts. center-on-wheels shuffl e, alumni, and entire community of caring, loving, hurting human beings.” “We try to take a holistic the Family Center found its approach,” Bolker says. “We current home inside the want fun things for kids and Graduate Student Center in end events became possible. most of campus. But even with we also want informative 2014. “That’s when the To mark its 10th anniver- its festivities shelved and its and supportive workshops whole thing blossomed,” sary, the center planned a members quarantined at for parents. We’re trying to Bolker says. The staff ex- birthday party and an open home, the Penn Family Center address everybody’s needs as panded and membership house for early April. Then has still been fi nding ways to much as possible.” swelled. Evening and week- COVID-19 swept in, shuttering support student parents.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 21 GAZETTEER Instruction

“We’ve moved everything after the University depopu- virtual that we possibly can,” lated campus and announced Bolker says. Today the cen- the implementation of re- ter’s staff are responding to mote instruction on March 11 parents’ questions, working in response to the novel to supply relevant informa- coronavirus outbreak [“Gaz- tion on isolation and home- etteer,” May|Jun 2020]. For schooling, and off ering at- some students, the transition home family programming, from in-person instruction to including a virtual fi eld trip Zoom lectures and prere- series for kids. corded demos led to deeper Hypolite is still running her engagement. For others, it student parent support created questions about the group, but now it’s meeting college experience. virtually over Zoom. “Parents’ “It’s hard to remember I’m a lives look diff erent right now,” student sometimes. I feel like she says, “but some of the college is already over,” said challenges are the same. The Sam Friskey C’20, near the need to balance academic end of the semester. She par- responsibilities with parent- ticularly missed the sense of ing responsibilities—that will Virtual Reality family that Penn’s theater always be there.” community provided. Though Before the pandemic, the As students and professors she felt fortunate that profes- center had been planning transitioned to remote learning, sors like Brooke O’Harra con- several workshops in partner- ducted check-ins with each of ship with Penn Career Ser- many discovered what was lost— the students in her self-script- vices, covering everything and gained—in translation. ing class, Friskey admitted it job-hunting student parents was diffi cult to balance need to know. They pivoted to coursework with the gravity video instead, with a three- uring her fi rst clinical hospital unit. For Chang, the of the global pandemic. part series now on YouTube. rotation of the spring lessons didn’t compare. “I would say my productiv- Bolker plans to continue semester, Jenny Chang “I miss my clinical experi- ity in comparison to normal with similar digital off erings, DNu’21 faced a challenge: ence because I learned a lot is probably quite low,” she even once in-person meetups think fast or let a deaf pa- from professors who were said. “But I like to remind are back on the table. Over tient go misunderstood. She actively working on the fl oor,” myself that it would be the years, she’s often heard immediately grabbed a pen she said. “There’s a diff erence strange if we were all operat- from student parents who and paper to begin translat- between people who have to ing at the same level of pro- can’t make it to the center’s ing medical jargon into sim- think on their feet every sin- ductivity.” events but wish they could. pler terms, gratifi ed by the gle minute of the day versus Friskey spent much of her “Being able to off er virtual opportunity to make a diff er- professors who have done it quarantine working on her content has actually been a ence at a moment’s notice. in the past. They can’t really senior Honors thesis, a play goal of ours,” she says. “It’s a Starting in mid-March, give us the same insight as interpolating the eff ects of little more freeing, and it however, Chang had to learn actual nurses and physicians climate change with the 10 means we can get our con- practical skills from behind a can about learning how to biblical plagues. Though she tent wider. computer screen. Some days, use specifi c machinery or initially received funding “We were trending towards she watched her professors where to get ice—just little from the Sachs Program for creating a more online com- perform physicals on man- things I would’ve never Arts Innovation to stage it, the munity,” she adds. “It just nequins. On others, she grap- learned otherwise.” performance instead had to would not have happened all at pled with the Kaplan soft- Chang’s experience illus- be a Zoom reading for friends once in a span of two weeks.” ware meant to simulate the trated the new normal for and family. “The element of —Molly Petrilla C’06 experience of nursing in a Penn students and professors theater that I miss the most is

22 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Illustration by Stephen Schudlich PLANNING

that there’s always the poten- unprecedented times. tial for things to change, “While I do understand why Coming This Fall? which is exciting,” Friskey it’s better for people to have “Navigating the year ahead will require us all to be creative, said. “And that spontaneity is the [pass-fail] option” if they fl exible, and resolute,” wrote President Gutmann and Penn’s very hard to create when need or want to take advan- senior leadership in a May 21 message about the planning you’re not there, in person.” tage of it,” she said, “it cre- underway for the Fall 2020 semester and the restoration Other Penn students also ates a certain stigma.” of research operations in light of the continuing threat from missed not interacting with Despite all of the diffi cul- COVID-19. The University’s course was still undetermined as others in the campus com- ties and concerns, silver lin- this issue of the Gazette was going to press in early June, but munity. “I learn best from ings could be found. Charlie likely will have been set by the time it reaches readers (see our hands-on experience, which Aresty W’22 admitted that in website or Penn’s homepage for the latest information). is why I also work in a pro- the past he was “always Four possible scenarios for instruction, some elements of fessional lab and why I’m afraid of missing things” which could be combined, were being considered: an all-online interested in becoming an while furiously taking notes educational experience; a hybrid of in-person smaller classes MD-PhD,” said Sukhmani in class. But having the abil- Kaur C’22, a pre-med student ity to rewind and pause lec- (in spaces large enough to allow social distancing) and online majoring in biology with a tures increased his produc- larger ones; having in-person instruction end at Thanksgiving tivity and comprehension. and the rest of the semester online; and expanding Summer “It’s been really helpful,” he 2021 course options to give students more fl exibility. “I miss my said, “and I wish they record- Accompanying alterations to campus life being looked at clinical ed more lectures at Penn so included a “Public Health Social Compact” for mask-wearing, we could do that.” social distancing, and remote work whenever possible; a regular experience Professors also tried to make testing program; limitations on travel; reduced occupancy in because I the most of their situations. College Houses and campus high-traffi c areas (which would also Urban Studies professor cut hours to allow for deep cleaning); and a reservations- and/ learned a lot Michael Nairn GLA’85 re- or takeout-based dining program. worked one of his spring- While still in development, the path to restoring research from professors semester courses to refl ect operations seemed a bit more straightforward, involving a three- the experiences of his stu- stage phased return, from increasing priority research while who were dents and the demands the still limiting personnel present; to gradually expanding with pandemic has placed on actively working attention to physical distancing; to full resumption, in all phases public, urban spaces. The continuing with remote work where possible. on the floor." course—Public Environment of Cities: An Introduction to focus on neuroscience. Many Urban Landscapes—typi- pandemic reading list was students faced more distrac- of Kaur’s lab-based science cally involves gathering stu- created, and students were tions at home and, in the be- courses have been diffi cult to dents together and touring encouraged to talk freely ginning, there were some replicate remotely. In one diff erent neighborhoods in about how the virus was al- drawn-out, awkward silenc- physics class, which became Philadelphia. When that be- tering their own lives. es—he was surprised that the a mandatory pass-fail, she came impossible, Nairn ini- “I actually think that listen- level of engagement didn’t said that students watched tially thought he could fi lm ing to them about … their waver. If anything, it got teaching assistants perform the walks himself. “But fears and what they were ob- more intense. experiments before reporting that’s not the same as expe- serving and how they were “What’s interesting is that on results that weren’t theirs. riencing them,” he said. “So I making this transition gave we were talking about and “I was kind of surprised had to make a huge pivot at me more insight and more discussing what many of that we were continuing that point.” empathy,” Nairn said. “I their lives were like, so many lab,” Kaur admitted, adding After polling his students think I grew much more of my students led discus- that she’s nervous how pass- for input, he drafted a new aware of their struggles over sions,” Nairn said. “I didn’t fail courses might be viewed curriculum that centered on the last eight weeks.” notice that as much in previ- by medical school admis- how COVID-19 is straining While Nairn admits the ous years.” sions offi cers, even in these and changing cities. A new class was far from perfect— —Beatrice Forman C’22

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 23 GAZETTEER Admissions

and some years a couple hun- “I think we have to take one The COVID Class dred.” This year comes in at case at a time,” Furda said, the top of that range. “But emphasizing how much re- College admissions in our yield rate is holding right mained unknown even apart a pandemic year. around 66 percent,” Furda from the University’s ultimate added, referring to the per- decisions about campus life in centage of admitted students the fall. “Fifty states may have hen the University re- 2,300 committed students by who accept the off er to en- 50 diff erent rules around trav- leased admissions deci- that point—and as of the fi rst roll. “Our high-water mark el,” he said. “Schools in Penn- sions to applicants for week in May, “everything was was 68 percent.” Students sylvania might be open but W the Class of 2024, on in line with projections.” admitted from the wait list not schools in New Jersey, or March 26, it was anybody’s That remained the case three are not eligible to request vice versa. It might sound in- guess what exactly the recipi- weeks later. By all appear- gap years. authentic when I say we have ents of happy news were be- ances, the Class of 2024 was What options would en- to take individual cases indi- ing invited to take part in. shaping up to look much like rolled students have to change vidually, but you really do. Under the threat of CO- its predecessors, with 2,400 their minds if summer brings There’s going to be local deci- VID-19, Penn had already freshmen from the usual news that the coming aca- sions and state decisions, as sent current students home (vast) spread of US states and demic year will not resemble well as federal and interna- to complete the semester on- other countries. the residential collegiate expe- tional decisions that are line. The fall was a giant Yet several question marks rience that originally moti- made—and they will not be question mark. Would lec- still loomed, perhaps none vated them to apply? evenly distributed.” ture halls be limited to 25 larger than that posed by the people at a time? Would June 5 deadline for students to SUSTAINABILITY freshmen be assigned to dou- request a “gap year” deferral. ble- and triple-rooms in the Such requests are reviewed on Bright Spot Quad? Would sports go on? a case-by-case basis, and Fur- Would libraries open? Would da said that approvals typi- In a move that will bring the University “signifi cantly closer” classes move to Zoom? cally require a compelling to its goal of achieving a carbon-neutral campus by 2042 [“Gaz- Would students return to statement of what the peti- etteer,” Jan|Feb 2020], Penn has agreed to purchase all the campus at all? tioner proposes to do with the electricity produced by two new solar energy facilities scheduled The uncertainty would per- year. By the deadline, the ad- to begin construction next year by Community Energy, a renew- sist into June at least (when missions offi ce had approved able energy company based in Radnor, Pennsylvania. the Gazette went to press). 99 requests—about 50 percent Expected to be Pennsylvania’s largest solar power project at Meanwhile, admitted appli- more than in any past year. 220 megawatts capacity, the two facilities will generate a com- cants had until May 1 to ac- Furda said that most of the bined 450,000 MWh of electricity per year—about 75 percent cept or decline their admis- requests cited familiar rea- of what’s required for the academic campus and Health System. sion off ers. It’s hard to imag- sons—like compulsory mili- The University will pay Community Energy a rate competitive ine a more fraught decision. tary service for students in with prices for conventional generation, and the term of the Yet when Penn’s dean of some countries—but several agreement is 25 years. admissions, Eric J. Furda petitioners cited health risks The University’s commitment to renewable energy goes back C’87, sat down at his com- related to COVID-19, such as to 2006, with a 10-year agreement with the company for wind puter on May 8, he was greet- asthma or other underlying power. According to a May press release, the new project ranks ed with a remarkable sight. medical conditions that make “If I’d just been in College the disease more dangerous. at the top of solar and wind initiatives by Ivy League institutions Hall the whole time, and Furda also said that his of- designed to shrink their carbon footprints. When they begin op- hadn’t read any news, and I fi ce had been “utilizing the eration in 2023, the power plants will reduce campus carbon just looked at the numbers wait list” to a greater degree emissions by 45 percent compared to levels in 2009, when the for the incoming class, you than in most recent years. fi rst iteration of Penn’s Climate Action Plan was issued [“Red wouldn’t think anything was “Some years we don’t go to it and Blue Makes Green,” Nov|Dec 2009], and meet the 2030 going on outside,” he said. In at all,” he said. “Some years emissions reduction goal set by the Paris Climate Accord seven an ordinary year, he’d expect we take 20 from the wait list, years ahead of schedule.

24 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 He hoped that summer same thing will be true com- AWARDS would bring more clarity. ing into college—and I’m not “But at some point, we have just talking about Penn. President’s Engagement to say, ‘This is what we’re of- There’s also value to becom- fering, and we want you to be ing part of this broader net- and Innovation Prizes a part of it. And if you don’t work of support.” want to be a part of it, well, Families, he allowed, may Nine graduating seniors were awarded the 2020 Presi- you’re essentially turning be faced with hard decisions dent’s Engagement and Innovation prizes, which provide down your spot in the class.’” pitting their child’s health $100,000 in funding for projects designed to make a lasting Students who do so would and welfare in tension with difference in the world. Each team member also receives a have to reapply for the follow- their educational prospects. $50,000 living stipend and mentorship from a Penn faculty ing year, if they still wanted to “I’m talking as a dad now member. The prizes are the largest of their kind in higher edu- attend Penn. But as Furda more than anything else,” he cation. Here are the winning projects: observed, declining a spot at said, “and if you’re like, ‘My Penn doesn’t necessarily solve child is not getting on a PRESIDENT’S ENGAGEMENT PRIZES plane,’ those are bigger issues. Aarogya | Aditya Siroya C’19 W’20, Shivansh Inamdar EAS’19 “That being said, even if C’20, and Artemis Panagopoulou C’20 EAS’20 aim to save lives “For these high there is some virtual compo- by providing free medicines to those most in need. They cre- school seniors nent [to instruction in the ated India’s fi rst digital medicine redistribution platform, which fall], there is some value to will broaden healthcare access and reduce medical waste by that are just being part of this class—and enabling safe, convenient redistribution of unused medicine to also, what are the other op- patients who can’t afford them. Mentor: Mark Pauly, the Bend- tions? What else are you go- graduating, they heim Professor of Health Care Management at Wharton. ing to do? By the time you get The Unscripted Project | Meera Menon W’20 and Philip Chen are the COVID around to late August and class. There's September, are you going to W’20 hope to utilize improv theater training to empower Phila- be looking forward to being a delphia youth to speak confi dently, collaborate effectively, and some value in part of something, whatever practice perseverance. Partnering with Philly Improv Theater, shape that takes? Or are you the pair will coordinate 10-week workshops for sixth to 10th staying together just going to sort of wait to grade students in Philadelphia, emphasizing real-world skills. as a class. see what else happens next? Mentor: Marcia Ferguson, senior lecturer in theatre arts in the " “That question is larger School of Arts and Sciences. than any of us,” he added. Collective Climb | Kwaku Owusu W’20, Mckayla Warwick C’20, the problem of what an “It’s what does COVID test- and Hyungtae Kim C’20 want to increase economic prosperity 18-year-old aspiring to a four- ing look like? What does con- among communities in West Philadelphia through a fi nancial year college education is go- tact tracing look like? Are literacy initiative and debt reduction model that centers around ing to do instead. He posited some of these early stages of “community pots”—collections of monetary contributions that that, no matter what the com- a vaccine going to break ing academic year looks like, through? But I don’t know leverage collective wealth to tackle debt. Mentor: Glenn Bryan, there’s a case to be made for how long in life you’re just Assistant Vice President of Community Relations in Penn’s Of- this cohort to stay together. going to sit around and wait fi ce of Government and Community Affairs.

“For these high school se- for that next thing to happen, PRESIDENT’S INNOVATION PRIZE niors that are just graduat- because you have absolutely inventXYZ | Nikil Ragav EAS’20 W’20 plans to set up maker- ing, they are the COVID no control over it.” spaces at high schools across the country to empower a new class,” he said. “There’s some For those students who do generation of inventors, regardless of income or background. value in staying together as a come together at Penn in the class. You’ve already had this fall—whatever “coming to- The makerspace design includes equipment for automated shared experience, which is a gether” looks like—he had a manufacturing, electronics design, augmented/virtual reality, bond from your high school message: “Being a part of fi lmmaking, and digital music. Mentor: Adam Mally, lecturer in class—although certainly not this class has its merit and computer and information science in the School of Engineering one you wanted. And the meaning.”—TP and Applied Science.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 25 Kayla Padilla made defenders like this GAZETTEER Sports one lose their balance throughout her freshman season.

“We needed her to have the year she had,” McLaughlin says. “We needed a scoring two-guard. And she was ev- erything-plus. She’s confi dent, creative as a basketball player. At times, she’s unassuming. She may not look like she has everything, but she does.” Perhaps the pinnacle of Pa- dilla’s debut season came on January 11 when, in her fi rst game versus Princeton, she had what McLaughlin calls a “special performance,” shoot- ing 10 for 14 to score 27 points. The following month against the nationally ranked Tigers, she had a successful encore with 24 points. “To feel that rivalry fi rsthand,” she says, “was defi nitely some- thing that came instantly.” The Quakers still lost both teammates just a few months of those games, and missed Padilla Power after she had fl own across the the chance to play Princeton country as a 17-year-old to again when the Ivy League She's a rising basketball star and begin her freshman year at Tournament was cancelled also runs a digital platform to amplify Penn. Having spent her whole due to COVID-19. But the life in southern California, way Padilla handled herself the voices of college athletes. Padilla admits that it was a against Penn’s fi ercest rival diffi cult adjustment—not reminded McLaughlin of an- that anybody who watched other star freshman, Sydney the way to Hawaii popular sport—also made her play at the Palestra could Stipanovich C’17, who in her for a New Year’s Eve plenty of selfi e requests. have been able to tell. fi rst year helped Penn de- game, the Penn “I question whether my par- An immediate off ensive dy- throne Princeton to turn the On women’s basketball ents or grandparents are the namo, Padilla poured in 25 Quakers into a regular Ivy team made a pit stop at ris- biggest Penn basketball fans,” points in her second college championship contender. ing sophomore Kayla Padil- Padilla says. “They know ev- game and continued to put up “I was unbelievably im- la’s home in Torrance, Cali- ery stat, every person on the huge scoring numbers. She pressed with her maturity,” fornia. There they squeezed team.” Head coach Mike fi nished her freshman season McLaughlin says of Padilla. into a backyard tent, ate McLaughlin particularly en- in March with a 17.4 points- “It’s hard at that position. mounds of Brazilian food, joyed hearing about the par- per-game scoring average and You’re being chased all around and listened to Padilla and ties the Padilla family would made 73 three-pointers, rank- the fl oor constantly. And her one of her six-year-old twin throw for every Penn game ing second in the Ivy League in teammates totally embraced sisters play guitar and sing they could watch on ESPN+. both categories. She was the her because of who she is.” Taylor Swift and Post Malone “They told me exactly where Ivy League Rookie of the Year, McLaughlin began recruit- songs. Her parents and both they would sit,” he recalls. a fi rst team All-Ivy and All-Big ing Padilla years ago, thanks to sets of grandparents—who For Padilla, it was special to 5 selection, and she ranked a tip from former Penn men’s are from the Philippines, have her tight-knit family sixth nationally among all basketball player Camryn where basketball is the most meet her new coaches and freshmen in scoring. Crocker C’15 GEd’18, whose

26 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Photo courtesy Penn Athletics TRIBUTES White Coats for Black Lives sister Cailyn played with Pa- dilla on the California AAU circuit. Padilla’s ability to shoot threes, drive to the bas- ket, and control the open court immediately jumped out. So did her family values, includ- ing the way she supports an autistic sister, and some off - the-court aspirations that drew her to Wharton and have since manifested themselves in entrepreneurial ways. In April, Padilla launched The Sideline Post (theside- linepost.com), a website for college athletes to write per- sonal stories. It’s modeled after The Players’ Tribune, which gives that kind of space for mostly professional athletes. “I wanted to step in and bridge that gap and off er a platform to do the same thing and highlight the back- grounds and stories of college athletes, regardless of how many followers they have or what division they play in,” Padilla says. A recent story by Penn men’s basketball guard Devon Goodman C’20, in which he revealed for the fi rst time that he played nearly the entire season with a bro- ken wrist, was particularly While Franklin Field was mostly quiet this spring due to the cancellations of Commencement, well received. But other sto- Penn Relays, and Penn sports, the stadium still hosted two memorable events. In early June, hun- ries have gone beyond Uni- dreds of Penn Health System and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia doctors, nurses, and staff versity City and touched on topics outside of sports. And gathered at Franklin Field to kneel silently in remembrance of George Floyd and countless others as the global pandemic and who have been victims of police violence. More than a month earlier, those same healthcare pro- police brutality protests have fessionals were honored with an aerial drone display for being on the frontlines of the COVID-19 reshaped the world around pandemic. Franklin Field was the launching point for 140 illuminated drones that lit up the Univer- them, other discussions have sity City sky in a show put on by Verge Aero, a technology company based at Pennovation Works. been happening too, includ- ing on regular team Zoom On the court, the Penn improve her defense and great, which McLaughlin is con- check-ins. coaches are trying to give rebounding to fi ll a hole left fi dent will happen—and more. “It’s great to have an open Padilla a bigger voice as she by point guard Kendall Gra- “She is going to leave Penn dialogue,” Padilla says, “and evolves into a leader. Padilla sela Nu’20. as one of the faces of the not avoid the things that are also hopes to become a more She has her mind set on be- school,” the head coach says. going on today.” well-rounded player and coming an all-time program “She’s that type of kid.” —DZ

Photo by Eric Sucar courtesy University Communications; Nick Lang Media courtesy Verge Aero Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 27 Penn and the Pandemic How the University and alumni Health and Medicine have responded to the current crisis. The Vaccine Hunt Two months before COVID-19 upended By Gazette Staff and Contributors American life, Penn-affi liated research- ers were already racing to create a genetic vaccine.

pidemics have shaped Pablo Tebas’s veryone has a story. When the novel coronavirus life. The infectious disease doctor has struck, Pablo Tebas plunged into vaccine development devoted much of his academic career between shifts on the front line of COVID-19 hospital E to the treatment and prevention of HIV, and worked on vac- care. Wharton’s Mauro Guillen abandoned his sabbati- cines for Ebola and Zika. So cal to develop a mega-course on the pandemic that BIOMEDICINE when the COVID-19 pan- drew some 2,500 students from across the University. demic struck, he plunged SEPTAE general manager Leslie Richards GRP’93 tackled the into action. Doubling down on a partner- ship with professor emeritus David Wein- unprecedented challenge of running mass transit amid er, who now directs the Wistar Institute’s mass contagion. James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Vaccine and Immunotherapy Center, Te- Steven Cook W’95 convened the leading lights of Philadel- bas threw himself into the development phia fi ne dining to plot a safe path forward for an industry of a genetic vaccine against the novel facing an existential threat. Penn Medicine set up testing coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Through Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which sites that swabbed over 40,000 people in the fi rst two was cofounded by Weiner and J. Joseph months. And from biology to education policy to the history Kim GEng’94 WG’96 Gr’98 in 2000 (orig- of medicine, Penn faculty rose to the moment the best way inally under the name VGX Pharmaceuti- they know how: by teaching. Here is how some of them met cals) as a spinoff from the School of Med- the challenge this spring. icine, the researchers turned to a technol- ogy they had used to create the world’s fi rst-in-man vaccine against Zika in 2016. This genetic vaccine is quite diff erent from the shots administered to millions of arms

28 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN PELTIER Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 29 every fl u season, not least because it can main advantage of DNA is that it’s stable What has stood in the way of potentially be manufactured far more at room temperature for a long time with- FDA approval? quickly. Tebas talked about this eff ort with out deteriorating. So it’s easier to keep on We did Phase 1 studies, where you look Gazette senior editor Trey Popp on April the shelf. You don’t need a freezer. But you at safety and immunogenicity—in other 8—two days after testing the vaccine’s still have to prove that the vaccine is safe, words, does the vaccine make people safety on the fi rst human volunteer. and that it produces antibodies. That’s make antibodies against the protein? what we are trying to do right now. Those studies tend to be small and rela- Can you describe the idea behind tively fast. But then you have to prove the this sort of vaccine, and how it differs The sequence of the virus was pub- vaccine is eff ective—that those antibodies from the traditional vaccine for lished in January. How quickly did you people make actually prevent infection. seasonal infl uenza? swing into action? Those Phase 3 studies are large. You have Traditional vaccines are usually made It was published in January. David to demonstrate that if you vaccinate a of a protein, or killed virus, or live at- Weiner cloned this protein and put the bunch of people, and don’t vaccinate oth- tenuated virus. With the infl uenza vac- protein in a vector, and then you have the ers, the treated group is at less risk of get- cine, people get injected in the arm with plasmid. You test it in mice to show that ting the infection. But that’s a massive a protein. Your immune system reacts the DNA you have causes the mice to study, and it takes time. against the protein and makes antibod- make antibodies. Then you have to man- And when we did this with Zika, it ies, and those antibodies are what pro- ufacture large amounts of the plasmid— looked good—it was safe, it made people tect you. The problem with protein vac- you have to scale up to get enough vaccine make antibodies. But when we were try- cines—or killed virus or live attenuated to be used. That takes a few weeks. And ing to do the Phase 3 study, the Zika epi- virus vaccines—is that they take a long of course you have to design the study and demic ended. That’s the problem with time to develop. You have to culture the write the protocol. All of that went very some of these epidemics: no matter how virus, you need to separate the proteins, fast. We decided to look for healthy vol- fast you go, the epidemic goes faster, and and you need to isolate the protein that unteers. Then you go to the FDA, and then disappears, at which point it’s very diffi - you want to immunize people with. That they authorize you. That happened last cult to prove that it’s effi cacious in the can take months and months. With in- week. We already had our approval at the fi eld. That has been one of the reasons fl uenza, in the spring the WHO says, University of Pennsylvania. We vaccinat- why some of these vaccines have not been ‘Next year infl uenza is going to look like ed the fi rst participant on Monday [April approved by the FDA. The epidemics end, this.’ And the reason they do that is that 6]. We are screening other people. After and then there is no economic interest. If the manufacturers of the vaccine have the fi rst three patients we have to wait for there is no Zika, no company wants to to grow up virus—they have to grow it a week. Then an external safety monitor- develop a Zika vaccine. There has to be in eggs, isolate the virus, kill the virus, ing board will tell us everything looks fi ne, an economic incentive for a manufac- and isolate the proteins that go into the no major side eff ects, you can go ahead turer to develop a vaccine. infl uenza vaccine. So it takes months. and enroll the fi rst cohort, which is 20 Our process is much diff erent: you get people. Then we will increase the dose a But our experience so far suggests that the genetic sequence of the virus and fi nd little bit, and then we will vaccinate an- perhaps COVID-19 may not burn out so the protein you want to target based on other 20. [In May, the team reported fast as those others? prior experience with similar viruses. positive results and prepared to advance It’s diffi cult to know at this point. Ev- Then you clone that genetic information to the next phase of clinical trials.] erything is going to depend on how much into a plasmid, and that’s what’s injected we contain the disease. With SARS and into your arm: the DNA information that Has this technique been successfully MERS, the epidemics died out. There was will make your cells make the desired pro- used against any other pathogen? a reservoir in animals, but people were tein. So you yourself become the factory Yes. We had an article about a Zika vac- able to control it, so we have had no cases that makes the protein that the immune cine published in the New England Journal of SARS since 2003, and MERS since I system is going to react against. You don’t of Medicine. We had an article about an think 2012, aside from very sporadic need to culture the virus [in eggs or some Ebola vaccine. The company has done this cases. That is one possibility of how the other medium]. So it’s much faster to de- for other viruses such as MERS-CoV, which epidemic ends. Because of social distanc- velop. It takes weeks, not months. is similar to SARS-CoV-2, which is causing ing, if there are no more cases of trans- You can do that with DNA, as we are COVID-19. So the technology has been used mission, the epidemic dies that way. But doing. Other companies, like Moderna, are in other infectious diseases. But it has not if there is continued transmission, and using mRNA, but it’s the same idea. The led to FDA approval of a product. there is a human reservoir, then the epi-

30 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 “You yourself demic might come back later—we can The Future of Nursing Homes have a second or third wave. become the An expert on long-term care facilities of- At this point, we don’t know. Hopefully fers a way out of the darkness. the epidemic will end and that will be it. factory that But at this point we don’t have enough ven before the horrifying news re- information. Because of the emergency, makes the ports began to surface, Ashley Ritter we’re trying to convince the FDA that if Nu’07 GNu’10 Gr’18 could sense what the vaccine is safe, that we could go to a protein that E was coming. much larger study much faster. “To me, the writing was on ELDER the wall early that nursing What are your days like? How does the the immune CARE homes were going to be sig- present moment compare to the profes- nifi cantly impacted and didn’t sional pace you kept before the pandemic? system is going have a system in place to address it,” says It is very busy. I am an infectious dis- Ritter, a geriatric nurse practitioner, Penn ease doctor, so I see patients in the hos- to react against.” Nursing postdoctoral fellow, and Penn pital with COVID-19. I’m involved in Leonard Davis Institute (LDI) associate fel- therapeutic trials—not only in this pre- low. “And, to be honest, we still don’t really vention study. There are a lot of confer- have a system in place to address what’s ence calls about diff erent interventions, bring the virus home. I mean, you’re al- happening in nursing homes.” and what we can use on patients. And I ways worried about the patients during The vulnerability of nursing homes to have been involved in building clinical the day, and when you go home you’re COVID-19 was predictable, even though trials with NIH, treating COVID-19 pa- worried about your family. And of course many put strict regulations on who was tients with a medication called remdesi- you worry about yourself. Every time you entering their tight quarters early in the vir to see if that works. It is busy clinical have a cough, or you wake up in the morn- outbreak. The problem with that strategy, work. I have been coming to the hospital ing with a little bit of nasal congestion however well-intentioned, was that an I don’t know how many weeks in a row, because you have allergies, you wonder, is asymptomatic person could still bring in every day. But I am an infectious disease this coronavirus? But you keep working the infection—and “without testing,” Rit- doctor—this is what we study for. and keep doing what you have to do. ter notes, “making judgments on who’s It is sometimes a little bit heartbreak- sick and not sick based on clinical symp- ing when you see young people on venti- Emotionally, does this work feel toms was totally insuffi cient.” lators, very sick. But it’s also a positive different to you? Also somewhat predictable, given that experience. You realize how good the It is busy and a little bit draining at older individuals face higher risks for people in critical care and infectious dis- times. But I don’t want to complain. The developing more serious complications eases and internal medicine are, how important thing is that everyone does from COVID-19, was how the pandemic good the personnel in the hospital are, what they can to help contain this disease. ravaged nursing homes across the coun- how much they care about the patients. People should practice social distancing. try. According to a New York Times re- Everybody is willing to take care of peo- They should keep up with recommenda- port on May 9, one-third of all US coro- ple with this infection and are willing to tions from CDC. Washing hands, using navirus deaths to that point were nurs- take the risk. That warms your heart and masks. The only way to get out of this ing home residents or workers. makes you feel good, and is a little bit nightmare is to prevent transmitting this But the outbreak has exposed deeper exhilarating, to see how hard people work infection to others. Don’t think that you fl aws in these long-term care facilities, to take care of people with this disease. are not at risk because you are young or from staff shortages to crumbling infra- because you don’t have any comorbidities. structure to a model that places patient Do you remain in good health? I see people in the ICU that are 20 years care in tension with the profi t motive. How is your family? old, that were Ivy League athletes, and And help has been hard to fi nd. I am well. My family is quarantined. You they are sick and they are intubated. This “They sit in between these worlds,” Rit- have to be careful when you go back home. disease has no respect for anybody. You ter says. “They’re not necessarily a home I went back to my residency days—I wear can be young, and you can be very, very and not necessarily a hospital, so it puts my scrubs, I wash my clothes every day, I sick. So follow the recommendations and them in this very tenuous region where use gym clothes and I remove my shirt use common sense. And help to fl atten the nobody really pays attention and all you before entering the home. You try not to curve. Everybody can do their part. hear are the bad stories.”

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 31 Although admittedly “fearful” about to see a strategy implemented in which which nursing homes had the most robust the future of nursing homes, Ritter does small groups of nursing homes work to- COVID-19 responses. Ritter believes that believe there’s a path forward on the gether to troubleshoot problems with each the VA’s nursing homes, which are more other side of the pandemic—but only if other and local health departments. integrated into the health system than major changes occur. And, Ritter says, positive stories should other facilities, could provide a smarter One of the top priorities, in Ritter’s view, be told—particularly about frontline work- blueprint moving forward. But she stress- is investing in the workforce—a point she’s ers who have put themselves in harm’s way es that all nursing homes deserve support hammered home in articles and virtual to provide both healthcare and emotional and improvement. “It seems to me without seminars for LDI. While nursing assistants support to residents whose family mem- some investment and critical thinking provide the majority of hands-on care for bers have been locked out. She’s been par- about their role and their position, many the some 1.3 million permanent nursing ticularly galled by news commentary call- are going to shut down,” she says. “And we home residents across the US (and the 3 ing nursing homes “death pits.” don’t have an alternative plan right now. million more who are discharged annu- Even before the pandemic, “you see a “If we don’t elevate the importance of ally to nursing homes following a hospital lot of blame and shame” going around their position in society,” she adds, stay to receive skilled rehabilitative care), about nursing homes, along with “this “there can be some really horrible unin- there’s “not a lot of people in line for this belief that they are not necessary, and tended consequences for the most vul- low-paying, very, very diffi cult job.” That you can fi nd ways to provide care in nerable members of our society.” —DZ left residents without adequate care dur- other settings.” Ritter disagrees. Al- ing a crisis even as it placed overburdened though home care might be the best op- staff —mostly women and minorities—in tion for many people discharged from a History and Policy a dangerous situation, often without the hospital and needing post-acute care, same amount of personal protective equip- “the utility of nursing homes really Plagues and Peoples ment as hospital workers. serves low-income, single individuals,” What the “social X-rays” of “We need incentives in place to en- Ritter says. For many without family, epidemics reveal. courage the nursing workforce to stay in they serve as housing. “By doing away nursing homes,” says Ritter, noting that with nursing homes and not having an- arly in “Plagues Past and Present: Pan- the high level of employee turnover is other option, you’re saying those indi- demics in Historical Perspective,” a “really expensive” for nursing homes— viduals are not worth taking care of.” virtual presentation he did for Perry and worse for patient outcomes. “Just Despite several examples of the botched E World House in April, David S. Barnes because a nursing assistant doesn’t have handling of nursing homes, steps were paused to identify his a college degree does not mean it’s un- eventually taken to slow COVID-19’s spread. PANDEMIC Zoom background: the skilled work. It’s a very skilled job.” Three days after a Philadelphia Inquirer HISTORY newly renovated facade of While cutting back on staff is one way report exposed Pennsylvania for failing to the Lazaretto, the oldest that nursing homes have dealt with fall- protect nursing home residents, the com- surviving quarantine facility in the West- ing occupancy rates (which is also infl u- monwealth announced a plan to begin ern Hemisphere. enced by the growing preference of coronavirus testing for every resident and Built in the wake of a series of devas- older adults to age at home), Ritter be- employee in a long-term care facility. Other tating yellow fever epidemics that struck lieves that “we need to critically evaluate states did the same, following a nationwide Philadelphia in the 1790s, the Lazaretto for-profi t nursing homes and how that call from the White House in mid-May for operated from 1801 to 1895 on the Dela- model fi ts into our healthcare system.” coronavirus testing in all of the country’s ware riverfront, quarantining ships and According to a New York Times report 15,000 or so nursing homes. cargo, and treating sick passengers in its on May 7, nursing homes with private Even still, “the loss of life is going to hospital, before they could enter the city. equity owners were particularly ill be profound,” Ritter says. “And the indi- Barnes, an associate professor of the equipped to protect residents and work- viduals caring for people in nursing history and sociology of science, is work- ers. Says Ritter, “It’s a lucrative business homes will be very struck by the gravity ing on a book about the Lazaretto and for some but it’s not great for patients.” of the situation. We must address that has been involved in eff orts to preserve Oversight is another concern. Instead of and be there to support our colleagues, the site. His other books include The states regulating nursing homes with year- just like we’ve been supporting the Making of a Social Disease: Tuberculosis ly surveys and fi nes—which she calls “a workforce in hospitals and ICUs.” in 19th Century France (University of punitive, reactive system” that creates From those immediate concerns, she California Press, 1995) and The Great anxiety and a negative culture—she’d like then hopes to look at the data to fi nd Stink of Paris and the Nineteenth-Cen-

32 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 tury Struggle Against Filth and Germs work when everybody tries, he said. “germs don’t discriminate”—is especially (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006). By the time the misnamed “Spanish damaging, he added. True, “microorgan- “I think people are understandably hun- Flu” emerged in 1918 (most likely in isms can’t see or hear or perceive race or gry for lessons from history,” Barnes said. Kansas) the overall infrastructure for class or gender, [but] it’s abundantly clear Epidemics have always served as “social public health was in place and history’s throughout history that germs do discrim- X-rays,” he added. “They reveal otherwise worst pandemic had little impact in inate, have always discriminated, and are hidden fractures and weaknesses in soci- changing approaches. “The geopolitical discriminating right now,” he said. “They ety,” and also function as “inequality ac- order was transformed after World War aff ect populations unequally, and it’s that celerators,” widening existing disparities. I, but not because of the pandemic.” unequal impact that is our responsibility “We’re seeing that happen today all Barnes called it a “central fact” that the to investigate and to fi x.” around the world.” Historians can help to decline of infectious diseases in the in- Finally, the assertion that “public health see that the novel coronavirus has not dustrialized world is the greatest achieve- isn’t political and should not be politi- “come out of nowhere and aff ected us all ment in the history of public health. But cized” is similarly wrongheaded. While it equally. It hasn’t aff ected us all equally.” how that came about is subject to several is the case that policy decisions shouldn’t In 1793 yellow fever killed 10 percent common myths and misconceptions that be exploited for partisan advantage, “pub- of Philadelphia’s population within continue to impede eff orts to develop lic health is and always has been inher- weeks and returned three more times “pragmatic, eff ective ways of improving ently political—because it’s about distri- over the next decade or so, Barnes said. public health,” he said. bution of resources in societies and that’s The fi rst epidemic led to the creation of The fi rst is that health policy consists the essence of politics,” he said. the fi rst board of health in Philadelphia “essentially in providing medical care “COVID-19 is a political problem, and in 1794. The board was responsible for and pharmaceutical products.” Instead, it ought to be addressed with political the construction of the Lazaretto and history shows that the greatest impact solutions. That doesn’t mean conserva- improving sanitary conditions. “They on population health has been from tive solutions or progressive solutions. enforced quarantine and cleaned up the policies that improve overall standards It doesn’t mean partisan solutions. It city, which was something that was pro- of living and empower populations to means solutions that address the distri- ductive and relatively eff ective.” take control of their lives. bution of resources and access to re- In the 19th century, waves of cholera Second is the belief that eff ective pub- sources within society,” he added. “That’s in 1832 and 1849 roughly coincided with lic health responses to specifi c diseases the only way that we can solve the un- a period of revolutionary upheaval in or health threats must be disease-specif- derlying problems that are making cer- Europe. “The earlier wave seeded the ic, such as “vaccines or drugs that target tain people particularly vulnerable to ground,” intensifying social cleavages specifi c germs.” Such an assumption is COVID-19—and the same has been the that manifested themselves following “understandable,” he said, “but it’s case throughout history.”—JP the mid-century epidemic, he said, ulti- frankly wrong,” and there are numerous mately leading authorities to build parks examples of successful responses in the Health and the Body Politic and other green spaces, construct water absence of dramatic developments in How societies learn—or don’t—from the supply and sewer systems, and make medicine or treatments. successes and failures of public health. broad eff orts to improve unsanitary ur- A third major misconception has to do ban living environments. with immunity—which he called “the many things are historically After 1849, the Great Powers also got critical dimension of inequality in the novel about this current pan- together to create a series of international COVID-19 pandemic [and] in most epi- demic, including the world sanitary conferences that were intended demics throughout history.” Immunity is “So we’re now living in,” says to develop uniform plans for quarantine— generally understood as binary (“you’re Robert Aronowitz, a med- but at this they failed completely. “Quar- either immune to something or you’re PUBLIC ical historian who chairs antine always remained a political issue,” not”) and dependent on either genetics HEALTH the History and Sociology he said, “as it remains today.” A longer or a vaccine. In fact, immunity is “relative of Science Department. lasting impact of these conferences was and is profoundly amenable to policy in- “It’s so much more interconnected. the development of infrastructures and terventions,” he said. “In other words, We’ve discovered that our infrastructure relationships among health departments public policy can, and I would say must, with which to deal not just with COVID in diff erent countries, the legacy of which focus on improving people’s ability to but all other medical problems is part of is the information sharing and transpar- withstand infections like COVID-19.” a global network of terribly minor ency that, with some exceptions, does The fourth misconception he cited—that things, like IV fluid,” he continues.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 33 “We’ve made our bodies vulnerable to al resources that can be shared to ad- That’s true in the past, too. Measles, dependence on modern medical care, dress it. And yet we don’t think of health mumps, and almost all the other dis- and the level of interdependencies in our vulnerabilities in these terms at all. eases we vaccinate against had their medical sector is astounding.” There’s such a minor investment in pub- beginnings in animal-human interac- Aronowitz, who is a physician as well as lic health infrastructure. There’s no tions. So COVID is not an outlier in that the Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg sense that you need an infrastructure of sense. It’s consistent with Ebola, SARS, Professor of Social Sciences, spoke with surveillance and case workers, people MERS, infl uenza, bird fl u… all these Gazette senior editor Trey Popp in mid- who can do legwork that all of a sudden things are in a direct line. April about what history can and can’t we need in terms of testing and contact teach us about the trajectory of COVID-19. tracing, and capacities to rapidly pro- What factors are likely to shape the duce tests and things. This has exposed social recovery from this pandemic? Do you fi nd any historical episodes of a chronic weakness in our ability to think I’m very concerned about the day after: disease that offer any insight into the about health not just as an individual how people go from being told to wear present moment? matter but as a collective problem. I’m masks and isolate themselves, to being The historical lessons learned by peo- hoping—and everyone wants to hope— told to loosen up restrictions and go out. ple in epidemics are often a matter of that people will learn from this. But one In chronic diseases like cancer and heart who controls the narrative—not neces- thing that’s clear from cholera epidemics disease, what we’ve developed since sarily what happens. Probably the best is that people forget pretty quickly. World War II are all kinds of interven- historical book for understanding epi- There have been many what seem now tions that in a sense control uncertainty demic disease is called Cholera Years like prophetic voices. And not minor and reduce our fear. They also may have (University of Chicago Press, 1962, 1987), voices, either, but Bill Gates. Especially scientifi c effi cacy—but they do or they which was written by my mentor Charles since 9/11, there have been so many don’t. We eff ectively do a lot of things E. Rosenberg. He observed that the dis- global health people talking about bio- because they give us a feeling of control: appearance of cholera was attributed to terrorism and threats of pandemics and that we won’t get prostate cancer because strong public health and progressive preparedness. People have been talking we get a PSA test, for instance, or that if politics in postbellum New York and about this for 20 years, but we’ve done we take a statin it will ward off heart dis- other places, and that this in turn ce- virtually nothing to prepare. ease. Similarly, every person who goes to mented the idea that a certain kind of a modern American hospital in labor gets science, tied to progressive politics, What are the historical reasons for that? a fetal heart monitor slapped onto their would be a way to advance American The notion that the market will solve bellies—which has been shown objec- democracy and improve society. That problems of healthcare in our country tively to not improve health outcomes, was all based on the idea that public is an underlying problem. Investing in and maybe increase the number of C- health had something to do with the fi re stations is not a market-based deci- sections—but this is reassurance that the disappearance of cholera. But we have sion; it’s a decision based on the govern- baby is being monitored. I’ve been very no reason to believe that is true! Cholera ment’s responsibility to protect people’s critical of these things [“Our Labs, Our disappeared from almost everywhere in homes. To the degree that we think Health,” Jan|Feb 2016], but I understand the 19th century. But what is true is that about health as a problem to be solved why they happen: people need, or seem people create a story, and the story is by individual centralized hospitals and to have needed in chronic disease, rou- believed and has a lot of power. companies making products they make tines—pills, surveillance tests—to feel a profi t on, COVID presents a set of reassured that they’re taking action Do you think this pandemic gives mean- problems and solutions that don’t fi t against something they fear. So with CO- ingful insight into what is right and wrong under the market rubric. But as the ex- VID, over and above the need for testing with our healthcare system, or do you pression goes, there’s 50 reasons you to have good data to inform policy, or to think COVID-19 is an outlier case that’s a don’t catch a fi sh; there are a lot of rea- do contact tracing to isolate people and shaky basis for such generalizations? sons we haven’t done something. There their contacts, people may need a similar It depends on what kinds of general- are all kinds of political failures. There’s sense of personal control. They may need izations you’re making. We have fi remen the individualist ethos in American life… to be knowledgeable about their status, even though we don’t have fi res every As far as COVID being an outlier, it’s and maybe even their community’s prev- day. We have a sense that not only may an outlier waiting to happen. Most of alence rate and where hotspots are, in they happen, but they may happen in a our threatening infectious diseases order to get out of bed in the morning way that you might need a set of nation- emerge from animal-human interaction. and go out into world.

34 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Education

One Class, One Penn? The leader of a whirlwind eff ort to organize a popular online course about the pandemic suggests “we don’t need a crisis to do this.”

wasn’t the way Mauro Guillen would have chosen to spend the spring of his sabbatical year, but It when campus closed down in March the Zandman Pro- DISTANCE fessor of International LEARNING Management was at least not otherwise occupied when the Wharton School called on him to develop a six-week online course in which various faculty members would analyze the public health, political, and economic ramifi cations of major disrup- tions like the novel coronavirus [“Gazet- teer,” May|Jun 2020]. “It was actually good, because I didn’t have any other teaching commitments that would interfere,” Guillen said in early May, with classes fi nished but grad- ing still in process. “So I returned from sabbatical, so to speak, and I’ve been “It’s a mistake to think about online audiences beyond campus. “So far, so doing this for the last six weeks pretty education and all the diff erent ways we good,” he said. “We are done with the much full time. I mean, it’s been really, can deliver it as a substitute for class- class, but the students are writing their really intense.” room education. The two in the future papers now. But I think yes—essentially, Guillen was trained as a sociologist and will coexist one way or another,” he said. mission accomplished.” is an expert on globalization, the subject “I think there are a lot of synergies be- At the time, Guillen said he was still of his forthcoming book 2030: How To- tween classroom teaching and online fi elding 80-120 emails a day from stu- day’s Biggest Trends Will Collide and teaching.” He added that the discipline dents, who were working on their fi nal Reshape the Future of Everything (look required of online classes—where lec- papers in teams of three or four. There for more about that in our Sep|Oct issue). tures must be pre-recorded, immediate were 20 teaching assistants assigned to He’s also a “big supporter” of online edu- audience feedback is lacking, and stu- the course, and students were also doing cation who has been teaching on plat- dents are often much more diverse in peer evaluations of other teams’ work. forms like Coursera and through Whar- background—can sharpen traditional “And then I will go over all of that and ton Online, which off ers a certifi cate classroom technique as well. make the fi nal determination,” he said. program that mirrors the MBA core cur- Guillen professed himself satisfi ed that “But we’re engaging them not just as riculum, going back to when the acronym the spring course, “Epidemics, Natural writers of papers, but also reviewing MOOC (for massive open online course) Disasters, and Geopolitics: Managing other student’s papers.” was current [“MOOC U.,” Mar|Apr 2013]. Global Business and Financial Uncer- Because of time zone diff erences, sched- His course on global trends in business tainty,” delivered on its main goals of ule confl icts, and other issues, about half of and society has been taken by 5,500 peo- featuring faculty expertise on a critical the students attended class in real time ple around the world, he says, and an- issue, off ering students the opportunity while the rest watched a recording. “But for other, “Managing in the Global Digital to earn credit when many study trips those following it live, we enabled the Q&A Economy” recently launched. had been cancelled, and reaching new feature” online, he said. “We had two mod-

Illustration by Ryan Peltier Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 35 erators who would feed me the questions, Currently a senior scholar at Penn GSE’s also in the Midwest, you should worry. and then I would ask the faculty member. Alliance for Higher Education and Democ- And if you had been cutting your price So in each lecture we would probably han- racy, Zemsky joined the faculty in 1964 and trying to keep enrollment and it wasn’t dle about 30 questions from the audience, gained fi rsthand knowledge of the issues working, you should really worry. Yes, which is not bad considering the numbers.” facing campuses as the University’s chief 10 percent were likely to close. But they About 2,500 people participated in the planning offi cer and master of Hill College only account for 2 percent of enrollment. class, including 500 or so auditors. “To House. For 20 years, he was the founding For their communities, it’s sad, the way put things in perspective, that’s about 11 director of the University’s Institute for it was a loss for some towns when mili- percent or 12 percent of Penn students,” Research on Higher Education. tary bases closed. But it is not about the Guillen said. “It was a big experiment.” He’s in demand lately because of the whole academic enterprise. He also suggested that it could be a pandemic—and because, by coincidence, model for future courses built around a he and two coauthors have just come out OK, that was pre-coronavirus. How does key topic with broad appeal. “Under cer- with a relevant new book. The College the pandemic change things? tain circumstances, to go fully online Stress Test: Tracking Institutional Fu- One of the things that happened in ear- like we did in this class—out of neces- tures Across a Crowded Market was writ- ly March was that a whole lot of authority sity, of course—makes sense if you want ten with Susan Shaman, Penn’s former passed out of the institutions. Public offi - to deliver something really quick to a lot director of institutional research, and cials began to determine what was going of people,” he said. “Even once we no Susan Campbell Baldridge, a former pro- on, and it has been that way ever since. By longer have social distancing, at some vost at Middlebury College. late April it was clear the disease was not point in the future, I think there’s a need From his home in Lancaster, Pennsyl- going away. I actually have a mini round- for these kinds of classes at Penn.” vania, where his dogs raucously an- table of college presidents. We convene in Drawing an analogy with the Philadel- nounced the arrival of a FedEx delivery, a Zoom zone every Sunday afternoon. One phia Free Library’s One Book, One Phil- Zemsky sat for a Zoom interview with of the presidents said, “You want to know adelphia program, he suggested there Gazette contributor Daniel Akst C’78 on the sad news in a nutshell? We’re all going could be an annual One Class, One Penn. the future of higher education in the to learn to live with disease and death.” “People can take it for half a credit, we time of coronavirus. get 2,000 people taking it every year, and And the implications for campuses the topic rotates. Using this technology How did you come to study the higher in trouble? we can do it in a way that everybody can education marketplace? It’s not 10 percent anymore, it’s 20 per- participate,” he said. “I think that’s for Forty years ago I was Martin Meyer- cent. If the pandemic forces the cancel- me the biggest potential. We don’t need son’s faculty assistant when he was the lation of the coming academic year, a crisis to do this. We can do this during University’s president, and he would ask those schools may never come back. so-called normal times as well.” —JP me questions to which I had no answers. Those institutions are losing enrollment, So I went and fi gured out the market. At but they’re also getting less cash per stu- Trading Places least a third of my career has been doing dent. They’re cutting prices and getting Higher education’s future may be a market analysis of higher education, and less volume. You can’t survive that way. hybrid of online and in-person learning. after a while I got pretty good at it. In February we brought out The College But will most schools reopen in hen Robert Zemsky was a boy in Tuc- Stress Test. We were interested in how September? son, Arizona, in the 1940s, a burgeon- many institutions were really likely to close, Oh, yes. They say, “We have no choice. ing baby boom meant there wasn’t and the answer we came up with is: a lot We’re opening.” Originally everybody Wenough space in the local schools— fewer than most people were imagining. said everything will get cleaned up and which managed by insti- we can have a normal fall. There isn’t EDUCATION tuting split sessions. What was the state of affairs before the anybody expecting a normal fall now. ECONOMY America’s campuses, he pandemic? In your book you said one in Now what they are thinking about is, says now, might need to 10 colleges were at serious risk. how do we open under social distanc- consider something similar to cope with The rich were getting richer and the ing? All of them run dorms with doubles, coronavirus. Half the students could be big were getting bigger. And that’s a clas- some with triples. How are they going assigned to remote learning for a few sic description of Penn. But if you were to operate in that world? weeks, after which they’d trade places a private institution with less than 1,500 In the late 1940s when I was in elemen- with the other half. students, you ought to worry. If you were tary school, they didn’t have nearly enough

36 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 seats in classes to accommodate all the They aren’t like us. It isn’t just that shakeups. This year, when classes resumed kids. So they began to have split sessions. they’re younger, they’re wired diff er- remotely following Penn’s extended spring Half the school came in the morning, the ently. Students today are sophisticated break in March, the focus pivoted to CO- other half came in the afternoon. The gamers, and you need to teach a gamer VID-19. Nothing like living what you’re higher education equivalent would be a diff erently than you teach a reader. The learning. “I couldn’t have timed this better curriculum in which students were in problem with today’s faculty is, we were for the benefi t of everybody in the class,” residence every other month—and learn- almost all readers, so we teach them the says Roos via Zoom from his book-lined ing remotely the months they were not on way we wanted to be taught, and that home offi ce. campus. I don’t know if it’s the solution. creates a distance between us and them. It helped that he had already asked What I do know is things have to be diff er- So there are a whole set of issues, and students to imagine how they would sci- ent. We can’t just open the doors. this could either be a period of just one entifi cally handle a new disease out- Nor can we just say, “We’ll teach them funeral after another for institutions of break. The fi rst half of the course focus- online.” I am convinced that we won’t higher ed, or it could be a wonderful es on interpreting data and analyzing want to give up in-person education. We blooming because we will now abandon methods and conclusions discussed in just can’t have it the way we had it be- things that weren’t working and there- research papers. The class picked apart fore. So we’re going to ration in-person fore there’s no reason to keep. published research on chloroquine and education in some way. azithromycin as a COVID-19 treatment Biology 406 and looked at the promise of the drug How about Penn? Is it safe from David Roos has always used his course on in- remdesivir, along with papers covering these trends? fectious disease biology “to convey something Ebola and other infections. Penn is safe as hell, but Penn will about the whole nature of the scientifi c enter- “Everything we talk about is driven by the change. And Penn actually has the space prise.” COVID-19 was this year’s case in point. evidence,” Roos says. “What I care about is and the resources to change, which whether they can think, to get people to causes us to ask: “Are you taking advan- ack in January, the syllabus for Biol- understand not just what the answers are, tage of that to rethink your processes?” ogy 406, “Molecular Mechanisms of but how anybody does science.” Because the world is going to be diff erent. Infectious Disease Biology,” noted Roos was drawn to infectious disease I would argue that Penn has an obligation Bthat the expected topics of infl uenza, research for the way it calls upon many to experiment with alternate paths for- HIV, bacterial pathogen- specialties, from cell biology to immunol- ward because it’s truly in the safe zone. ZOOM esis, the microbiome, and ogy, fi eld biology, epidemiology, and mo- CLASS malaria were subject to lecular genetics, “because you’re focused You’ve been advocating signifi cant revision. One possible on not a technique but a problem,” he change in higher ed for years. What kinds example: “the recent coronavirus epi- says. “I realized the fi eld of malaria biol- of things have you been suggesting? demic in China.” ogy was really limited by a lack of an ex- Well, how about a three-year baccalau- David Roos, the E. Otis Kendall Professor perimental system for genetic molecular reate? You teach basic skills the fi rst year of Biology, who has taught the course since manipulation,” he says. “I thought, ‘I can such as statistics and writing and foreign 2008, doesn’t have a crystal ball. But the develop that.’” language. The second year you actually 63-year-old parasitologist is keenly attuned After joining the Penn faculty in 1989, teach the major. And the third year is to infectious diseases, having spent three Roos developed a transfection system when you round them out. So don’t teach decades researching malaria, the AIDS- that introduced biomarkers to manipu- them Shakespeare until they’re actually related infection Toxoplasma gondii, and late parasites for molecular genetic ex- in their last year, and then they’ll appre- other infections. In recent years he has been periments—a long-sought tool now used ciate Shakespeare. Now that’s not neces- developing tools to design and mine patho- worldwide. Roos also discovered a nov- sarily the answer, but it’s the kind of an- gen genome databases. It’s not surprising el organelle (stolen by malaria parasites swer that I keep pushing. Let’s think this that news of a novel coronavirus in China from an ancient alga) that has proved to through diff erently. We know things had caught his attention. be a popular target for the development aren’t working as is. The retention rates In fact, Bio 406—a graduate-level course of new treatments. Since 2000 he has at many schools are not acceptable. popular with undergrads—has always focused on bioinformatics, leading a been designed to accommodate whatever 60-person global team that supports The pandemic has changed things. But outbreak might be plaguing humanity. research on parasites, fungi, and insects the students had already changed, SARS, Zika, avian infl uenza, and Ebola had that spread disease. The Eukaryotic hadn’t they? all previously sparked mid-semester Pathogen, Host & Vector Genomics Re-

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 37 source (VEuPathDB.org) gets about Commerce and Society direct access to hospitals, grocery stores, 68,000 users each month. and other key locations. Social distanc- On a Wednesday in April, about 15 stu- Stop and Go ing measures were put in place, halving dents joined the three-hour, weekly class Inside the chaotic new world of Philly’s public ridership capacity and requiring all op- via Zoom to discuss fi ve papers related to transportation chief. erators and passengers to wear masks. the possibility of developing anti-virus The ride along the way was often bumpy. monoclonal antibodies as a specifi c treat- hen she accepted the position of Take the issue of masks. “We wanted to ment to inhibit an infectious disease out- general manager of the Southeast- make sure that our 9,500 employees were break. Roos had proposed about a dozen ern Pennsylvania Transportation safe, as well as our customers,” Richards questions to guide class discussion. WAuthority (SEPTA) at the end of says. “We were listening to the offi cials Three guests dialed in: two executives last year, Leslie Richards and medical experts, but there were a lot involved with research at biotech com- MASS GRP’93 had big plans to of mixed messages. We were all told not pany Regeneron, off ering insight on TRANSIT help the nation’s sixth to wear masks at fi rst. Then masks were antibody-based treatments for COV- largest public transporta- OK.” When SEPTA tried to make mask- ID-19; and Dinkorma Ouologuem Toure tion system “move into the future,” she wearing compulsory, the eff ort backfi red. Gr’14, an assistant professor of cell biol- says. “The reason the board wanted me, Over Easter weekend, more than 10 mil- ogy at the Faculty of Pharmacy of Ba- and why I wanted to be here, was to lion viewers watched video footage of mako, Mali, who researches malaria. work on equity and accessibility issues police offi cers dragging a non-masked Roos asked the students to consider and to make sure we are serving all of rider off a bus. In response, SEPTA toned how specifi c experiments detailed in the our communities.” Her to-do list includ- down its language to say that customers papers were accomplished: how, for ex- ed fare restructuring, bus network rede- were “urged” to wear masks. (Facial cov- ample, human monoclonal antibodies sign, trolley modernization, and sustain- erings were again required after June 8, that recognize the spike glycoprotein of ability and public engagement eff orts. as the region began a phased reopening.) the SARS-CoV-2 were isolated. For each Then things went off the rails. “Our adrenaline was running at crisis paper, he probed: How did they do this? As the coronavirus outbreak swept mode for weeks,” Richards says. “We nev- What did they fi nd? What challenges through the region, SEPTA found itself in er got a reset and a lot of it was counterin- might they have faced? Why do we care? the midst of a rapidly unfolding crisis that tuitive to how we would normally operate.” What more do we want to know? The caught everyone by surprise. “I was work- Meanwhile, the virus raged on. Within a students mostly rose to the challenge, ing towards our fi rst 100 days and so week of the fi rst known SEPTA worker many gaining a newfound appreciation proud of what we could say we had already testing positive for COVID-19, the transit for the limits and fl aws in research stud- gotten done,” Richards recalls. “All of a system implemented rear door bus and ies—especially around COVID-19. sudden, we’re two and a half months in trolley boarding. Intended as a measure to “If you’re answering, you really have and everyone’s moving out of our offi ces protect drivers from contact, it also meant to know your stuff and be prepared to and I fi nd myself in the unlikely situation suspending fare collection. But workers defend what you say,” refl ected physics of asking our customers not to use our kept falling sick, and at certain points em- and biochemistry major Samuel Kim system except for essential trips.” ployee absentee rates rose to 30 percent. C’21. “He really emphasizes deep under- That unenviable mandate was the start (By mid-May, more than 270 SEPTA em- standing of methods.” of a hectic few weeks that found Rich- ployees were confi rmed to have contracted Toure was a TA for the class as a grad- ards and other SEPTA execs careening COVID-19, and seven had died.) uate student. She had joined via Zoom, from reactive to proactive and back In late April, dissatisfi ed union leaders in part, to help with a similar class she again. They started by implementing threatened a “job action” to protest what was teaching in Mali on cell biology. enhanced cleaning eff orts of stations they viewed as unsafe conditions. When “There is no way you fi nd this kind of and vehicles in early March, even before Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney entered discussion in a textbook.” the state and city called for the shut- the picture, a strike was averted and ne- Of course, that’s the point: “to convey downs of businesses and schools. Service gotiations saw SEPTA relax its sick leave something about the whole nature of the reductions followed, with buses, trains, rules while promising to look into new scientifi c enterprise,” as Roos puts it, trolleys, and regional rail lines running protocols such as regular temperature “how interactions work and how any- on Saturday schedules. In early April, checks, employee testing, and more fre- body does science”—and, he adds, in the SEPTA instituted something it called quent cleaning of facilities and vehicles. time of coronavirus, “how one sorts out “Lifeline Service,” discontinuing some “I’ve dealt with crises before,” says Rich- the unknown.” —Lini S. Kadaba routes to prioritize others that off ered ards, who arrived at SEPTA after a fi ve-

38 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 year stint as the Pennsylvania Depart- ment of Transportation (PennDOT) Sec- retary, the fi rst woman in that role. Dur- ing that time, there were “major bridge fi res, freak snowstorms, the papal visit, the NFL Draft, the Democratic National Convention,” she says. “Still, nothing could have prepared me for this. I’ve learned no matter how tough the crunch, to fi rst think things through, though. And I’ve learned that if the information or situation changes and your decision isn’t the right one anymore, it’s OK to change your mind, to be fl exible and nimble.” It’s a lesson that the 52-year-old city planner imparts to the graduate students in her “Practice of Transportation Plan- ning” course at Penn, where she joined the Weitzman School of Design faculty in January. “They’ve certainly gotten their eff ort’s worth,” she says with a laugh. “In every class for the last several weeks, we’ve discussed SEPTA’s challenges and how we’re responding. They’ve been re- ally helpful, too, in giving suggestions on how to best communicate to diff erent tancing policies to social media out- an extremely gratifying but also heart- populations and off ering their personal reach. “But I think the biggest change breaking experience for me. But I’m op- feedback on how they use the system. I’ve will be in how we get our revenue,” she timistic because I know that we will get brought a lot of that back to the offi ce.” continues. Right now, about 40 percent through this, and SEPTA will exist and The original syllabus, dealing with of the authority’s funding stems from be very important to both the economy budgets and maintaining infrastructure, fare collection. The bulk comes from and our communities.” —JoAnn Greco has “morphed into how transit agencies state (50 percent) and regional (7 per- throughout the country have changed cent) subsidies via the collection of sales Table for None and will continue to change,” she con- tax and highway tolls and the like—in- Steven Cook refl ects on the restaurant business tinues. “How fortunate for them that come streams that have been hammered in the COVID era. they’ve chosen a fi eld where they will be by the pandemic. needed and will have direct impact on Instead, Richards is laying her bets on he second week of March may go how people live their lives.” a diff erent outlook. Just as the corona- down as the strangest time in the Regular service on most lines resumed virus brought newfound appreciation history of the Philadelphia restau- in mid-May, but Richards admits that for unsung frontline workers like gro- Trant business. Monday, March 9, much will be diff erent for SEPTA—and cery cashiers, Amazon warehouse stock- brought assurances that public transit in general—going forward. ers, and UPS delivery people, she says the city’s 250th Saint Pat- DINING As former commuters realize they can that we now know that public transit rick’s Day Parade would work from home, and businesses look at operators are essential. proceed as planned the implementing staggered work shifts, “I think SEPTA will be seen as the nec- following Sunday. Tuesday night, offi - ridership—down by more than 90 per- essary service that it is, just like law en- cials abruptly canceled the event under cent across all modes—will “defi nitely forcement or fi re fi ghters,” Richards says. the threat of COVID-19. On Wednesday not snap back to prior levels immedi- “To work together to solve problems like the NBA suspended its season and Pres- ately, or perhaps ever,” she says. we’ve never seen before and to be in a ident Donald Trump W’68 announced a She predicts SEPTA will continue to position that impacts so many people ban on travel from Europe to the United improve everything from its social dis- during this very critical time has been States. Yet even against that foreboding

Illustration by Ryan Peltier Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 39 backdrop, business continued to boom In April the CookNSolo group secured a are legally able to open our restaurants, I for Steven Cook W’95 and Michael Solo- forgivable loan through the federal Pay- don’t think any sit-down restaurant can monov, the James Beard Award-winning check Protection Program, which permitted make money at 50 percent capacity or less, owners of Zahav, Dizengoff , Federal Do- the rehiring of about 40 or 50 salaried man- which are the guidelines we’re seeing start nuts, and several other popular Phila- agers for eight weeks. Cook was grateful to to coalesce in other states.” delphia restaurants. be able to do that, but he lamented the mis- The restaurant business faces an uncer- “We were having huge nights,” Cook re- match between the program’s terms and tain future—especially in places like Phila- called during a mid-April interview with the reality of the restaurant business. delphia, where cramped and crowded the Gazette. “Some of the fast-casual stuff “The way it’s written, you get the mon- spaces are a hallmark of dining at virtually was trailing off a bit, but some of those ey and have eight weeks to spend it,” he every price point. “For sit-down dining, we locations were as strong as ever. And that said. “The fi rst problem is that none of us need to get to a point where there are not Saturday night, Laser Wolf, which is the are open—or we’re open and doing 20 as stringent limits on capacity issues,” Cook new restaurant, had its busiest night percent of revenues [through takeout and said. “Bigger picture, we need better testing [since opening one month earlier].” delivery]. So really, we become, in a way, so people can feel comfortable going out. Yet a queasy anxiety was mounting. “I the unemployment offi ce.” He wished he Ultimately the holy grail is a vaccine. remember thinking, in the week leading up could have instead waited until business “I think people’s behavior is going to be to the 16th, ‘I wish someone would just tell operations meaningfully resumed to re- changed, if not permanently, then cer- us what to do.’” But no one did, so Cook and store those jobs, so that the wages might tainly for a long time,” he added. “I don’t Solomonov invited about 30 or 40 local actually generate additional economic know when people are going to walk into restaurateurs to a meeting at Zahav on the activity. “If we were able to take that a restaurant and not look for the hand morning of Monday, March 16. The im- money and delay spending it until we sanitizer. It’s just going to be diff erent. promptu assembly soon coalesced around were able to open, then you’re not just “Thank God I have a partner to go a common opinion. “There was a will paying people, you’re generating real rev- through this with. Thank God my fam- among us to shut everything down,” Cook enues: you’re paying your vendors,” he ily is healthy and we’re spending a lot of recalled. “For the most part, we were all on said. “Our farmers and butchers and dry time together,” Cook said. But this is un- the same page that it was not responsible good purveyors, they’re sitting there— like anything he has faced in his 16 years to have people dying in our restaurants.” with our company alone—on tens of in the business, so even his fi nal expres- As it happened, later that day Phila- thousands of dollars of receivables from sion of hope had a plaintive edge. “This delphia Mayor Jim Kenney ordered the February and March that nobody’s able is going to be, I hope, the biggest chal- closure of all non-essential businesses, to pay. So if I could spend that money lenge of my career.”—TP including dine-in restaurants (which when we’re open, that money becomes were permitted to fulfi ll pick-up and de- fuel for the economy. Right now, I get to livery orders). From there, things pro- pay people, but the eff ects don’t really Institutional Response gressed quickly. emanate outward from there.” The CookNSolo group laid off “some- Nevertheless, bringing back any jobs, The View From Day 60 where north of 450 employees” across even for a limited time under suboptimal Penn Medicine leaders look back on the early 16 locations, Cook said. “For the fi rst fi ve circumstances, was better than the alter- response to COVID-19, contemplate the next weeks we did some limited takeout pack- native. For the eight weeks CookNSolo stage in confronting the disease, and consider ages from Zahav. And after paying for could pay wages with federal funds, Cook healthcare delivery and research in a post- that food, we put the net profi ts into a and Solomonov hoped to earn enough pandemic world. relief fund for our salaried managers, to through limited takeout meals and cater- help bridge the gap between their last ing to repay their vendors. “So hopefully a May 13 webinar hosted by Penn paycheck and whenever unemployment after eight weeks, if we return to some- Alumni, leaders of the Penn Health would kick in. We had done something thing like normal, the revenue outlook System—J. Larry Jameson, execu- similar with a gift card promotion for will be shitty but at least our balance In tive vice president and dean of the hourly employees.” The skeleton staff sheet won’t be a mess,” Cook explained. Perelman School of Medi- also produced about 400 meals a week But normality seemed hard to envision. HEALTH cine; CEO Kevin Mahoney; for Broad Street Ministry, a nonprofi t “I’d like to think that after eight weeks SYSTEM and executive vice dean faith organization. “They needed it,” we’ll roll into something approaching nor- and chief scientifi c offi cer Cook said, “and it felt better to do some- mal operations,” he said. “But I don’t have Jonathan Epstein—shared insights on the thing than to do nothing.” a lot of confi dence in that. And even if we University’s response to the pandemic on

40 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 the front lines of patient care and in a broad range of research eff orts designed to better understand the novel coronavi- rus, improve treatments, and develop a vaccine for COVID-19. Jameson, who served as moderator, noted that the date marked two months since Penn sent students and most em- ployees home in response to the pan- demic. Since then, he said, Penn had provided patient care and testing to thousands in the community, served as a trusted source of information, and launched the Penn Center for Research on Coronavirus and Other Emerging Pathogens to pursue research in areas from drug development to testing to contact tracing through social media. “We will innovate our way out of this crisis,” Jameson predicted. “We will in- vent better tests. We will fi nd new drugs. We will assist in the development of new vaccines. We will continue to support our local communities. We will learn lessons from this pandemic and use these lessons to create a better future in education, the workplace, and in healthcare. We will continue to lean into this crisis, so that all of us can return to more normal lives.” At the time, Penn Medicine had treated some 2,000 coronavirus inpatients. As new case counts in the area fell from a mid-April to the alumni who had used internation- based app COVID Watch to facilitate peak, the system had begun to shift to al connections or provided other help in home monitoring and treatment. Ma- “learning how to coexist with COVID until that eff ort. To assist staff in other special- honey said the app had been used to fol- a vaccine is discovered,” Mahoney said. ties reassigned to care for COVID pa- low 3,000 patients. While 15 percent were More than 40,000 people had been tients, refresher courses were developed eventually hospitalized, the rest could be tested at drive-thru testing centers Penn that have been viewed from 58 countries, cared for at home “without stretching our set up in Philadelphia and suburbs; for he noted, “spreading the Penn knowledge thin human resources preparing for the the 8,000 who tested positive, “we initi- to all reaches of the globe.” surge.” COVID Watch is in use at all six ated contact tracing to help stamp out He also highlighted a new digital plat- Penn hospitals and has been made avail- any hotspots in our community.” Penn form designed to address employees’ able at no cost to other regional health also reached out to local nursing homes “pressing mental health needs.” Dubbed systems as well, he added. “to help them provide appropriate care Penn-COBALT, the platform invites users Contactless registration has also been and honor the most fragile [part of our] (who can remain anonymous) to answer implemented, with consent forms, co- community and prevent the spread of a series of questions to help determine pays, and other “paperwork” being this disease.” the kind and level of support needed, and handled digitally in advance. With Mahoney called the safety of employees had been accessed 8,000 times, as part of Google, Penn developed a chatbot to and patients “our North Star.” The Uni- a suite of services off ered through the provide information about the virus, versity moved “aggressively” to secure website PennMedicineTogether. freeing clinicians for direct patient care, supplies of personal protective equip- Recognizing that virus cases could over- which had answered 12,000 questions ment (PPE), he said, expressing gratitude whelm hospitals, Penn created the text- from 4,500 people.

Illustration by Ryan Peltier Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 41 “I’ve never seen Long-term investments in information sensitive and quantitative antibody test,” technology facilitated a quick pivot to he added. “So far we’ve tested well over research move virtual healthcare when the virus made 1,000 of our frontline healthcare workers.” that issue critical, Mahoney said. “We One encouraging sign was that only 2 more quickly.” took the high touch practice of medicine percent of healthcare workers tested and made it possible from six feet away.” showed a history of exposure to the vi- Although only about 150 patients were rus, compared to 7 percent of pregnant remotely evaluated during the fi rst two women coming to the hospital to deliver weeks of March, more than 200,000 tele- babies, seen as a representative sample severity until a vaccine is developed. medicine visits took place in the subse- for community exposure. (Testing also “After all, remember we haven’t yet been quent two months. provided more evidence of disparities in able to come up with a vaccine for HIV/ “With COVID-19 the future came sooner community exposure, Epstein added: AIDS after many years,” Epstein said, than we anticipated [but] much of the fl ex- just 1 percent of white women tested “but we have found combinations of ibility we exhibited in recent days refl ects positive versus nearly 12 percent of black medicines that have transformed the these early long-term investments,” Ma- women.) But the limited exposure implications of acquiring the infection honey said. The key question now “is what among healthcare workers was an indi- and transformed the lethality of acquir- investments will we make today that will cation that masks, shields, and other ing that infection.” allow us to survive in the future without PPE do work. “We can come to work ev- Penn was part of a multicenter study shutting down the entire system again?” ery day in an environment with known that showed a “modest benefi t” from the Epstein noted that stay-at-home or- and common exposures and be protect- much-in-the-news drug remdesivir, ders and social distancing measures had ed,” he said. “If we get people to follow which targets a key enzyme required by fl attened the curve and helped spare the the rules, we can probably work and get the virus, “although it’s not nearly Philadelphia area from the “acute surge” the economy going.” enough.” More than 150 drugs have been that affl icted New York, northern Italy, On the other hand, much of the com- tried on COVID-19 patients, though and some other hotspots. “Now we have munity has not been exposed, so there are mostly not in controlled clinical trials, to map a path forward,” Penn Medicine’s likely many more infections to come. “so much of the information coming chief scientifi c offi cer added. “We envi- “We’re nowhere near herd immunity, even from their use is uninformative to the sion a 12- to 18-month playbook that assuming that the presence of antibodies rest of us,” Epstein added, expressing begins with the transition from isolation equates to immunity, which is something eagerness for more controlled trials that to intensive testing and contact tracing.” that we’re studying now,” he said. yield actionable data. Epstein assigned a task force in early Until it’s known whether people with Penn has also been screening all 3,000 May to create new approaches to testing antibodies have immunity or aren’t still FDA approved medicines in a high-tech and he expressed optimism that capac- spreading the virus, Epstein downplayed containment laboratory to “see if they ity could be scaled up quickly to meet the value to individuals of antibody test- might have activity against this virus.” the need. “Penn investigators and others ing. Its use lies in helping epidemiolo- About 40 had been identifi ed by mid- are working with people all around the gists understand how much infection May, and the best of these will be tested world. We’re coming up with new ways there has been, for studying the spread in humans “as soon as possible,” he said. to test for the virus at very low cost and of the virus. Some of these drugs are generics that in minutes.” He called the discovery that Testing for active virus is most impor- are aff ordable and widely available. “If the virus can be detected in saliva a tant to scale up as quickly as possible, they work alone or in combination that “game changer,” removing the need for he said. There are studies under way to would be another game changer.” “uncomfortable and logistically diffi cult compare the eff ectiveness of testing sew- Treatments that could serve as a bridge nasal swabs.” age, saliva, and deep or anterior nasal to an eventual vaccine will likely involve Epstein drew a distinction between an- swabs. “For the general population, any a combination of drugs “that target dif- tibody testing and testing for the virus of them will be more useful than none,” ferent parts of the virus life cycle,” Ep- itself. “Antibody testing provides informa- he said. “Whichever is quicker to scale stein said. “Most infections fi nd ways to tion about past exposure to the virus, and will give the most information.” get around a single blockage caused by a possibly about immunity,” he said. While The playbook for the next 18 months drug, but have trouble getting around two accuracy problems have been seen with also depends on identifying better med- or three.” He added that one promising many antibody tests marketed in the US, icines, which alone or in combination strategy—prompted by the benefi ts seen Penn researchers have developed a “very could reduce mortality and symptom with remdesivir—would involve combin-

42 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Look for the Helpers ing an antiviral with a drug that acts on enter Phase 2 in order to test the effi cacy When the outbreak hit, many people looked the immune system. of that very soon,” Epstein said. (See for ways to assist those most aff ected. Below Penn is developing therapies to coun- page 28 for more on this eff ort.) is a small sampling of Penn alumni who teract the extreme immune responses In a post-pandemic world, Mahoney sug- started or adapted businesses and other known as cytokine storms that some- gested, healthcare delivery will be more initiatives to lend a helping hand. times strike coronavirus patients, prov- decentralized. “We have come off of 40 ing more deadly than the virus itself. years of building large buildings and Joe Ammon WG’19 — Clove “There’s something regulating the indi- bringing a lot of people to one location, Launched by Ammon last year, this compa- vidual response to the virus,” he said, which is based on reimbursements and ny designs comfortable, easy-to-clean and the immune response to COVID-19 operational effi ciency,” he explained. The sneakers specifically for healthcare work- is also “quite diff erent” than to other future will see more “pop-up clinics” near- ers. In response to COVID-19, it donated viruses like the fl u. “It would be informa- er to patients and with “less human den- more than $50,000 in footwear to nurses tive to look at those people who don’t sity.” Penn is already working on how to and doctors across the country, including even seem to get symptoms. Their im- surround the community with these kinds some in the Penn Health System. mune system is doing the right thing.” of “smaller, more intimate locations.” Anna Dailey C’19 — Perfect Strangers Adapting Penn’s pioneering work on He also predicted a further shift to This COVID-19 relief nonprofit coordinates treating cancer (as in the CAR-T therapy value-based payments, “where we will get volunteers to deliver groceries, prescrip- developed at Penn [“The T-Cell Warriors,” a set fee based on clinical outcomes for tions, and other essential goods to those in Mar|Apr 2015]) and other diseases could patients,” rather than the current system need, including the elderly and the immuno- lead to new tools to “tweak” immune re- in which Medicare and most insurance compromised. It currently serves communi- sponse. Penn labs could test “thousands companies require that “you have to be ties in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, of parameters,” he said, in an eff ort to seen and document a certain amount to and the Bay Area, where Dailey has worked understand why the response to the nov- bill.” Meanwhile, billing will be “simpler as a regional captain since returning home el coronavirus varies so widely and make and more virtual.” And remote work will to quarantine with her family. it possible to adjust it. continue to be the new normal for a larg- There are therapies now in clinical tri- er segment of Penn and the Health Sys- Grace van Arkel C’17 — Fuel the Fight als to “dampen down” immune response, tem’s 42,000 employees, one impact of This former Penn women’s squash captain has “but you can imagine the risk of trying which will be reduced operating costs. helped lead an initiative that supports local res- a medicine that damps down the im- Epstein emphasized how the pandem- taurants by buying meals and donating them to mune response in an infectious disease ic has transformed research and col- hospital workers on the frontline of the pan- when you need an immune response,” laboration. “I’ve never seen research demic. She brought what had started in he said. “So it’s just going to be critical move more quickly,” he said. Data and Philadelphia to New York City, where it quickly for us to learn how to tweak and dial the results are being shared at an unprece- raised over $100,000 on GoFundMe. Several immune response appropriately without dented pace, often before peer review. other cities have since come on board. overdoing it.” “There’s a risk to that,” he added. “People Kayla Lebovits C’13 — Bundle Penn’s experts in gene therapy are also could share lousy data and others could For anyone trying to juggle working from working on a preventive therapy “that be misled.” On the other hand, “it is a home with young children crawling all over would be inhaled into the lungs, deliver- very rapid way to learn about new dis- them, this business aims to provide a much- ing a neutralizing antibody to lung tissue coveries, and that is greatly increasing needed break. Like everything else these to prevent infection,” he said. “This the pace of work right now.” days, it’s done virtually with trained instruc- unique and innovative approach is par- This has been accompanied by an en- tors giving personalized one-on-one learning ticularly attractive to me because it can vironment of “much more transparency” experiences to kids—and maybe offering be tested relatively quickly, and it can be among colleagues at diff erent institu- just a little bit of quiet time to parents. produced at scale—but it will be several tions, which is a development worth Ashley Stinnett C’17 — CoronaMetro months before we know if this can work.” preserving, Epstein said. “I’ve had con- Not using public transportation anymore The ultimate goal is a vaccine. Of the versations with my peers about what can because of quarantine orders? Stinnett creat- 100 or so potential candidates in devel- we do to make this persist after COVID, ed a website that links New Yorkers who need opment, about eight are in clinical trials. because there is real value in this quan- MetroCards to work-from-homers who can “We’ve completed a Phase 1 safety test- tum change in how people are being donate. “Doesn’t look pretty,” the site reads. ing trial with a DNA-based vaccine with willing to collaborate.”—JP “But it does the job. Just like the subway.” the Wistar Institute, and we hope to

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 43 Seeds of Insight

Rob Rosenheck, CEO of Lord Jones— purveyor of CBD-infused candies, creams, and other products—is high on the cannabis industry’s potential to promote a revolution in economics, health and wellness, culture, and consciousness. By Susan Karlin

he fi rst time Rob Rosenheck C’89 Besides making him a fan, the experi- company based in Los Angeles with a ce- smoked pot was a revelation. He ence was also the start of a fascination— lebrity following and a focus on health. was 20 years old and an anomaly long before the notion became main- Launching in 2017 after two years of infor- among his stoner friends for es- stream—with the medicinal applications mal sales, Lord Jones has grown from a chewing drugs. But two years into of cannabis. This was reinforced a few three-person operation consisting of Rosen- Tliving off -campus with buddies he knew years after his graduation from Penn, heck, his wife and cofounder Cindy Capo- from the campus music scene, a female when he found that it alleviated the bianco, and chief of staff Mona Moham- housemate fi nally coaxed him into try- chronic pain that affl icted him in the madi experimenting with cannabis recipes ing it late one night. wake of a rock climbing accident. “I in their kitchen to a 60-member staff that “I had this experience that people de- wasn’t using it to get high, eat pizza, and includes two fellow Penn alumni: senior scribe when they go onto antidepressants,” watch cartoons,” says the now 53-year-old vice president James Park WG’00 and chief Rosenheck recalls. “It was like a veil had Rosenheck. “I was using it for wellness.” fi nancial offi cer Jeff Henretig WG’09. (Lord been lifted. I gained access to my true self; Those seeds of insight would sprout some Jones’s company policy prohibits employ- the noise was lowered. I got high, but that 30 years later—after careers in photogra- ees from speaking with the media.) wasn’t the thing. When I smoked cannabis phy, fi lmmaking, and advertising—into a Celebrities including Olivia Wilde, for the fi rst time, I felt miraculously cured fourth act as the CEO and cofounder of Mandy Moore, Busy Philipps, and Kristen of my depression. Instantly.” Lord Jones, a high-end boutique cannabis Bell swear by Lord Jones’s dozen or so

44 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 ILLUSTRATION BY LISA PERRIN Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 45 products of hemp-derived broad-spec- A Confusing Business involve plant extracts, which face murk- trum CBD oil-infused confections, cap- Marijuana is legal for either medical ier regulatory guidelines. sules, tinctures, skincare, and bath salts. or recreational use in 33 states and “Right now we’re in a regulatory void, Ranging from $30 to $100, they retail Washington, DC, but remains illegal un- because you have a law signed by the pres- online at LordJones.com, and in over der federal law due to its psychoactive ident that legalizes CBD and authorizes 1,000 retail outlets across the US, includ- compound, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). the FDA to regulate it, and the FDA has ing Sephora, SoulCycle, The Standard But the government is slowly relaxing its not,” says Rosenheck. “And that’s why you Hotels, and Neiman Marcus. The com- stance. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized have all this confusion in the marketplace.” pany made Fast Company’s Most Inno- hemp, a low-THC-level cannabis plant That makes cannabis a potentially lu- vative Companies list for 2019, and has from which CBD (cannabidiol) can be crative, but precarious, business. Arcview appeared in stories in the New York derived. The law’s passage enabled the Market Research and BDS Analytics es- Times, New Yorker, and elsewhere. sale of CBD oil from hemp containing less timate that legal domestic cannabis sales “We’ve never paid for a celebrity en- than 0.3 percent THC in all 50 states. But grew 46 percent to $15 billion in 2019 and dorsement,” Rosenheck says. “The brand CBD oil from marijuana is still federally anticipate a $20 billion domestic and $43 is successful because we spent two years illegal. Moreover, the Food and Drug Ad- billion global market by 2024. learning the cannabis industry, the law, ministration (FDA) has yet to approve any Brands fronted by celebrities ranging the plant, the chemistry, and how to CBD products other than Epidiolex, a from Snoop Dogg to Martha Stewart, make our formulations to make this a prescription drug for certain seizure dis- corporate chains like MedMen, and nov- best-in-class product. orders in children. (The FDA has also ap- elty niches like Kosher Kush (which bills “We always tried to be frugal with ev- proved three other drugs containing syn- itself as the fi rst commercial cannabis to ery dollar we had. In 2018, our business thetic THC and THC-like compounds— be blessed by a rabbi) are all vying for a took off and we experienced 900 percent Marinol, Syndros, and Cesamet—for position in the industry. College students growth,” he says, declining comment on treating nausea from chemotherapy and now regard it a legitimate career track. 2019 fi gures. (MarketWatch reported weight loss in AIDS patients.) By way of example, Harvard, Yale, Stan- that unnamed sources put 2018 revenues The FDA and scientifi c evidence need ford, New York University, and Univer- at $2-4 million and a monthly run rate to catch up to public interest, which cen- sity of California, Berkeley have cannabis of $2 million in midsummer of last year. ters on the notion that CBD may promote business clubs, with Yale running the A Lord Jones spokesperson maintains “wellness.” Although the agency recog- fi rst US business school cannabis confer- those fi gures are incorrect but declined nizes the potential therapeutic uses of ence earlier this year. Others, including to go into further detail.) CBD, the limited data it has reviewed Cornell, University of Maryland, UCLA, Last September, Canada’s Cronos Group, indicates safety risks such as liver injury, University of Washington, and Colorado a NASDAQ-listed cannabinoid company, male reproductive toxicity, and medicine State University off er courses, programs, acquired Redwood Holdings Group, the interactions, according to its website. or degrees in the agronomics, chemistry, private holding company cofounded by While the FDA prohibits marketing CBD and legalities of cannabis. At Penn, the Rosenheck and Capobianco that had as a dietary supplement or food additive, three-year-old student-run Wharton owned Lord Jones and three other sub- it has focused enforcement on companies Cannabis Business Club hosts industry sidiaries, for $300 million in cash and claiming to treat psychiatric disorders speakers and networking events for 75 stock. The pair joined Cronos, but still and diseases like cancer, Alzheimer’s dis- members who pay $30-40 in annual or run Lord Jones, and intend to use the ease, and diabetes. biennial dues. Last year, the Wharton cash infusion to expand into interna- Still, evidence gathering is slowly pro- Club of New York presented a sold-out tional markets and other sales channels. ceeding. Last year, the FDA held its fi rst cannabis-themed panel, with other “We treat this as a start-up, and run it public hearing on CBD, while the govern- alumni organizations following suit, very lean and mean,” says Rosenheck. ment’s National Center for Complemen- while Wharton Magazine highlighted “We have a very old-fashioned view of tary and Integrative Health awarded $3 several Penn alums already populating business: make a good product and pro- million in grants to study CBD use in the burgeoning industry. tect our margin, give value to our cus- treating chronic pain. CBD research may “Wharton students have always had an tomer, and have really talented, smart also get a boost from a novel synthetic interest in emerging industries, like people we can trust. That’s the key to stable CBD acid. EPM, a Los Angeles- blockchain and, now, cannabis. It’s in- business in general. The main diff erence headquartered start-up, has developed a teresting, complex, and needs strategic between this and any other start-up is more potent and consistent solution for thinkers,” says Wharton Cannabis Busi- you have to have a lot of lawyers.” the pharmaceutical industry that doesn’t ness Club copresident Tyler Wigington

46 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 “I wasn’t using it WG’20 G’20. Last year, the Wharton a track when they’re far too young to MBA Career Management offi ce recog- to get high, eat know who they are and what they want.” nized cannabis as an up-and-coming Rosenheck plunged into an eclectic as- industry and assigned two staff mem- pizza, and watch sortment of classes—photography, Eng- bers to undertake employer outreach lish, oceanography, marketing, econom- and advise students in this area, he adds. cartoons,” says ics, and more—pulling As, but almost “They’re closely engaged with our club.” failing to graduate because nothing in But hiccups involving state licensing, the now 53-year- this patchwork added up to a major. For- municipal bans, high taxes, lax law en- tunately, Norma Kahn, the late assistant forcement, lack of banking access, and dean for advising, “took pity on me,” he inconsistent regulation have contrib- old Rosenheck. says, calling her “the patron saint of lost uted to industry growing pains and a souls who have promise at Penn.” thriving black market of unlicensed “I was using it Rosenheck’s interest in photography growers and sellers who outnumber had led him to fi lm classes at the Annen- their legal counterparts. Rosenheck for wellness.” berg School for Communication, with an hopes that eventual FDA oversight will eye towards directing. Amos Vogel, the better protect the consumer and thin out His sophomore year ended with aca- late fi lm studies professor and New York competition. “It’s hard to comply with demic probation and a request from the Film Festival founder, became his aca- regulation. We know how to do it, but University that he take a year off to get demic advisor. With Kahn’s help, Rosen- not that many others do,” he says. “So his act together. “I had a GPA of, I think, heck designed an individualized major you have everybody and their brother 1.08,” Rosenheck laughs. “I love the idea called Film as Artifact, which “stitched now launching a CBD company, because of healing and helping people, but I together all these things that I had stud- there’s no regulation.” didn’t have the discipline to study to be- ied under the guise of fi lm theory,” he come a physician. And I wanted to pro- says. That allowed him to graduate. Life at Penn mote rock concerts. My parents were But his most pivotal infl uence was the Rosenheck’s circuitous path to the incredibly despondent that I was asked photographer Becky Young, who started cannabis industry was presaged by his to leave Penn. But it ended up being the Penn’s photography department and passage through Penn. greatest thing that ever happened to me.” taught classes for 30 years before retir- Love brought him to the University He spent what would have been his ing in 2005. Rosenheck joined her class from his hometown of Bridgewater junior year working at a Rittenhouse as a junior in 1987 after honing his skills Township, New Jersey. In a way. Square camera store and exploring a during his year off . “Becky was the most “I didn’t know where I wanted to go to childhood passion for photography— transformational fi gure in my life, be- college or what I wanted to do,” he explains. meanwhile continuing to chair the con- cause she taught me how to see,” he says. “There was a girl from camp who was at cert committee. “No one knew,” he says “She opened up the world of possibilities Penn, and I had a crush on her, so I was like, gleefully. “I was going to work every day for her students and broke down all of ‘Why don’t I go to Penn?’” He got in and in Houston Hall and promoting more these myths of what you’re supposed to became a pre-med student for no reason rock concerts than had ever been pro- do in your life. There were no rules. She other than that his father was a doctor. duced at Penn. Every concert sold out, inspired people to think diff erently.” But he quickly gravitated to the alter- the University was making a profi t, and Young, who has remained in touch native music scene on campus, having they were delighted.” He expanded into with Rosenheck over the years, was earlier sought solace from a miserable Philadelphia’s punk and new wave mu- equally impressed. “I knew from the high school experience by attending sic scene, cross-promoting Penn shows time I met him that this guy was going punk concerts at nearby Rutgers Univer- with downtown hotspots like Revival, to go places,” she says. “He knew who he sity. He got involved in the Penn Union Black Banana, and Memphis. For a time, was. He was very self confi dent without Council Concert Committee, which he he even toyed with the idea of pursuing at all being cocky. He was a great com- co-ran as a sophomore, booking and pro- concert promotion as a career. municator—both verbally and visually. ducing campus concerts by artists rang- “The year I took off caused me to do a He was very interested in environmental ing from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Elvis lot of soul searching,” he says. “When I issues and a very good businessman. He Costello to Philip Glass. “It became an returned, I got very serious about want- knew what he wanted, and he went after obsession,” he says—which didn’t help ing to learn, but I didn’t want to be on a it. It never surprised me that he was as with his grades. career track. Young people are put onto successful as he was.”

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 47 Rosenheck with Becky Young at her retirement party and art opening in 2005. “He had a great way people and landscapes. For six weeks he “It was so lovely to have him come back, was an artist-in-residence at Joshua Tree not as my student, but as my colleague,” of communicating National Park, though he often lived out says Young, who continues her painting of his car. It was during this period that and multimedia work from an airy apart- with students he wandered into a Barstow, California, ment studio in Rittenhouse Square. “He thrift store and stumbled upon a hand- had a great way of communicating with and getting them carved wooden sign spelling love in students and getting them excited about bright red 1960s-era lettering with a yel- what was going on around them.” excited about low outline. Something clicked. “I felt like I was struck by a bolt of The Move West what was going lightning, like it was divine inspiration,” While teaching at Penn, Rosenheck he says. “I started to photograph every- was living with Capobianco, who was body I met with this sign. I went back to then the head of publicity at Banana Re- on around them.” New York to shoot an event for Spy. Joan public. The couple eventually married in Rivers was there, and I asked 2000. When a promotion to VP of global her to hold up the sign and marketing at The Gap prompted a move took a picture of her.” He man- to San Francisco later that year, Rosen- aged to land photos of Nelson heck resurrected his college interest in Mandela, Bill Clinton, Mikhail fi lmmaking, creating documentaries for Gorbachev, and Margaret the Center for Environmental Health in Thatcher holding the sign. He nearby Oakland and writing screenplays. camped out in a men’s room The pair also became medical mari- for three hours to sneak into juana patients, California having legal- an Oprah Winfrey book sign- ized cannabis for pharmaceutical use in ing party and talk her into 1996. Rosenheck was still feeling the ef- posing with it. fects of a 1991 rock-climbing accident. “I His friend at Spy suggested fell 22 feet off a cliff in Utah, was on he turn the collection into a crutches for two years, and had seven book. Published in 1996, The surgeries. My whole leg had to be rebuilt,” Love Book became a bit of a he says. “So when I moved to California, sensation. “It was the number I discovered how I could use cannabis one-selling book in Tokyo, and topically to provide aid to chronic pain.” covered in New York Magazine, In 2003, Capobianco left The Gap to the New York Times, and Enter- start her own marketing agency, Capobi- tainment Weekly,” he says. “I anco & Associates, enabling a move to Los Young mentored Rosenheck to the ex- had exhibitions across the country and Angeles, where Rosenheck could more tent that, when she decided to shift focus around the world because of this book.” aggressively pursue fi lmmaking. He came to her painting at the end of his junior (The Gazette even wrote about it in the maddeningly close to getting two of his year, she began referring photography days before our website launched.—Ed.) screenplays produced. But when both fell clients to him. “And with that, I became Young also hired Rosenheck as a lec- through, Rosenheck lost patience. “I be- a professional photographer,” he says. turer in the photography department, came disillusioned with the whole process In his senior year, a college friend who’d where he taught classes in photography, of getting permission to make a movie,” he landed a job with the satirical magazine printing techniques, and on creating says. “It’s fi ckle and you have no control.” Spy tapped Rosenheck as its cocktail visual diaries from 1996 to 2000. The Priorities were shifting, anyway. In party photographer. Every couple of two occasionally taught classes and 2005, the couple had twin girls and months he took the train to New York to graded portfolios together. “I learned needed to make more money. Rosenheck snap the rich and infamous at Spy events. how to become a teacher from Becky,” he joined his wife’s agency, which focuses For fi ve years after graduation he split says. “It was really about how do you see, on the fashion, lifestyle, food, and well- his time between photography gigs in how do you break down the boundaries ness industries. What Rosenheck calls a Philadelphia and New York and travel- of sight and the limitations that you put “watershed moment” occurred when ing across the country photographing on yourself as a person.” Colorado voted to legalize recreational

48 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Photo courtesy Becky Young “Lord Jones is an cannabis use in 2012; he and Capobi- “We loved the idea of candy, because anco spied a potential goldmine. you could achieve pharmaceutical levels oxymoron. Jones “At the time, the cannabis industry was of accuracy and potency in the dosage,” fi lled with seedy dispensaries and prod- says Rosenheck. “That’s what was key, is the name of the ucts that weren’t labeled, so you had no because before, you’d go into a dispen- idea what you were consuming,” he ex- sary for an edible and it would be a giant plains. “We saw this as a monumental cookie in a plastic bag with a staple common man, so opportunity to normalize cannabis use, without a label. You didn’t know what elevate it, and position it as a health and any of the ingredients were or how much by elevating Jones wellness product, because that’s how we to consume, and with a candy, you could understood it. We shopped at Whole make one bite-size piece of candy and to royalty, we Foods, we were Equinox members, Cindy you’d know exactly what was in it. would buy her cosmetics from Sephora. “We hired a candy chef to teach us how were anointing And there was nothing in cannabis that to make it,” he adds. “I would make and spoke to that consumer. That was the idea infuse it, then Cindy would enrobe it in the humble weed.” behind creating Lord Jones.” chocolate. Mona, who was our right Its moniker was a calculated mash-up hand, would sprinkle the salt on it and percent annual rate, which was likely to of an everyday name with an aristocratic package it. The three of us made every grow with people spending more time title. “We wanted to elevate the cannabis piece of Lord Jones sea salt caramel for at home. Amidst tightening restrictions category,” he adds. “Lord Jones is an oxy- the fi rst year of the company.” and lockdowns, many states allowed moron. Jones is the name of the common They began selling their products cannabis dispensaries to stay open as man, so by elevating Jones to royalty, we through the Hollywood Hills Wellness “essential businesses.” were anointing the humble weed.” Association, a nonprofi t medical mari- “Cannabis sales are doing great and are On the advice of his attorney, Rosen- juana collective they founded in 2015. The going to do better, provided companies heck began weekly reconnaissance mis- knowledge they gleaned from the collec- have enough supply,” says Arcview found- sions to Colorado in 2013, meeting in- tive would ultimately inform the current er and CEO Troy Dayton. “The downside dustry players, learning the law, and Lord Jones line. Initially, their products is that capital is drying up with the stock studying the system. During that time contained THC. But in 2017, after learn- market tanking. So while, relatively, can- cannabis was legal to possess but not to ing more about the medicinal properties nabis is going to do better than all other sell there, while the state set up the nec- of CBD, Rosenheck and Capobianco sectors, everybody is going to be doing essary regulatory structure. “Cindy and shifted to solely selling hemp-derived much worse from an investment stand- I read every single piece of scientifi c can- CBD products, dissolved the collective, point. When the world shifts, we can ex- nabis research that we could get our and launched the Lord Jones brand. pect the cannabis industry to rally.” hands on. There was relatively little of it “People wanted them, and we could sell In the next few years, Rosenheck plans here, but a great deal conducted in Is- them across state lines,” says Rosenheck. to expand the Lord Jones product lines rael,” says Rosenheck. Israel has long “One day we plan to return to THC, when and begin distributing them internation- been a leader in medical cannabis re- marijuana THC is federally legalized.” ally. He’d also like to eventually return search, which has included isolating Their foresight and preparation paid to Penn to teach or share his Lord Jones CBD and THC in marijuana, and its ef- off . By the time the laws relaxed, they had experiences with students. “We are in fects on issues ranging from pain and a viable business in place. In 2016, Cali- the midst of a revolution,” he says. “Can- mood to infl ammation and autism. fornia passed a ballot measure legalizing nabis holds the promise of an economic Research led them to edibles and top- the sale and distribution of recreational revolution, a health and wellness revolu- icals. The market was already saturated cannabis beginning in 2018. In late 2018, tion, a cultural revolution. But at its with smokable products, and their work the Farm Bill legalizing hemp became center, cannabis presents a revolution with food and personal care lines mir- law, thus allowing the sale of hemp-de- of consciousness.” rored delivery systems for cannabis-in- rived CBD products in every state. fused packaged goods. They spent two Susan Karlin C’85 is an award-winning jour- years developing their product, design- The Next Chapter nalist in Los Angeles who has written for Fast ing the look and feel of the brand, and When the coronavirus pandemic hit Company, the New York Times, Newsweek, fi nding reliable cannabis sources by hir- the US in March, cannabis retail sales and NPR. She also loved Becky Young’s pho- ing a lab to test batches of product. had been increasing by a whopping 23 tography class.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 49 Therapy dogs are reducing stress and bringing joy to patients and staff across the Penn healthcare community. By Kathryn Levy Feldman Power of the

Witness the power of the pup. We could puphave been anywhere—on a sidewalk, in a park, in someone’s backyard—but we were no longer in the middle of a nation- illie and I were checking in for ally ranked children’s hospital. And that duty at the ninth-fl oor nursing is exactly the point. From CHOP to HUP station at Children’s Hospital of to Presbyterian Hospital and other cor- dlers (some of whom, like me, have more M Philadelphia (CHOP) when her ners of Penn’s health system, therapy than one dog enrolled) and tries to have tail began to wag. (Millie is my six-year- dogs are de-stressing patients and staff , one volunteer per week on each unit. old certifi ed therapy dog.) one wagging tail at a time. (While Penn- At the Hospital of the University of She had spied a mother pushing her sylvania Hospital in Center City also of- Pennsylvania, David Cribb, director of toddler in a red plastic toy convertible in fers animal assisted therapy, this article volunteer services, oversees HUP’s Pups, our direction. I don’t know who was most will focus on campus-based programs.) which has “been around for seven or excited: Millie, the toddler, or his mom. Lisa Serad CGS’07 G’10 coordinates the eight years,” he says. Currently, 15 dogs Millie lay down right in front of the car Gerald B. Shreiber Pet Therapy Program work in both the inpatient and outpa- so the little boy could pet her. Doctors, at CHOP, the oldest and largest program tient areas of the hospital. nurses, and therapists soon created a on campus. It goes back at least to 1992, The newest program is Presby Paws, roadblock watching the lovefest. Then, originally at Children’s Seashore House, which Kim Daniels Nu’07 GNu’12, a clin- in a matter of minutes, traffi c cleared, which merged with CHOP in 1998. Serad ical nurse specialist, started at Penn- and everyone went about their day. currently oversees 75 dogs and 78 han- Presbyterian Medical Center two and a

50 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 ILLUSTRATION BY GINA TRIPLETT & MATTHEW CURTIUS JulJJuulul | AugAAuuugg 22022020200022020 THETTHHHE PENPENNPEPPENNSYLVANIAENNEENNNSYSYYLLLVVAANNNIAIAIA GGAZGAGAZETTEAAZZETEETTEETTTTETTTTTEE 5151 half years ago. Under the auspices of vol- “Whether a dog, cat, bird, fi sh, turtle, or perience and just helps a kid be a kid,” unteer services, four dogs and handlers what have you, one can rely upon the fact says Jason Freedman Gr’13, inpatient work on the inpatient fl oors, wherever that one’s pet will always remain a faith- director of oncology at CHOP. their services are needed, and also visit ful, intimate friend, regardless of the The fi ndings are similar in adult pa- staff on the units. “Everybody loves it,” good or ill fortune life brings us.” tients. Hospitalized adults who received Daniels says. “We are thinking about mak- When Levinson presented his fi ndings pet therapy showed signifi cant im- ing paw print magnets that the nursing at the American Psychological Associa- provement in perceived energy levels staff can place on the doorframe of pa- tion’s conference in 1961, some were and signifi cant reduction in pain, respi- tients’ rooms [if they] verbalize that they “enthusiastic, some guff awed, and a few ratory rate, stress/anxiety, and negative would like a dog visit while they’re here.” others asked whether my dog shared in mood compared to those who did not “It’s something that’s simply observable the fees,” he wrote in his 1969 book, Pet- visit with animals. as you go around with the volunteers,” says Oriented Child Psychiatry. These days Margaret (Peg) Rummel, an oncology Cribb. “You see that smile on the faces of acceptance is practically universal. nurse navigator at the Abramson Cancer people, and you know you’re doing some- Therapy dogs can be found in schools, Center at Penn, brings her therapy dog, thing good and part of something good.” libraries, nursing homes, hospitals, even Darla, to work on Fridays to visit the “I’ve been here for almost 47 years, and some airports. And scientifi c research medical oncology department, clinics, I’ve had a chance to watch how patients has documented the benefi ts of human– or hospitalized patients if they have re- and their families respond to the pres- animal interaction in medical as well as quested a visit. “We did a small survey ence of those wonderful animals,” says nonmedical settings. on what the reaction was to having Dar- Alan Cohen, professor of pediatrics and A 2012 study found that stroking a la around, and overwhelmingly the a member of the CHOP pet therapy ad- therapy dog for between fi ve and 24 min- staff ’s feedback and the patient’s feed- visory team. “Over and over again, I have utes resulted in a signifi cant drop in back was very positive,” she notes. Staff seen children who are dealing with their stress hormones like cortisol, adrenaline, reported pre-visit stress levels of 4 or 5 own health problem, often with pain, or and aldosterone, and an increase in social with 5 being the highest level. Stress lev- prolonged hospital stays, and missing and health-inducing hormones like oxy- els decreased to a 1 or 2 after Darla’s their families or friends and in some tocin, dopamine, and endorphins. Work- visit. “She makes people laugh, and how cases their dogs, just light up when the ing with a therapy animal has improved can you have a bad day when you’ve got dog enters the room. It is just phenom- behavior and communication skills in Darla around you, just making you smile enal. And for just that time, they seem people with autism, anxiety, depression, and giving you some extra love?” to be transported to a diff erent place.” and other psychological challenges, and also been found to reduce depression To apply as a pet therapy volunteer at among elderly adults with dementia. Pet- CHOP, handlers must be 18 or older and he American Humane Association ting a dog can lower your blood pressure dogs must be between one and 10—and defines animal assisted therapy and heart rate, reduce fear and loneli- be approved as a registered therapy dog (AAT) as “a goal directed interven- ness, and help you heal. through one of four certifying organiza- T tion in which an animal is incorpo- Pet visits in pediatric hospitals have tions: Pet Partners, Therapy Dogs Inter- rated as an integral part of the clinical been shown to provide stress relief, help national, Alliance of Therapy Dogs, or healthcare treatment process.” AAT actu- normalize the hospital setting, and gener- Comfort Caring Canines, which have ally dates back to the 1790s in England, ate positive rapport and morale for pa- similar requirements. My dogs Millie where exercise and the presence of ani- tients and their parents. In pediatric and Franklin are both registered through mals such as birds and rabbits were part oncology patients, pet therapy is credited the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. of the treatment regimen at the York with improving the overall mood and I also had to complete a background Retreat, which pioneered a more hu- well-being of patients as well as parents check and pass a test evaluating my han- mane approach to mental illness. and helping a patient adapt to a thera- dling skills and my dogs’ reactions to In the US, the modern movement start- peutic regimen. One study even docu- strangers and other dogs. Then each dog ed in the 1960s with Boris Levinson, a mented that just one visit by a canine and I had to complete three visits to a med- child psychotherapist who noticed that signifi cantly reduced pediatric patients’ ical facility in which we were supervised sessions with his patients were more pro- perceived pain after surgery, perhaps by and evaluated on our work as a team. Only ductive when his dog, Jingles, was in the providing a source of distraction. then could we apply to CHOP’s program. room. “A pet is an island of sanity in what “I think pet therapy reduces anxiety That process begins with an interview appears to be an insane world,” he wrote. and sort of normalizes the hospital ex- with Serad for the handler (without dog)

52 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 “We need an giving a general overview of the program which required me to fi nd my way to the and a brief tour of the hospital. “We show unit without her—a daunting task! independent, them how big CHOP is and we go over the When reporting for work, Millie and good, the bad, the ugly of volunteering Franklin wear CHOP-provided bandanas impartial opinion here and make sure they have a better idea and I wear a CHOP blue polo shirt. I am of what they’re getting into,” she explains. never allowed to wear shorts or open as to whether the This is followed by paperwork con- shoes. Each dog also gets an offi cial trad- fi rming current immunizations and an- ing card with their photo and some fun dog is suitable or nual fl u vaccine, plus FBI fi ngerprint facts about them. Many patients collect clearance, criminal background check, the cards. The onboarding process takes not. It’s important and child-abuse history clearance. I had between four and six months to complete. to sign off on CHOP’s policies of patient Serad freely admits “there are barriers to have many and institutional information, confi den- to entry, the fi rst of which is the dog has tiality, and therapeutic boundaries. to be a registered therapy dog. Every- sets of eyes on Dogs must be current on their vaccina- body thinks their dog is the best, but we tions and rabies booster; must not con- need an independent, impartial opinion these dogs who sume a raw diet (which increases risk of as to whether the dog is suitable or not.” pathological bacterial and protozoal Which is why the Penn Vet piece is so are working shedding and infection that can compro- vital, she says. “I think it’s important to mise patient health); and have an an- have many sets of eyes on these dogs nual physical and behavioral evaluation who are working with some of the sick- with some of the at Penn’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital. est patients in the world.” Once cleared, dogs and handlers attend Alison Seward is the behavior represen- sickest patients a two-hour Unit/Patient Care orientation tative at Ryan Veterinary Hospital and in which Serad reviews the rules of the has been administering the test for dogs in the world.” road, including stringent hand-care reg- in the CHOP program since the late ulations: no one can pet dogs without 1990s. “My role is to see them when they HUP’s onboarding process is similar washing their hands or using a bacterial come here for a yearly medical exam to but a bit quicker, forgoing fi ngerprint hand wipe or hand sanitizer, before and evaluate the safety of their being around checks and no longer requiring its thera- after the encounter. I travel with my patients,” she explains. “I do a simple test py dogs to be evaluated at Penn Vet in CHOP-provided pack of wipes at the for obedience to the handler as well as addition to precertifi cation. “We do not ready and sometimes go through two watch them around other dogs in our have a pediatric program, so we don’t packs in an hour! In addition, I must use waiting area and pay a lot of attention to worry about the FBI fi ngerprint,” says Purell on my hands before and after en- their willingness and apparent comfort Cribb. “We’re not fortunate like CHOP to tering each patient’s room. meeting me and interacting with me.” have a dedicated coordinator, but when Millie and Franklin are permitted to The pre-certifi cation requirement tends we do see applications come through for jump on a patient’s bed—with consent, to weed out unsuitable candidates, so somebody who has a certifi ed dog, we of course—but I must go to the linen “failing the behavior test is vanishingly tend to respond to them quickly because closet and get a clean sheet to put down rare,” she adds, “but if we do see a dog we always have openings for HUP’s Pups and remove that sheet when we leave the who is obviously distressed, we will say, volunteers.” Presbyterian’s requirements room. Dogs are also not allowed to lick ‘Why don’t we give this another year?’ It’s are the same as CHOP’s, but dogs in the patients, and no patient is permitted to in everyone’s best interest not to certify Presby Paws program must be certifi ed give a dog a treat. Each dog must be a dog who could not possibly manage.” in animal assisted therapy specifi c to bathed within 24 hours of their volunteer Seward herself was the benefi ciary of healthcare and hospitals. shift and for two days before a visit no an impromptu therapy dog visit when The lengthy process does self-select a fl ea or tick topical can be administered. she was a patient at HUP three years pool of committed volunteers. One ex- At the end of the orientation, Serad ago. “As I recall, I was up by the elevators ample is Flaura Koplin Winston EAS’83 assigned us to a unit and took us on a and there was one of the volunteers with GEng’84 M’88 Gr’89, founder and scien- short visit. Then I was required to com- their Labrador,” she says. “He gave me tifi c director of the Center for Injury plete three supervised visits (I alternat- the dog’s little card and now I have it on Research and Prevention and director ed dogs) under her tutelage, the last of my bulletin board.” of the Center for Child Injury Prevention

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 53 Camp Comforters Studies at CHOP, where she is also a dis- Therapy dogs help children grieving loss. tinguished professor of pediatrics. Win- ston and her dog Dobby, a Miki (a rare breed mix of Maltese, Shi Tzu, Japanese aurie Leevy’s son Justin C’95 was very Chin, and Papillon), started volunteering ill during his time at Penn and after at CHOP last November, working on the graduation, succumbing in 2016 to trauma fl oor since that is where her pro- L complications of chronic fatigue im- fessional interests lie. “It’s very consis- mune dysfunction syndrome. For the last tent with what I do, and I did a lot of 13 years of his life, Justin lived at home traumatic stress research,” she says. “I and, among other things, helped his mom can understand a lot of what the kids are rehab a rescued Kuvasz dog named Jazz. going through.” (Kuvasz are large white dogs from She feels that Dobby—who, weighing Hungary, bred to be caretakers of young in at seven-and-a-half pounds, is ex- livestock and guardians of their fami- tremely portable and totally nonthreat- lies—and to “listen to no one,” says ening—is well suited to this type of work. Leevy, who nevertheless has owned, “If they hold him next to their chest, it’s trained, and shown this breed since her just this incredible release,” she says. children were small.) “The very fi rst time I did this, there was “With Justin’s help, I took a dog who a woman who was visiting a relative who feared people—especially women—and asked if she could hold my dog. And she trained him to get obedience titles, several just held him and started crying. He’s under women judges,” she recalls. “I think I just perfect that way. He will just sit learned, at an even deeper level, the im- there and be fi ne with it. I feel like I have portance of the canine–human connection “Kids are a little a special gift to give because I’m also a watching the importance of the dog in, by pediatrician so I can really understand then, my disabled son’s life.” nervous. A dog what they’re going through.” Jazz unfortunately developed metastatic Winston doesn’t hide her professional cancer, and in the last stages of his illness, is a really nice background, identifying herself as Dr. Leevy purchased her current dog Lahdee Winston (“just because that’s my name,” (registered name: Szumeria’s Taliszman object to focus she says), but on a volunteer visit, wear- Love in a Mist). “I thought I had gotten ing her blue shirt and with Dobby Lahdee for Justin who, even during periods their attention decked out in his petite bandana, she of pain and suffering, would walk her al- has found that the patients don’t ask her most every day and lie on the floor with her medical questions. “It’s really all about in a heap of cuddles.” and ease the Dobby,” she says. And as intriguing as But when Justin passed away just seven the prospect of researching the impact months after Jazz, Lahdee became the dog transition.” of therapy dogs on trauma victims is, she that pulled her forward in her own life. “No has refrained. “Personally, this is my joy. matter the grief or the loss, a young dog This is not my research.” needs our immediate attention,” she says. Through CHOP’s pet therapy program co- One of Winston’s most memorable en- Leevy embarked on a regimen of class- ordinator Lisa Serad, Leevy learned about counters involved a young woman who es in agility, obedience, rally, and eventu- Camp Erin Philadelphia, a bereavement did not want to get up and walk after her ally therapy dog certification. She and camp for children six to 17 run by Penn surgery, despite her nurse’s orders. Win- Lahdee have been volunteering at CHOP Medicine Hospice. For the past three ston asked her if she wanted to walk since 2018 on the neurology unit, where years, therapy dogs have been part of the Dobby, and that got her to complete two they have become beloved regulars. camp’s three-day program. laps around the unit. “Everyone you Some children are boisterous and active, Last summer, Leevy and Lahdee were meet says, ‘This was the bright point of others withdrawn. In all cases, Lahdee among the greeters who helped welcome the my day,’” she comments. has proved to be a nonreactive big, white, children to camp. “Kids are a little nervous Every volunteer has their own motiva- fuzzy girl. “Some people have called her showing up for the first time, meeting all tion, which often begins with fi rsthand the Peaceful Cloud,” Leevy says. these new people,” says Eric Trumbower,

54 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Photo courtesy CHOP manager of volunteer services for Penn experience of animal assisted therapy. all of these populations there were bodies Medicine Hospice and the camp director. When Elena Cappella got her therapy of evidence that were emerging, saying “A dog is a really nice object to focus their dog—Nessie, a Shetland Sheepdog—in that this could potentially be really help- attention and ease the transition.” 2011, it was originally to comfort herself. ful for reduction in symptoms and im- Lahdee was one of three therapy dogs at “I retired from a very demanding career provement in quality of life.” camp last summer. Liz Decina, a recre- expecting to have more time with my Christina Bach SW’96 Gr’12, the psycho- ational therapist at Moss Rehab in mom, but she died a few months later,” social oncology content editor for the Philadelphia, and her dog Pender (who is she says. “I got Nessie to be my emo- Penn Medicine cancer education website the facility dog at Moss) have volunteered tional support dog.” Oncolink and fi eld liaison at the School at the camp for the past two years. She soon realized that Nessie was very of Social Policy and Practice, has seen the “The camp schedule is expertly laid out to smart and easy to train, and she began benefi ts of animal assisted therapy fi rst- cycle through fun activities and then work pursuing the requirements for therapy hand. For the past fi ve years, Bach and on grief, interpersonal issues related to the dog certifi cation. She recalled that her her late dog Finn and her current dogs grief, group talk therapy sessions related to mother enjoyed it when dogs came to Linus and Huck have been pet therapy grief, and then roll back into fun,” says visit her assisted-living facility and was volunteers in the radiation oncology wait- Decina, who coordinates the camp’s thera- drawn to work at a children’s hospital ing area at the Perelman Center. py dog program as a volunteer. “This cycle because she has a granddaughter who Bach sets up shop in a corner of the goes on five times a day to create a benefi- went through treatment for kidney can- waiting area, asking anyone sitting there cial relationship with grief and then moves cer in other cities. Cappella and Nessie if they are comfortable with her being in forward to tackle the rest of your day.” have been volunteering at CHOP for the vicinity. She covers the chairs, puts up The dogs are involved in expressive activ- about six years and work in the rehab signs identifying her dogs as therapy ities such as grief and memory circles, par- unit at Seashore House, as well as in the animals, stocks the area with Purell for ticipate in the camp preview party and lobby of the Buerger Center for Ad- pre- and post-petting hand sanitizing, opening ceremonies, and even join in at vanced Pediatric Care as “greeters” when and waits for people to come to her. “The bedtime. “Last year we ended up with a patients are registering. rule here is that we can’t approach peo- dog that was in the cabins with the kids Besides volunteering at CHOP, Capella ple. They need to approach us,” explains getting a story read to them, and the and Nessie have appeared in events at the Bach. “If they are a little shy and looking campers fell asleep on the dog,” Wharton School, the dental school, the longingly at Linus I often say, ‘You’re wel- Trumbower says. graduate chemistry department, the An- come to pet him. This is Linus. He’s a Judy Dinofrio, a registered nurse who has nenberg School, and at open houses at therapy dog and he’s here for you.’” worked in Pennsylvania Hospital’s neona- the Graduate Student Center and some Waiting for radiation treatment is high- tal intensive care unit for the past 30 undergraduate departments under the ly stressful, and pet therapy is one of years, has seen the effect her eight-year- auspices of Comfort Caring Canines, the many interventions Penn off ers in the old golden retriever Apolo has on children therapy organization through which waiting room, including yoga, music, struggling with grief. Nessie is certifi ed. The team was also in- meditation, and a virtual reality relax- One little girl was struggling to express cluded in a doctoral program class at the ation station, says Fern Nibauer-Cohen, her feelings during an activity in which School of Social Policy and Practice director of patient engagement in the campers were encouraged to place a pho- taught from 2017 to 2019 by Katharine department of radiation oncology. “The to of their loved one on a memory board Wenocur SPP’11 GrS’18 called Animals in pet therapy program is an important and talk about them. “Apolo wanted her to Social Work. CHOP’s Serad was also a component of our quality of life pro- pet him, and once they were off playing guest speaker in the survey course, which grams.” As an indication of how much with each other, she started to open up explored the history of therapeutic in- this program is valued, during the pan- more,” Dinofrio recalls. “She started telling volvement of animals in social work prac- demic it has continued virtually. “We had me about her mother and her cancer and tice, including the wide range of roles a virtual gathering of about 15 former was able to express something through her that animals play in clinical social work. patients, structured like a talk show, fea- contact with Apolo. There’s a sense of him For their fi nal project, students re- turing Christina and her beagles. Every- not judging, just being there.” searched sub-areas of animal assisted one loved it,” Nibauer-Cohen reports. At this writing, Camp Erin Philadelphia is therapy. “Some were focused on the el- Bach is confi dent animal assisted ther- on hiatus due to the coronavirus, but derly. Some were focused on victims of apy is benefi cial, “but’s it’s hard to prove Trumbower intends to add more therapy abuse. Some were focused on folks on the the evidence of that,” she admits. “Do you dogs to camp when it reopens. —KLF autism spectrum,” Wenocur says. “And in measure biometrics? Do you take some-

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 55 body’s heart rate and blood pressure be- practice, research studies, a whole visit kids with CF,” he says, “and as part fore and after they interact with the dog? bunch of support and not one piece of of that, we tracked if we would ever have Or is it all really qualitative, in that we’re literature evidencing anything negative.” hospital-acquired infections.” just really hearing stories and using this Infectious disease experts are part of Under the protocol, a therapy dog vis- narrative about these experiences with Serad’s advisory team at CHOP and its with one CF patient for an extended animals?” She does know that “people helped develop the sanitary protocol time, enters and exits via a service eleva- miss their dogs; they love their dogs. So that all the hospitals follow. tor, and is not eligible to return for two this is a nice connection for them.” For the past two years, therapy dogs weeks. A pilot study is currently under Bach also appreciates the continuity have even been able to visit some of way to determine whether or not the dog of her patient encounters. “In radiation CHOP’s pediatric oncology patients, was transmitting bacteria from the pa- oncology, these patients are being treat- based on meeting certain health criteria tient and vice versa, developed by Ru- ed for four to sometimes eight weeks,” on a day to day basis. “Obviously if our benstein and the veterinary school’s she explains. “So we develop relation- patients have major infections, or they’re Daniel Morris, professor of dermatology, ships with them and become part of on specifi c type of contact isolation, or and microbiologist Daniel Beiting. their treatment teams, and we look for- they have bacteria they could easily Through his other research, Morris ward to seeing each other every week.” share, or they’re in the middle of a bone knew Meghan Davis, an associate profes- Bach has written about her patient marrow transplant, they’re not able to sor at Johns Hopkins University, who encounters on the Oncolink blog. One participate,” says inpatient director Ja- was investigating similar transmissions of her favorites involves a patient who son Freedman, citing the major catego- of bacteria via the dogs in the pediatric bonded with her late dog Finn. “He came ries of concern. “But we were really able oncology population there. “Meghan had in and kept to himself, looked kind of to open it up to a large group of the pa- some preliminary data that suggested disheveled, and he loved Finn,” she re- tients undergoing generalized cancer that using chlorhexidine wipes on dogs calls. “Finn didn’t care if he had show- therapy because their immune systems could decrease the transmission of these ered that day or hadn’t brushed his hair.” are not as weak, and it really made a pathogens,” Rubenstein says. Together The patient noticed that Bach fed Finn world of diff erence.” the group wrote a grant securing NIH multigrain Cheerios as treats. “On the The protocol was developed in conjunc- funding to investigate whether these last day of his therapy, he arrived with tion with colleagues in infectious disease wipes could decrease the transmission his hair styled and looking dapper. Ev- as well as on the unit, and in large part of bacteria from dogs to humans and erybody was congratulating him, and he because of the “way Lisa runs the pro- humans to dogs. took out a box of multigrain Cheerios for gram,” he says. “There’s no data to guide A clinical trial is in its second year. The Finn,” Bach recalls. “What Finn did was you; it’s kind of gestalt. You have to just fi rst year was mainly about planning. Ac- make him feel normal. For him to go out realize that this is really important for the cording to Rubenstein, they are currently and buy a box of Cheerios for a dog made children and you have to balance quality waiting for approval by the Institutional him feel not so much like a cancer pa- of life with other things. But I can tell you Review Board to begin data collection, tient but like somebody who was com- the smiles on these kids’ faces when you which he hopes will be up and running in passionate and cared about this creature walk in and they’ve had pet therapy, it’s the near future. The plan is to use the who cared about him.” kind of unbelievable.” same dogs over and over and to swab them Another pediatric population on high- (nose, mouth, and the “petting zone”) be- At CHOP, therapy dogs are an accept- level contact precautions (gown and fore and after the visit with similar sample ed, nontraditional therapy that helps gloves required to enter their rooms) are collections from the patient. hospitalized patients normalize their patients with cystic fi brosis (CF). Ronald “If you’re a kid who happens to have experience—but Serad is always mindful Rubenstein, professor of pediatrics at CF and the family wants to have a dog that some people believe dogs should not the Perelman School of Medicine as well as part of their normal family life, then be in hospitals. “That is why we have to as director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center that’s part of being a kid,” says Ruben- be so strict with hand hygiene and all of at CHOP and HUP, recognized that his stein, who owns two Portuguese Water our other rules around safety, boundaries, patients—who may be hospitalized for Dogs. “But I don’t have any guiding data and privacy,” she says. weeks at a time—were excluded from to tell me if it’s really OK or not. That’s One of the largest barriers is the issue getting pet therapy as part of their inpa- one of my motivations in this.” of infection, though Presby Paws found- tient stays. “In collaboration with the er Kim Daniels says she “dug into the infection control colleagues, we came up Kathryn Levy Feldman LPS’09 writes fre- literature and found evidence-based with a protocol by which the dogs could quently for the Gazette.

56 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 VIRTUALAlumni Weekend 2020* * In-person celebration coming May 22-23, 2021. Save the date!

Pictured here are photos posted on social media at the invitation of Penn Alumni with #LOVEPENN to mark the fi rst (and, let’s hope, one-of-a-kind) Virtual Alumni Weekend on May 16, 2020. You can view all the day’s ac- tivities—which included several pre- sentations, a simulated Parade of Classes (using old photos), and spir- ited renditions of “The Red and Blue” and “Drink a Highball”—by visiting alumni.upenn.edu and clicking on Events. —Ed.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 57 Courage Through History

From storms to serial killers to shipwrecks, bestselling author Erik Larson has made his name writing about frightening moments in history. When a new one came

58 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul ||Aug 2020 in the form of a global pandemic, readers found unlikely comfort in his latest book—a story of leadership, perseverance, and hope in the bleakest of times 80 years ago. By Dave Zeitlin

Jul | AugILLUSTRATION 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA BY DAVID HOLLENBACH GAZETTE 59 was dusk in London when Erik coincided with the German air campaign it. They’re fi nding it because there is this Larson C’76 gazed out of his meant to bring Great Britain to its knees. model of really terrifi c leadership. And I Egerton House Hotel window. Drawing on original archival docu- think people need to be reminded of what The sky was clear, the weather ments, untapped diaries, and recently leadership looks like.” Also, Larson notes, warm—the kind of evening released intelligence reports, Larson ap- the story does have a happy ending—even that would have been perfect proached Churchill from a diff erent if nearly 45,000 Britons lost their lives in ITfor hundreds of Luftwaff e aircraft to angle, painting a vivid portrait of what the air raids. “They got through it,” he suddenly appear on the horizon and life that year was like on a daily basis for says. “They went through the gates of hell pummel the city with bombs. the prime minister and his family, in- and came back out again.” How terrifying must that sight have cluding vivacious daughter Mary, and Has the story of “The Blitz” even helped been? How did ordinary British citizens an inner circle of advisors. A diary entry Larson, who’s known by his three adult mentally cope with relentless air raids for from one of those advisors, Churchill’s daughters as the “Prince of Anxiety” be- 12 straight months from 1940 to 1941? Or private secretary John Colville, turned cause he’ll text them “Dad Alerts” if it’s a with the more terrifying belief that Hitler out to be the inspiration for the book’s windy day or there’s ice on the ground? would soon unleash a full-on invasion title. During one of the raids, while Had he been alive in London in 1940, he with German paratroopers landing in the watching shells explode and fi res rage admits he probably would have been a heart of one of the world’s great cities? underneath a clear black sky from his “drooling mass of quivering anxiety” at Larson, a bestselling author known for bedroom window, Colville “was so struck fi rst. But eventually, he says, “I’d like to his gripping works of historical narrative by the sort of weird juxtaposition, as he think I would rise to the occasion. I think nonfi ction, tried to imagine those feel- put it, of natural splendor and human one becomes emboldened if one sees ings while in his hotel room that beauti- vileness,” Larson says. people around them being courageous.” ful night two years ago. He did the same That kind of juxtaposition animates Thinking some more about how during daytime walks through London’s Larson’s book. During the day, Londoners Churchill taught the British people what famed Hyde Park. “Suddenly you’re vi- still went to work, shopped in stores, ate Larson refers to as “the art of being fear- brating with a sense of the past,” he says. in restaurants, sunbathed in parks—but less”—and how important it is today to “And that’s what I try to convey to my they did so while holding onto gas masks come together again, during a global readers—that sense of immersion in an and “their identity discs, in case they got pandemic—he adds another thing: era, in a story, to the point where maybe blown to smithereens,” Larson says. “I feel courage is infectious.” they lose sight of the fact that they actu- Then, at nightfall, they darkened their ally know how it ends.” windows, went to their basements, bed- arson has found diff erent kinds of How World War II ends is, of course, rooms, or backyard “Anderson shelters,” courage throughout his life, making well known. The Nazis never invaded and hoped luck was on their side when decisions both impulsive and risky to Great Britain and instead got bogged the bombs dropped. “As time wore on,” L go from what he calls a “shiftless, hap- down in the Soviet Union, the United Larson says, “people just said, ‘Look, I hazard guy” to an author whose fi ve books States entered the war after the attack can’t predict whether I’m going to live or before Splendid have collectively sold on Pearl Harbor, and the Allies ultimate- die. There’s not much I can do about it, more than nine million copies worldwide. ly prevailed. But before all that, the only so I’m just going to live my life.’” Undecided about where to go to college, thing that stood in Hitler’s way was the Released in late February, shortly be- the Long Island native settled on Penn United Kingdom and its pugnacious fore cities around the world were fl ipped because that’s where his girlfriend was prime minister, Winston Churchill—a upside down due to the novel coronavi- going. They broke up soon after arriving man who, despite his faults, Larson says, rus outbreak, The Splendid and the Vile on campus, but he had a good time any- was a “terrifi c leader for this particular quickly found its audience. Larson says way. As a freshman, he was “transfi xed” period, because he was very good at he hears “all the time” from people who by a Russian history class taught by the helping people fi nd their courage.” tell him they’ve found comfort reading late Alexander Riasanovsky, a longtime Although, by Larson’s admission, the book while quarantined at home, University faculty member and, notes Churchill is “one of the most heavily writ- drawing hope from how people in Eng- Larson, “an exiled Russian prince.” One ten-about people in the history of the land 80 years ago strove for normalcy in night, Larson says, Riasanovsky came to planet,” his newest book, The Splendid and the midst of terror and uncertainty. “I’m a campus party to “teach us how to drink the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and slightly mystifi ed,” he says. “People are vodka the Russian way.” It was a diff erent Defi ance During the Blitz, delves into the turning to this book about mass death time, he laughs, adding, “I will tell you prime minister’s fi rst year in offi ce—which and chaos for solace, and they’re fi nding that I’ve never been drunker in my life.”

60 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Riasanovsky turned Larson on to ured Larson would move on to “great glory,” lisher found) was Larson’s 1999 break- Russian history and literature, which he but given what she knew about him, through book: Isaac’s Storm: A Man, A studied the rest of his time at Penn. He “thought he’d write funny stories or mys- Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in had other great history professors too—so tery novels.” Larson wasn’t sure about his History. “What was clear from the very much so that he wanted to become one career trajectory either when, in 1985, the beginning,” recalls Black, still Larson’s himself for a while. He also thought that Journal’s managing editor off ered him the agent today, “was that he had something he’d like to become a prosecutor, or may- Atlanta bureau chief’s job and Larson told really special that he was working on.” be a New York City cop. “I went in think- him that not only was he declining the pro- Finding the idea for the book wasn’t ex- ing I was going to do one thing with my motion, he’d be leaving the paper entirely. actly a straight line either. It can be traced life, left thinking I was going to do an- After Larson married a neonatologist back to 1994 when Larson read Caleb other, and did neither of those,” he says. named Christine Gleason, whom he had Carr’s The Alienist. Though it was a novel, Writing, he says, “was always sort of my met on a blind date in San Francisco, the Larson was fascinated by the real-life char- background thing.” When he was 13, he couple moved across the country to Bal- acters set in 1890s New York and the se- wrote a novella that mirrored the Nancy timore, where she started a new job at rial killer genre. So he thought maybe he’d Drew books he liked to read growing up. Johns Hopkins. There he did some free- like to try to write about a real-life murder. At Penn, he kept writing, but not much lance magazine writing, raised his three Very quickly in his research digging that was published—mostly short stories daughters with his wife, and in 1994 pub- through The Encyclopedia of Murder, he and “failed novels” in between school- lished his fi rst book: The Naked Consum- came across serial killer H. H. Holmes, work and vodka drinking lessons. er: How Our Private Lives Become Public who would go on to become one of the Another memorable Penn course taught Commodities. A collection of essays about two central characters in his next book, him to appreciate Ernest Hemingway, how companies were spying on individ- the monster hit The Devil in the White whose writing style—“in terms of clarity ual consumers, “I thought it was going to City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the and simplicity and the conservation of be a huge bestseller,” he says. “And no- Fair That Changed America. But at the words”—became a lifelong resource. body bought or read it. But I did get the time, he says, “I didn’t want to do crime After college, he got a job as an edito- bug, and I loved the process. I loved the porn, and he was too over-the-top bad.” rial assistant at a publishing company in pace. It suited my personality.” Instead, he homed in on the murder of a New York, but it was a trip to the movie His next book, Lethal Passage: The Story Texas businessman named William theater that proved most formative. Upon of a Gun, was about the country’s gun cul- Marsh Rice, which led him to Galveston, seeing All the President’s Men, the 1976 ture, following one model of a handgun where he was amazed to learn of the de- political thriller about the Watergate and using the life and experiences of a struction caused by the hurricane the scandal, he “decided then and there, this school shooter to frame it. Though not a same year Rice was killed. So he thought: is what I wanted to do with my life—I bestseller, that book did better than the Forget about the murder for now. wanted to bring down presidents.” His first, and perhaps more importantly, While digging for information about the wish to become the next Woodward or helped him determine that the secret to storm at the National Oceanic and Bernstein was short-lived, but it did lead his success might be rooted more in nar- Atmospheric Administration library, he him to the Columbia Graduate School of rative storytelling than hard journalism. pulled out a dusty leather binder and Journalism, then to the Bucks County So he went to the library, took out the found a newspaper article written by the Courier Times in suburban Philadelphia. Encyclopedia of Murder, and went down US Weather Bureau meteorologist Isaac “I was not a natural reporter,” he says, but several rabbit holes in search of the wild- Cline, “in which he said that no storm he tried his hand at longform investiga- est damn stories he could fi nd. could ever do serious damage to the city tive features on top of the daily grind of of Galveston,” shortly before the storm covering cops and laying out the newspa- the time his sixth or seventh book killed as many as 10,000 people in per. After being passed over for a promo- proposal was rejected, Larson was Galveston alone. Just like that, his anti- tion, he shopped his résumé around and BY getting ready to dump his literary hero was born. And Isaac’s Storm—what in 1980 landed at the Philadelphia bureau agent, David Black. Looking back on it he refers to as his fi rst work of narrative of the Wall Street Journal. more than 20 years later, the author is glad nonfi ction—was critically well received. From Philly, he accepted a transfer to San he didn’t. In fact, he credits Black with (It also remains his wife’s favorite, 20 years Francisco, where he sought out light, funny helping him shape the narrative arc of a and fi ve other books later, as hard as he things to write about, “always fi nding better story of a hurricane that struck Galveston, tries to unseat it.) The New York Times, in ones than the rest of us,” says Carrie Dolan, Texas, in 1900. The result (after the eighth its book review, called it a “richly imagined a friend and former colleague. Dolan fi g- proposal was fi nally accepted, and a pub- and prodigiously researched” book that

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 61 “pulls readers into the eye of the hurri- killer Hawley Harvey Crippen. “Right Initially, he thought it could be power- cane, and into everyday lives and state-of- away, people were assuming, ‘Oh, this is ful to follow a typical London family the-art science. It is a gripping account, Erik’s shtick,’” he says. during this time of incessant fear and horridly fascinating to its core, and all the It wasn’t. Following Thunderstruck, his horror. “Then I thought, Wait a minute, more compelling for being true.” next three books—In the Garden of Beasts: why don’t I do the quintessential London Of all the “horridly fascinating” events Love, Terror, and an American Family in family?” So that’s how one of the most and people through history, H. H. Hitler’s Berlin (2011), Dead Wake: The Last infl uential historical fi gures ever became Holmes—American’s fi rst modern serial Crossing of the Lusitania (2015), and the centerpiece of the story. killer—would rank high on any list. After Splendid—didn’t rely on dual storylines Larson had no way of predicting it, but Isaac’s Storm was published, Larson re- and were about subjects more widely Churchill’s World War II leadership membered a reference made to the known. What did remain the same, how- would come into sharper focus just as his Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 in some- ever, was the novelistic feel of his historical book was released. As various world lead- thing he had read about Holmes, and explorations. It’s a testament to his writing ers struggled to prepare for and respond was drawn back in. He submitted what skills, but the real reason he’s able to do to the global pandemic, it seemed many Black calls a “stunning” proposal that that is because of his “extraordinary atten- people longed for someone known to in- weaved together two parallel story- tion to detail and his extraordinary spire and motivate in a time of crisis. Yet lines—one on Holmes building his hotel amount of research,” Black says. “We while Churchill might be best known for of horrors and the other on the architect thought we knew about the Lusitania. We his “rousing bits of rhetoric that we’re all Daniel Burnham leading the design of didn’t. We thought we knew about the familiar with,” Larson points to his hon- the fairgrounds just blocks away. coming of the Nazis in 1939. We didn’t. We esty at the beginning of those eloquent Devil in the White City went on to win thought we knew everything there was to speeches as one reason why he was such the Edgar Award for best fact-crime know about Winston Churchill. We didn’t.” a steady hand. “What Churchill was very writing, was a fi nalist for the National For Larson, hunting for new things good at doing,” the author notes, “was Book Award, and is now being developed about old subjects, in far-fl ung archives giving a sober assessment of the situation as a Hulu series with Leonardo DiCaprio and libraries, “is the fun part” of the pro- without sugarcoating it, but then follow- and Martin Scorsese attached. But on cess—which, aside from more overseas ing with real grounds for optimism.” (For the night before it was published in travel, hasn’t changed much over the last Larson, that presents the most glaring 2003, Larson was convinced his career two decades. That’s why he’s never em- contrast with American political leader- was over. “I thought it was going to crash ployed a research assistant to help. ship in the age of the coronavirus.) and burn,” he says, unsure of how critics “I don’t know what I’m looking for,” he Churchill’s bravery was unmatched, would react to one book with two dis- says. “But I know exactly when I fi nd it.” too. Despite increasing fears for his per- tinct storylines that rarely intersect. sonal safety, “no raid was too fi erce to Instead, many marveled at how a work efore deciding to write a book about stop him from climbing to the nearest of nonfi ction could feel so much like a him, Larson didn’t have a “deep abid- roof to watch,” Larson writes in Splen- novel, and how something like the in- ing interest in Winston Churchill,” he did. “Even near misses seemed not to vention of the Ferris Wheel could be B admits. “He was actually, believe it or ruffl e him.” That combination of fear- almost as suspenseful as Holmes wooing not, an afterthought in the idea process.” lessness and honesty made his frequent and torturing his victims. “I knew that The book’s roots can be traced to a re- visits to bombing sites to speak directly was going to be either the biggest thing cent move he and his wife made to to English citizens “a very powerful ever, or people would be like, ‘What is Manhattan from Seattle (where they had thing for the public,” Larson says. “They this guy thinking?’” laughs Dolan. lived for a couple of decades after knew he was with them. They knew he Although Devil proved to be a “really Baltimore). Upon arrival, he thought was moved. And they knew he was hell- amazing thing in terms of my life and my about what 9/11 must have felt like for bent on doing something about it.” career,” Larson notes it didn’t make it any New Yorkers—the smoke, the sirens, the The book also captures Churchill’s easier to fi nd or sell his next book. “Being shock—versus what it was like for him delicate diplomatic balancing act in his of Scandinavian origin,” he says, “I’m a watching the horror unfold on CNN, frequent correspondence with US Pres- pessimist at heart.” He once again went nearly 3,000 miles away. Then he thought ident Franklin Roosevelt. And it includes the dual storyline route for the 2006 book about another major city attacked from chapters from the Nazi perspective, Thunderstruck, which is about a criminal the sky—and how The Blitz began with showing how Hitler’s brazen confi dence chase and the parallel careers of wireless 57 consecutive nights of bombings. Or, as in swift English capitulation slowly di- inventor Guglielmo Marconi and serial Larson puts it, “57 consecutive 9/11s.” minished as the UK’s Royal Air Force

62 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 (RAF) fought back the Luftwaff e and waged bombing campaigns of their own on German cities. Near the end of The Blitz in May 1941, Larson recounts a di- ary passage from the Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels that said of Churchill: “This man is a strange mix- ture of heroism and cunning. If he had come to power in 1933, we would not be where we are today. And I believe he will give us a few more problems yet.” Perhaps the most poignant portions of the book, though, are less about war strategy and more about the daily hor- rors of ordinary British citizens. Mostly using diaries that had been collected by the Mass-Observation social research organization, which he calls “the most amazing reservoir of compelling mate- rial,” Larson depicts cinematic details from the ground when The Blitz began on September 7, 1940 (see accompanying excerpt). “For Londoners, it was a night of fi rst experiences and sensations,” he writes. The sound of a bomb crashing to the street. The skies glowing red. Billows of dust engulfi ng the city. “Survivors ex- iting ruins were coated head to toe as if with gray fl our.” The following day was just as dreadful, as people dug through the wreckage and On a Quiet Blue Day saw corpses for the fi rst time. But as time went on, many learned to live with Life in London was normal and picturesque— it. Despite the foreboding of possible Nazi rule, Mary Churchill—who Larson until bombs fell from the sky at teatime. calls “incredibly articulate” and “an as- The day was warm and still, the sky blue above a rising tute observer”—still longed for love. In Excerpt haze. Temperatures by afternoon were in the nineties, her diary, which Larson notes only he odd for London. People thronged Hyde Park and lounged and one other scholar have ever been The Splendid on chairs set out beside the Serpentine. Shoppers jammed granted permission to see, “she talked and the Vile the stores of Oxford Street and Piccadilly. The giant bar- about war events. But she also talked a by Erik Larson rage balloons overhead cast lumbering shadows on the lot about her personal life and just the streets below. After the August air raid when bombs first normalcy of it and the fun and snogging fell on London proper, the city had retreated back into a dream of invulnerabili- with RAF pilots.” One particularly har- ty, punctuated now and then by false alerts whose once-terrifying novelty was rowing chapter recounts her arrival at muted by the failure of bombers to appear. The late-summer heat imparted an Café de Paris just after a bomb fell on the air of languid complacency. In the city’s West End, theaters hosted twenty-four club, killing at least 34 people, including productions, among them the play Rebecca, adapted for the stage by Daphne du the musician Snakehips Johnson. Maurier from her novel of the same name. Alfred Hitchcock’s movie version, “The raids generated a paradox: The starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine, was also playing in London, as odds that any one person would die on were the films The Thin Man and the long-running Gaslight. any one night were slim, but the odds

Illustration by David Hollenbach Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 63 EXCERPT continued

It was a fine day to spend in the cool green of the countryside. Churchill was at Chequers. Lord Beaverbrook departed for his country home, that someone, somewhere in London Cherkley Court, just after lunch, though he would later try to deny it. John Colville would die were 100 percent,” Larson had left London the preceding Thursday, to begin a ten-day vacation at his aunt’s writes. “Safety was a product of luck Yorkshire estate with his mother and brother, shooting partridges, playing tennis, alone. One young boy, asked what he and sampling bottles from his uncle’s collection of ancient port, in vintages dating wanted to be when he grew up, a fi re- to 1863. Mary Churchill was still at Breccles Hall with her friend and cousin Judy, man or pilot or such, answered: ‘Alive.’” continuing her reluctant role as country mouse and honoring their commitment to For the vast majority of people, it’s memorize one Shakespeare sonnet every day. That Saturday she chose Sonnet likely that the unease felt during a pan- 116—in which love is the “ever-fixed mark”—and recited it to her diary. Then she demic doesn’t compare to what the went swimming. “It was so lovely—joie de vivre overcame vanity.” British had to endure during The Blitz. Throwing caution to the winds, she bathed without a cap. After all, says Larson, “we’re not going to have a bomb fall on us in the middle In Berlin that Saturday morning, Joseph Goebbels prepared his lieutenants for of the night while we’re sleeping.” But what would occur by day’s end. The coming destruction of London, he said, there are similarities, from minor things “would probably represent the greatest human catastrophe in history.” He hoped like toilet paper shortages to grander to blunt the inevitable world outcry by casting the assault as a deserved response ideas like uniting to defeat a common to Britain’s bombing of German civilians, but thus far British raids over Germany, enemy. “In London at that time, every- including those of the night before, had not produced the levels of death and de- body had to pull together,” Larson says. struction that would justify such a massive reprisal. “We have to pull together now. He understood, however, that the Luftwaffe’s impending attack on London was Everybody has to do this to get this virus necessary and would likely hasten the end of the war. That the English raids had to subside, or we’re screwed.” been so puny was an unfortunate thing, but he would manage. He hoped If a leader like Churchill were alive Churchill would produce a worthy raid “as soon as possible.” today, Larson believes we might have an Every day offered a new challenge, tempered now and then by more pleasant easier time fi nding that kind of solidar- distractions. At one meeting that week, Goebbels heard a report from Hans ity—and also, perhaps, do a better job Hinkel, head of the ministry’s Department for Special Cultural Tasks, who’d pro- putting the pandemic into historical vided a further update on the status of Jews in Germany and Austria. “In Vienna context. That, Larson notes, was anoth- there are 47,000 Jews left out of 180,000, two-thirds of them women and about er one of Churchill’s greatest strengths. 300 men between 20 and 35,” Hinkel reported, according to minutes of the meet- “He was such a student of history,” the ing. “In spite of the war it has been possible to transport a total of 17,000 Jews to author says, “that he understood that the south-east. Berlin still numbers 71,800 Jews; in future about 500 Jews are to this was a moment in time that had be sent to the south-east each month.” Plans were in place, Hinkel reported, to re- come and would go, and that it was one move 60,000 Jews from Berlin in the first four months after the end of the war, moment in this grand epoch of British when transportation would again become available. “The remaining 12,000 will history. And he helped make people feel likewise have disappeared within a further four weeks.” like they were part of that epoch.” This pleased Goebbels, though he recognized that Germany’s overt anti-Semi- Like everyone, Larson has been trying tism, long evident to the world, itself posed a significant propaganda problem. As to adjust to being part of a new epoch. to this, he was philosophical. “Since we are being opposed and calumniated He’s been monitoring his anxiety with throughout the world as enemies of the Jews,” he said, “why should we derive his now-retired wife at their place in the only the disadvantages and not also the advantages, i.e. the elimination of the Hamptons, working on his next book Jews from the theater, the cinema, public life and administration. If we are then proposal and doing more livestream in- still attacked as enemies of the Jews we shall at least be able to say with a clear terviews. His study of Churchill has conscience: It was worth it, we have benefited from it.” helped him. Oreos and red wine have too. And yet, “of course there’s always The Luftwaffe came at teatime... going to be something that shakes your resolve, and you want to just crawl into a closet and whimper,” he says. Excerpted from THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE by Erik Larson. Copyright © 2020 by Erik “But then you’ve got to dust yourself Larson. Excerpted by permission of Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin off and do the Churchill thing and come Random House LLC, New York. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced on back out.” or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

64 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 ARTS P.66 P.68 P.69 P.71 Locust Block Midcentury #MeToo Magical Macabre Vocals

Penn Libraries Annenberg Center www.library.upenn.edu/ annenbergcenter.org collections/online-exhibits See website for schedule changes Jews in Modern Islamic Contexts and Annenberg Center@Home In Sight: Seeing the People of events. the Holy Land Arthur Ross Gallery A Raging Wit: The Life and arthurrossgallery.org Legacy of Jonathan Swift Temporarily closed Ormandy in China: The Historic 1973 Tour ICA Marian Anderson: A Life in Song icaphila.org plus dozens more online Temporarily closed Calendar Kelly Writers House Slought Penn Museum writing.upenn.edu/wh/ slought.org penn.museum/collections Temporarily closed, but visit the Temporarily closed Temporarily closed, but collections website for links to virtual events, World Café Live are viewable online. Visit the web- archived programs, PoemTalk worldcafelive.com site for virtual clubs, classes, and podcasts, and the PennSound Schedule in flux; see website for lectures for families and adults. poetry collection. up-to-date information. Pierre Brown, Plate VIII, Nouvelles illustrations de zoologie. From the Penn Library’s online exhibit The Illustrated Book, 1780-1830. Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 65 ARTS Digital Design

tual replica of Penn’s campus using Mine- craft, the digital block-building game that Extreme Makeover: over the past decade has become the bestselling video game of all time. Locust Walk Edition “I got involved more or less on the fi rst day when Andrew Guo made that Discord Minecraft meets Quaker Pride. link,” says Makarios Chung EAS’20 GEng’21. Chung initially hoped to help administer the dedicated server where this world April 24th, the fi rst and only ed, Guo dips into a register that would would take shape, but quickly took to con- day of the “2020 Digital Penn strike Bob Costas speechless. “I think he struction around campus. Make that two Relays,” and Andrew Guo C’21 just galaxy-brained that!” the math ma- campuses: one meant to mirror the phys- It’s is trying his hand at color com- jor exclaims, mimicking an internet ical campus as closely as possible, and mentary. It’s an odd aff air. For starters, meme. “That’s 400 IQ!” another for playing Minecraft with other Guo is patching in from his home in Chi- The Digital Penn Relays was born out Penn students. “A university is made up of cago. Then there are the contests unfold- of Penncraft, a project Guo launched in a community and a campus,” Chung ex- ing on “Franklin Field,” where Minecraft March, just before the University sent plains. “One server’s the campus and the avatars compete in four distinct events: students home for the semester under other server is the community.” Hurdles, Ice, Lava, and a US Marines- the threat of COVID-19 (and the actual Chung helped build Lauder College style gauntlet. When a virtual contestant track meet was cancelled for the fi rst House, King’s Court, and the Towne opts to swim the latter course rather time in 125 years). Dozens of classmates Building before turning toward the Wi- than leap from ledge to ledge as intend- quickly joined the eff ort: building a vir- star Institute. Guo has been working on

66 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Screenshots courtesy Penncraft Fisher Fine Arts Library built by Michael Willhoit GFA’23, College Hall built by Andrew Roberts C’20, Hill College House built by Darrion Chen EAS’23.

Penncraft began as a lighthearted lark, only to expand beyond what Guo intend- ed. The project got nationwide attention with articles in Business Insider and the Philadelphia Inquirer, and similar proj- ects have cropped up at Brown and Co- lumbia—probably through parallel think- ing rather than copycats. Some Drexel students have begun to add their campus next to Penn’s, widening the scope of Uni- versity City, and Chung says there’s been talk of collaborating with other Ivy League Minecraft groups to stage a Hun- ger Games-style battle. Guo had been

planning a virtual Hey Day earlier in the year, complete with red shirts and a Minecraft “Note Block” programmed to play “The Red and Blue,” but postponed it due to fi nals. He was also mulling the idea of contacting President Amy Gut- mann to deliver an in-world speech. Many students have used the space to the Annenberg Center, and is soon look- its environment in 8-bit cubes, which reminisce over their lost campus, to re- ing to build Tangen Hall, a planned hub means that little details get lost, so stu- connect with friends they are separated for student entrepreneurship that’s un- dents focus on capturing the feel of a from, or make new friends, as Chung has der construction in the real world. He place rather than absolute similitude. done with his fellow builders. may have it done before the physical Builders also have to deal with “grief- “By giving us this little corner of the building itself is completed. ing,” when a malicious actor logs onto internet where we can all hang out and Working remotely presents its chal- the server and causes wanton damage— make friends with each other,” he says, lenges. Nobody can just go into a build- like covering the campus in watermel- “it’s done a large part, at least for me, ing and measure its dimensions, so the ons or lava, or creating an orange-and- and I’m pretty sure for others as well, in virtual architects have to work largely black phallus in the sky bearing the reducing the isolation a lot of us are feel- from memory, Google Maps, photo- name PRINCETON. If the damage is ing right now.” graphs, and—if they’re very lucky—fl oor extensive, the administrators can revert To join the eff ort, or simply take a tour, plans available online or supplied by to a backed-up older version, but that point your browser to creative.upenn- fans of the project. Minecraft displays risks losing progress made. craft.com. —Sam Kesler C’20

Screenshots courtesy Penncraft Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 67 ARTS Fiction

platform, his squirming body just off Drawing Blood the edge. His pink feet kicked the air. He began defecating black pellets, Arlene Heyman’s long-gestating fi rst novel dissects urinating in spasms on her glove. She brought the blade down crunch- the trials and traumas of a woman of a certain era. ing through the bottom of his neck. By Julia M. Klein The head lay on the platform.

At this point in the narrative, Lottie is seething at a rejection by a microscopy Lottie, the rat-dissecting researcher journal, which takes her to task for her of Artifact, seems familiar, it’s be- research methods. One critic has sug- cause we’ve encountered her before: gested that her submitted paper con- If she was the protagonist of the iden- tains “accidental and random fi ndings tically titled short story in Arlene Hey- … no more than a collection of artifacts.” man M’73’s fi ne debut collection, Scary After the opening scenes, Heyman re- Old Sex (Bloomsbury USA, 2016). turns us to Lottie’s Michigan childhood, Lottie’s complaints may seem familiar with an emotionally absent, literary as well. She is an aspiring scientist with mother, who named her for Charlotte a history of righteous grievances, both Brontë, and a stern, patriarchal father. academic and personal. In her fi rst pub- We learn little about her three siblings lished novel, Heyman gives Lottie a com- and are left to ponder whether her mem- plicated, engrossing backstory, includ- ory of a baby brother given up for adop- ing a rambunctious adolescence, a failed tion is accurate. marriage to her high school sweetheart, The adolescent Lottie fi nds love and a sexual assault, three children (plus an acceptance in a precocious sexual rela- obstreperous stepdaughter), and years tionship with a popular classmate, Char- of professional frustration. lie Hart, a star running back. “She ad- Heyman’s own backstory [“Arts,” Jul|Aug mired him with her future anatomist’s 2016] is at least as interesting. Before Artifact: A Novel eye,” Heyman writes. They couple early becoming a Manhattan-based psychia- By Arlene Heyman and often, beginning when Lottie is just Bloomsbury Publishing, 288 pages, $27 trist, she studied with the poet Delmore 14. Heyman describes their erotic adven- Schwartz and the novelist Bernard Mal- tures, apparently observed by a voyeuris- amud, who became a mentor, lover, and tic classmate, with undisguised relish. friend. After some early literary success, classmates who alternatively mock or For Lottie, though, pleasure leads to Heyman turned her focus to medicine. ignore her—make sense in context. How sorrow and pain. At 16, pregnant, she Scary Old Sex, a gritty look at imperfect powerfully they resonate with contem- faces fi rst her father’s wrath, then a mis- relationships and old-age sexuality, porary readers may be an individual carriage. Later, at the University of seemed to burst out of nowhere, and matter. While sexism and misogyny per- Michigan, Charlie’s brilliant football received rapturous reviews. sist, in the sciences as elsewhere, they career is cut short by an injury. Despite Like the short stories, Artifact, which are arguably not quite so unvarnished. this unpromising start, the couple—“an once clocked in at 793 pages, has been in What is most modern in Artifact—as uneasy, off -kilter twosome”—marry and the works for decades. In her acknowledg- in the short stories—is Heyman’s un- move to Texas, where Charlie desulto- ments, Heyman says Malamud critiqued sparingly direct descriptions of human rily studies economics in graduate her 1980 manuscript. She has since man- sexuality, as well as gory laboratory pro- school, and Lottie, bored at home, takes icured the book to a more manageable cedures. Here, for example, is Lottie in a job as a lab tech. length and set it fi rmly in the 20th cen- her lab, slaughtering rats to study their That their marriage, after producing tury, beginning the narrative in 1984 and salivary glands: a daughter, falters is not a surprise. Hey- then fl ashing back to Lottie’s earlier life. man never makes clear exactly why As a result, Lottie’s professional tribu- She raised the paper cutter blade and Charlie withdraws from Lottie, but his lations—including graduate school positioned the animal’s head on the frequent nights out suggest an aff air.

68 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Fiction

Meanwhile, Lottie, too, fi nds another love interest: a kind-hearted, Armenian Illness as Metaphor American pediatric resident, George Kenadjian, who, on fi rst meeting, teach- In Night Theater, Penn oncologist Vikram Paralkar es her how to draw blood. There’s a mu- tual attraction, or so it seems. But even merges magical realism and the macabre. after leaving her increasingly absent husband, Lottie can’t quite act on it. In- stead, she drives off to graduate school delphia’s Temple University. “I began to at the University of Wisconsin, her realize that the more we learn about sci- daughter in tow, and the good doctor ence, about the body, about treatment, disappears entirely from the story. the more our knowledge falls into grada- It is there that the novel’s most startling tions,” he says. “There are many things incident occurs: an initially consensual we do in medical practice where the sexual encounter with an old acquain- certainties and uncertainties—about tance, who inhabits the territory between diagnoses, clinical paths—go hand in cluelessness and sociopathy, devolves hand. We saw that with the unfolding of into rape. Heyman takes us into the room coronavirus and COVID-19. Yet the doc- and Lottie’s psyche as her desire turns to tor is often not allowed to be just an- terror. Grabbing a bread knife, Lottie other imperfect being.” manages to draw her assailant’s blood— Night Theater presents its protagonist the drawing of blood is one of the novel’s with the greatest challenge imaginable motifs—and to throw him out. But he to his presumed expertise: bringing back never really pays for his act—an outcome to life a family that has been brutally that, however true to life, may be hard for murdered. It’s an absurd premise, of readers to accept. course, but after allowing the surgeon Like many women of an earlier gen- and his assistant to express understand- eration, Lottie chooses to deal with the rural India, a village surgeon waits able fright and astonishment at the sight profound psychological impacts of sex- testily for the arrivals of a prom- of this pregnant wife, her husband, and ual violence largely on her own. In time, ised vaccine shipment, a new ster- their eight-year-old son—each sporting her trauma fades. Heyman allows her to In ilization machine, and a nurse to gaping wounds that expose their in- plunge into a new life, in New York, with assist him. His pharmacist, meanwhile, nards, each walking and talking despite a medical school professorship and a armed with an ill-fitting mask, assumes having lost all their blood—Paralkar fulfi lling marriage. Until, as in the short the duties of the absent nurse, along moves on to the surgeon’s strained at- story, Lottie’s obsessive focus on work with tackling everything else from cock- tempts to accommodate this bizarre leads to near-disaster. roach-proofing to electrical repairs. request. “The dead seemed to think him Artifact itself is at once absorbing and Vikram Paralkar’s new novel, Night The- a magician, with mystical devices and episodic. Heyman piles up incidents, ater, might at first put the reader in superhuman powers,” Paralkar writes. keeping the narrative moving and the mind of the desperation faced by hospi- “How many disappointments was he reader involved. Not every plot twist tal personnel around the world during destined to inflict on them? And what makes sense; not every loose end is tied this spring’s coronavirus pandemic. But agonies? Would they feel pain?” up. Despite its author’s day job, Artifact the fictional set-up is a jumping-off Paralkar, 39, came to the United States is less psychological novel than contem- point for an imaginative medical story after completing his medical training in porary picaresque, with an imperfect that merges magical realism and the India. He grew up in a book-loving house- heroine who fl ails her way, sometimes macabre while touching on questions of hold with a surgeon father and gynecolo- gracelessly, through obstacles, but man- morality and humanity. gist mother. “Both of my parents were ages to be standing, and modestly tri- A physician-scientist who specializes fairly avid readers,” he recalls, “and we umphant, at the end. in leukemia at the Perelman School of were always going to book fairs and com- Medicine, the Mumbai-born Paralkar ing back with bags of books. As a kid, a Julia M. Klein is a frequent contributor began writing fiction a few years back lot of what I read was along the lines of to the Gazette. while completing a fellowship at Phila- Agatha Christie and P. G. Wodehouse. It

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 69 ARTS Briefly Noted

THE THANK-YOU PROJECT: wasn’t until my late teens that I started in this series of phantasmagorical micro- Cultivating Happiness reading my way systematically through fictions, we learn about Amnesia in- One Letter of Gratitude at the classics and came to love authors like versa, where instead of growing re- a Time by Nancy Davis Kho Dostoevsky and [Jose] Saramago. moved from and forgetful of loved ones, W’88 (Running Press, 2019, “Underlying every major literary nov- the sufferer is forgotten by more and $22.00) Part memoir and el—whether it’s about identity, relation- more people, from the most distant and part how-to guide, this book ships, belonging, or what have you—are casual acquaintance to those nearest tells the story of the year Kho wrote 50 letters to human bodies made up of bone and and dearest. The ailment Lingua fracta the people, places, and pastimes that positively sinews and organs and blood,” he points similarly turns the idea of lingua franca impacted her life. Using her experience as a out. “Those components have to func- on its head, depicting a state where na- template, she offers practical advice on how tion or not in order for the book’s tive speakers only retain a few words of readers can organize their own gratitude letter themes to unfold. These characters have their language and the resulting jumble project, and shares evidence for how it can lead language, they invent, love, and mourn— has been merged “into a single disso- to greater happiness. but there’s no escaping that they are nant, bristling tongue that is capable of A DAY SO GRAY by Marie housed in bodies that need nutrition almost a full range of expression.” Busterna Lamba C’84 and and are susceptible to decay.” While Night Theater is tinged with the Alea Marley (Clarion Books, nightmarish qualities of Kafka and Poe, 2019, $17.99) This delight- The Afflictions revels in clever language ful picture book teaches All literature, Paralkar and gentle observations on human na- children (and adults) the ture. Those plagued by Libertine’s Dis- power of changing one’s says, proceeds from ease are said to have been treated (un- perspective. A discontented girl at first sees only successfully) with “chasteberry and rue,” a dull winter landscape with gray skies and brown fields. But with the help of a friend, she starts to “human bodies made which sound like inventive jokes but notice tiny orange berries, vibrant blue water, according to Google are real medieval and a fresh way of seeing her surroundings. up of bone and medicines. Akin to but different from PLEASED TO MEET ME: truth serum, the effects of Erysifia poi- sinews and organs Genes, Germs, and the soning cause those afflicted to see the Curious Forces That Make absolute, unvarnished truth. In espe- and blood.” Us Who We Are by Bill cially severe cases, it “turns the victim’s Sullivan G’94 Gr’97 (Na- gaze upon himself, making him witness tional Geographic Books, Living above the store, so to speak— to the horrors of his own soul.” No won- 2019, $26.00) Why are his parents ran their own hospital, com- der we soon learn that the “only record- you a morning person? Why plete with an operating room and pa- ed deaths from Erysifia are suicides.” do you vote the way you do? Using straightfor- tient beds, on the first floor of the build- The afflictions, says Paralkar, “take ward language, Sullivan, a geneticist and infec- ing where the family lived—Paralkar pieces from a real disease and turn them tious disease expert, shares how our personali- also gained an early immersion into the into something larger that connects to ties and actions are shaped by genetics, epi- daily stuff of doctoring. “There are so society and the human condition.” genetics, microbiology, and psychology. many aspects of day-to-day medicine In between running his lab and treating NEW CASTLE’S KADUNCE that are second nature to those practic- his patients, Paralkar has begun writing MURDERS: Mystery and ing the profession,” he says. “But if you his third novel. (It concerns a maker of the Devil in Northwest look at the enterprise from the outside, prosthetic eyes who, as he looks into the Pennsylvania by Dale Rich- there are peculiarities: the obsession good eye of his clients, is able to view ard Perelman WG’65 (The with classification, the nitpicking of di- their past and future.) This trio of endeav- History Press, 2019, agnoses, the vagaries of prognoses, the ors share one trait, he says: curiosity. “In $23.99) Using historical debates about treatment.” medicine, we are trying to discover what’s records and contemporary In his first work of fiction, 2014’s The ailing our patients so we can help them. interviews, Perelman recreates the summer of Afflictions, Paralkar considered those And in science, we are investigating the 1978 when a double murder took place in the facets and “assembled them into a vol- body or its cells. In writing, we are dig- quiet town of New Castle, Pennsylvania. The ume of imaginary illnesses where each ging deeper into understanding what it saga intermingles a serial killer, a Satanist, one is a distortion of some of the ele- means to be a human being.” multiple suicides, and three courtroom trials. ments that make us human,” he says. So, —JoAnn Greco Visit thepenngazette.com for more Briefl y Noted.

70 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Music

Text Message For composer James Primosch, it’s all about the words.

been a slow build over the last 20 years, but this past May, with two new albums out and It’s a recent award added to his bio, music professor James Primosch G’80 realized just how much his work now centers on vocal music. In fact, he may be realizing it at this exact moment, on the phone, stuck at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Asked to name highlights from the four decades he’s been a professional com- poser, starting when he got a master’s in music from Penn and continuing through 32 years (and counting) on the music de- partment faculty, he begins naming spe- cifi c pieces. Then he pauses. “It’s funny,” he says, “now that I say those things, I’m realizing the fi rst three career highlights that come to mind all happen to be vocal. So there you go.” The fi rst half of 2020 is further proof. In February, Primosch won the Virgil Thomson Award for Vocal Music from the American Academy of Arts and Let- ters. Then in May, two albums with his music came out: Descent/Return features several of his songs for soprano and pia- journey without destination. / There is The fi ve-part “Didymus” makes up no; Carthage is an all-Primosch album, no map. / Your soul will lead you. / And about half of the album. In it, Primosch performed by the Grammy-winning you can take nothing with you.” interweaves the standard mass text, in chamber choir (and Annenberg Center For the album’s title track, “Carthage,” Latin, with a set of poems by Denise Le- ensemble-in-residence) The Crossing. Primosch sets to music an excerpt from vertov that refl ect on those same texts. Carthage’s fi rst track, “Journey,” opens Marilynne Robinson’s novel Housekeep- “She’s coming from a place that’s a com- with soft, monasterial tones. The text ing. That piece, along with the album’s bination of doubt and faith,” he says. comes from an actual 13th-century centerpiece, “Mass for the Day of St. For “Didymus,” Primosch divides The monk’s works: “There is a journey you Thomas Didymus,” are the compositions Crossing into two groups: a set of four so- must take,” The Crossing’s male mem- that Primosch submitted to land his vo- loists who sing the original Latin, and the bers chant, low and enigmatic. “It is a cal music award in February. rest of the choir, which sings Levertov’s

Photo by Deborah Boardman Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 71 words. The result is a back-and-forth, call- “With a cappella choir, there’s kind of and-response, push-and-pull feeling throughout, though by the end the voices a high-wire danger at play there, with a have joined together in striking unison. The pieces on Carthage are all unaccom- certain self-reliance necessary.” panied—meaning its music comes solely from human voices, not musical instru- ments—“so there’s a certain starkness to it,” Primosch says. “But it also makes you ap- “Things kind of built off of that,” Pri- the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. On top preciate the richness that a group of voices mosch says of his Holy the Firm song cy- of his vocal music, he’s written dozens of aff ords. With a cappella choir, there’s kind cle, and especially “Cinder.” “Projects that pieces for non-singers, too, from solo of a high-wire danger at play there, with a turned out to be vocal continued to come piano to wind ensemble to electronic certain self-reliance necessary.” my way”—including two commissions for music. At the same time, he’s taught gen- His compositions on the other new the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2001 erations of Penn students music theory, album, Descent/Return, are for solo and 2009. “It isn’t so much a conscious musicianship, and music analysis. voice accompanied by piano. There’s a choice as good fortune,” he adds. Weeks before the country ground to a riskiness and vulnerability in that too, He’s set both poetry and prose over the halt, Primosch enjoyed a fi rst in his ca- Primosch notes, since the singer is alone years, drawing from writers ranging reer: a Penn student ensemble performed at the microphone rather than behind from Walt Whitman to E.E. Cummings, one of his pieces. The Penn Orchestra an instrument or beside fellow choris- along with less familiar names. Today played his “Variations on a Hymn Tune” ters. “There’s also an authority: we’re Primosch keeps a running fi le of poten- at their February 22 concert—and Pri- attending to this particular person at a tial texts to set. “It’s an intuitive, love-at- mosch was on-hand at both a rehearsal moment,” he says. “We’re there to hear fi rst sight kind of thing,” he says. and for the actual performance. what she or he has to say.” With a text selected, “the large-scale Now all the upcoming concert dates Something that both albums share—as form of the piece will be suggested by on his well-tended website carry the do all of Primosch’s vocal pieces, for that the shape—the dramatic arc of the poem same addendum: postponed due to the matter—is reliance on a source text. In or prose,” he says. “The small details, coronavirus crisis. “Of course it’s weird,” 1999, when the Grammy-winning so- too: the rhythm of a melody will be sug- he says of these pandemic-afflicted prano Dawn Upshaw asked Primosch to gested by the accentuation of the text. I times, in which live performance is write a song cycle that she could per- use a naturalistic approach to text-set- thought to be one of the last bits of nor- form, he drew on texts from several writ- ting—I don’t fragment the text, usually, mal life to resume. “But you keep going. ers, including poet Susan Stewart Gr’78 or write against it. What I’m writing is You keep writing. There’s music to be CGS’03, who was then teaching in the springing from the text.” made, one way or another.” English department at Penn. Since then, Some questions he ponders are basic: —Molly Petrilla C’06 all of Primosch’s vocal compositions Do these particular words suggest slow have set others’ words into his music. or fast music? Should this be the loud In that fi rst song cycle for Upshaw, ti- part? But while a text’s dramatic arc tled Holy the Firm, Stewart’s poem “Cin- “may seem like it’s helpful” in compos- DIGITAL + der” supplied the text for what would ing, Primosch says, “you have to satisfy become “kind of my greatest hit,” Pri- musical concerns as well. IPAD mosch says—a vocal piece with piano “Sometimes you hear pieces where the accompaniment that Upshaw brought on music didn’t add anything,” he contin- tour, and that Primosch has since ar- ues. “We could have just had somebody ranged for both choral and chamber en- recite the poem and that would have sembles to perform. In a style that lives been just as interesting as what this somewhere between sultry jazz club tune composer has done with it.” and operatic aria, “Cinder” opens with In the 40 years since he graduated from these words: “We needed fi re to make / Penn, Primosch has had work performed the tongs and tongs to hold us / from the throughout the US and Europe by en- fl ame” and closes with “Tell me, ravaged sembles including the Los Angeles Phil- singer, / how the cinder bears the seed.” harmonic, the Chicago Symphony, and

72 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020

Digigaz_small.indd 1 6/3/20 5:32 PM ALUMNI P.75 P.77 P.80 P.87 From Penn to CNN Rising Through the NBA Alumni Notes Obituaries

Passion and Pain in Puglia An Italian hotelier known for his opulent properties leapt into action when the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged his country.

Illustration by Chris Sharp Jul |Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 73 ALUMNI Aldo Melpignano WG’05 “We think there hen the Italian govern- with a local advisor who rec- into high-end hospitality, and is an opportunity ment announced a na- ommends activities and in- she thought we could do the tionwide lockdown on vites them home for dinner. same.” It is now Masseria San to set up our W March 9, Aldo In April 2019, Maria Pasquale, Domenico, the most exclu- Melpignano WG’05 went a Rome-based food and travel sive property in the SD properties as straight from his home in writer, was surprised to find a Hotels portfolio. remote homes London to Borgo Egnazia, big Apulian celebration rag- When Melpignano was 18, the hotel that he owns in ing at Borgo Egnazia during he put his education on hold for people.” Puglia in the country’s south. her stay. There was street Situated on 250 acres and food, folk music, and artists designed to look like an early making ceramics. “We felt as Renaissance Apulian village, it though we had walked onto a wasn’t a terrible place to shel- film set,” she said. ter in a global pandemic. You The hotels are also known for could get lost wandering the their focus on wellness, offer- stone alleys, secret gardens, ing healthy food, spa treat- and limestone-roofed villas. ments, mindfulness sessions, The hotel grows some of its and exercise programs that are own food, and every day dur- both interesting and innova- ing isolation, he and his family tive—like Apulian folk dance picked vegetables from the classes in 400-year-old olive garden to cook for dinner. groves, or workshops on how But that wasn’t why to laugh more. “We focus on Melpignano was there. getting people to move more, As one of Italy’s leading ho- come together, and be happy,” teliers, he wanted to be on the Melpignano said. “Those are scene to make sure his com- the pillars of longevity.” pany could survive as his ho- Melpignano was fortunate tels were closed. Then he to experience this kind of knew he had to start thinking happiness growing up. For about how to reinvent tour- holidays and summers, he ism for Italy as a whole. “I’ve traveled from Rome to never been this busy, consid- Puglia, where his family ering I’m not making a pen- owned a manor house sur- ny,” he said in early April. rounded by farmland that Melpignano’s five proper- produced olive oil, fruits, and ties—managed by his compa- vegetables. “My cousins and I to help run it. The only mem- ure, he was copresident of the ny SD Hotels—are known for would play along the coast, ber of his family to speak European Club and played their remarkable locations, on the rocks,” he said. “I English, he met with travel hockey and soccer recreation- mainly in Puglia. Masseria San would look for octopus and agents and operators to drum ally. “I didn’t have time to Domenico, for example, is a sea urchins. During harvest up business and recruit staff. study,” he said. “I did well in five-star resort located in a we would press grapes at my After attending City, the classes I liked and survived 15th-century watchtower once grandparents’ house.” University of London’s Cass in everything else.” used by the Knights of Malta. In 1996 his mother decided Business School and working After Penn, he stayed in the Masseria Le Carrube, a small- to turn the house into a luxu- for a few years at an invest- US to work at Morgans Hotel er hotel, is in a farmhouse ry resort. “We weren’t really ment bank, he headed to Group, before moving back with white stone walls. using this big property, and Wharton to get an MBA. He home after his father ac- During their stays, hotel it was a pretty costly place to loved it from the second he vis- quired a plot of land in a pic- guests are encouraged to in- run,” he explained. “She had ited as a prospective student turesque part of Puglia along teract with local people and seen places in Scotland, big and his future classmates took the Adriatic Sea. The family traditions. Visitors are paired castles that were converted him to a pub. During his ten- had opened two more hotels

74 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Photo courtesy SD Hotels Samantha Vinograd C’05

while he was away, one in While his hotels used to at- London and one in Puglia, tract a high-flying crowd but he convinced his dad to from around the world, let him use this plot of land to Melpignano is now focused experiment. “My mom’s hotel on gaining a broader domes- was very specific. It catered to tic audience, at least in the a high-end crowd, but it short term. “I think people wasn’t for families or large will be looking for local expe- groups,” he said. “I thought riences at first,” he said. there was an opportunity to “They will be looking for se- be a bit more contemporary cluded places.” and create a place for people He’s put together long-term looking for action.” packages for families who His vision became Borgo want somewhere else to iso- Egnazia, now SD Hotel’s 185- late for months, not weeks. room flagship property repre- “Because the schools will be senting 80 percent of the closed until September, and company’s business in terms people are comfortable of size and revenue. It opened working from home,” he said, in 2010 and is still innovating “we think there is an oppor- at its 10th anniversary. Next tunity to set up our proper- year the hotel has plans to ties as remote homes for peo- open a school where tradi- ple.” Long-term stays could tional artisans can teach their also help promote more sus- crafts as well as a museum to tainable travel practices: if show off Puglia’s culture. people travel fewer places Before Italy became one of but for longer, they’ll leave a Actionable the countries hardest hit by smaller carbon footprint and the coronavirus outbreak, may become more respectful Intelligence Melpignano was in the pro- of local environments. cess of opening two new He’s also been working Meet the CNN analyst who makes properties, to “compete with with the Italian government the big players.” At least for on how to attract interna- sense of global uncertainty for her now, that’s on the back burn- tional travelers back to Italy viewers and clients. er as he focuses on more in the future. “We are work- pressing concerns. ing on a promotional cam- Since his hotels are well paign and also supporting capitalized, he said he has no travelers who come to Italy amantha Vinograd C’05 got really scary at other plans to close any perma- with tax breaks. It’s all in was just two years out of times. They didn’t have a nently. In fact, he wanted the making.” college when she began great support system for ci- them to open the minute the He doesn’t think it will be Sserving as deputy US vilians, both in terms of pre- Italian government re- too difficult, considering the treasury attaché to Iraq. It paring you before you go as opened the country. Before quarantine shed a light on was 2007, President Bush well as dealing with every- that, he kept full-time em- the beautiful parts of Italy’s had just ordered 20,000 ad- thing associated with losing ployees on standby by paying culture—just as his hotels do. ditional troops to Baghdad, friends and getting rocketed 80 to 100 percent of their sal- “You could see our national and the 24-year-old suddenly multiple times a day.” aries. He also purchased a unity, of people singing to found herself in the middle As daunting as that experi- ventilator and made plans to one another out the window,” of the fray. ence was, it launched set up an emergency room at he said. “We showed our val- “I thought it was all really Vinograd’s entire career. Borgo Egnazia in case of an ues to the entire world.” exciting at the time,” From 2009 to 2013, she immediate medical need. —Alyson Krueger C’07 Vinograd says. “But it also served on President Obama’s

Photo courtesy Samantha Vinograd Jul |Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 75 ALUMNI Early Stage National Security Council as access to classifi ed informa- Meet the four alumni entre- GO Advisors remains a the director for Iraq, director tion because, for the most preneurs who, in response to work in progress, though, be- for international economics, part, they can’t receive classi- cause most of Vinograd’s COVID-19, paused their own and senior advisor to the na- fi ed content at home. time is spent preparing for ventures to mass produce tional security advisor. To prepare for her analyses, her weekly CNN segments, PPE for local hospitals. Most recently, Vinograd Vinograd sticks to a daily while her business partner is Visit thepenngazette.com/ has been a national security routine of consuming infor- consumed with her duties in analyst for CNN, off ering mation from a broad range of shielding-the-frontlines to the State Department. what she calls “glimpses of trusted sources—from jour- read their story. “One of the things I miss the kind of intelligence as- nalists to politicians to vari- about having my best friend in sessments that are likely to ous think tanks. “I’m also the administration,” Vinograd come across the desk of the paying close attention to says, “is that I don’t get to hear President of the United what’s happening with the the more right-of-center views States.” In her TV appearanc- presidential race,” she says, on particular issues from her.” es and online columns, “while at the same time keep- What little free time Vinograd dissects the typical ing in mind that there’s a Vinograd does have is mostly whole world out there during devoted to social impact work this coronavirus outbreak. Treasury Department, which with a focus on children. As a “Even though “So my weekly segment for landed her in Iraq. Jewish kid in France during coronavirus is CNN has also included Afghan- Vinograd later worked with World War II, her father sur- istan, Iraq, Iran, and North Ko- Goldman Sachs on building vived the Holocaust, “and as I super-important, rea—because even though public-private sector part- thought about what issues coronavirus is super-impor- nerships across a broad matter to me, I was just really it’s not the only tant, it’s not the only thing range of policy and business drawn to child refugee issues.” thing shaping the shaping the world right now.” issues, and at Stripe, a tech Currently she’s an advisor Vinograd’s interest in glob- company in the payment to the Next Generation board world right now.” al issues goes back to her fi rst processor industry, where of the US Holocaust Museum, year in college. She was in she led global public policy. a board member for the Para- threats from well-known the middle of her Penn orien- In 2018, Vinograd cofound- dise Fund (a disaster relief or- American adversaries, as tation when the September ed Global Opportunity (GO) ganization), and an advisor well as some that might not 11 attacks happened. “I im- Advisors to provide consult- for Friends of the American be as apparent to those with- mediately decided I wanted ing services on geopolitical University of Afghanistan, out the relevant expertise— to study the Middle East af- risk, policy, and regulatory World of Children, Concordia like the ramifi cations of the ter that,” she says. “And Penn changes for corporations and Summit, and UNICEF. COVID-19 pandemic crisis is really the reason I am other organizations. Vinograd fi nds that now that for national security. where I am today.” She started GO Advisors she has a much bigger plat- In a mid-April column for Most of her studies fo- with her best friend, Morgan form, sharing information and cnn.com, Vinograd noted cused on “historical and re- Ortagus, who is currently getting people to pay attention that while the US govern- ligious” aspects of the serving in the Trump admin- to a cause is a great way to help ment has been scrambling to Middle East, but the “Penn istration as spokesperson for the organizations she supports. protect its personnel from community really supported the State Department. Yet of all of the things the pandemic, there is no me in trying to learn more “Morgan and I met in Vinograd has accomplished, “pause button” for threats about current events.” Baghdad in 2007,” Vinograd she’s most proud of her work in posed by Russia, China, After graduating with a de- says. “She’s a Republican, I’m government. And she’s “deeply North Korea, and others. So gree in Asian and Middle a Democrat, and the goal was hopeful that I will be back in while restricting the number Eastern Studies, she got her to bring a bipartisan lens to government sooner rather of people who physically master’s in Security Studies the issues—everything from than later—hopefully in 2021. show up to work may reduce from Georgetown while in- election security to trying to “But,” she adds, “I just do health risks, it also means terning at the US State make sense of national secu- what I love, and it has always that national security per- Department. From there, she rity events that factor into led somewhere really inter- sonnel don’t have the same was recruited to work at the business planning.” esting.” —Steve Neumann

76 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Taylor Jenkins W’07

track to follow his heart in ways in the gym, but they coaching—a conversation lacked an organized league. that landed Jenkins an assis- So Impink started one, and tant coaching gig with the Jenkins latched on to help. club’s developmental league From the start, Impink and affiliate in Austin, at the hip company decided that the of Quin Snyder (now the league would be serious. head coach of the Utah Jazz). Students from ages nine to 13, It wouldn’t be the last un- boys and girls, were drafted conventional turn in Jenkins’ into eight teams. Each squad road to becoming the second- had one practice per week youngest head coach in the and played games during a NBA, hired last year by the Saturday quadruple-header. Memphis Grizzlies after as- They had jerseys and playoffs, sistant coaching stints with scoreboards and uniformed the Atlanta Hawks and referees. Jenkins and the oth- Milwaukee Bucks. er coaches wore suits on the Whereas many NBA coach- sidelines, diagramming plays es claim professional playing on whiteboards and taping experience and almost all games for film study. played at least college bas- “We thought, ‘Hey if we’re ketball, the 35-year-old going to put on a league as a Jenkins is the only one who bunch of college kids, we lists “Penn Intramural” in need to make it look as pro- that column of his résumé. fessional and serious as pos- Yet his most formative bas- sible, so the kids take it seri- Grizzly Cub ketball experience came else- ously,’” Impink says. where at Penn. He and his It worked for five years, A student project in West Philly and friends ran a league for kids even after Impink and a timely internship helped launch at Sayre High School, at 58th Jenkins graduated, and and Walnut streets, called Impink remains in contact an NBA head coaching career. the Penn-West Philadelphia with players from the league. Basketball League (PWBL). Some, like Joel Culbreath, “When I think back to it and who went on to get two de- he neared the end of tle, Jenkins felt like his call- people ask about my college grees in social work from his first job after col- ing might be on the bench in- experiences, the friends, the Temple, returned to coach in lege, Taylor Jenkins stead of an executive suite. education, the curriculum, it. “It was inspiring,” As W’07 could see his fu- “That love of coaching just the degree, I say that the true Culbreath says. “They were ture paths diverging. kept building up inside, and No. 1 highlight was working passionate about every single He had spent the summers my skin would crawl when I at PWBL,” Jenkins says. game. They were passionate before and after graduation was watching Coach Pop run “Some of my best friends were about coaching.” interning in the front office of practices,” Jenkins says. “The there. I didn’t join a fraternity, The league went beyond the San Antonio Spurs, sitting hairs would stand up. I was so my fraternity life and expe- basketball. PWBL offered tu- in on trade talks and draft like, Man this is awesome, I rience were with all the mem- toring and homework help, war rooms with a staff that want to be on the floor sweat- bers of the PWBL.” and Jenkins recalls trips would spawn nearly a half- ing with the guys.” The idea germinated from from Sayre to Penn’s campus dozen NBA general managers. So when his internship a core group of intramural to show kids college life, from But after watching legend- ended, Jenkins approached teammates. Matt Impink the dining halls to the dorms. ary head coach Gregg Popov- Spurs general manager R. C. C’07 GEd’09 ran open gyms The Penn students got to ich work practices and lead Buford and asked if he could at Sayre when he noticed a know members of the West the Spurs to the 2007 NBA ti- divert from the executive problem: the kids were al- Philly community, especially

NBAE via Getty Images Jul |Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 77 ALUMNI

family members who filled “incredible work ethic, atten- traveling staff after morning While the basketball con- the gym on weekends. tion to detail, and feel for the shootaround. cepts have certainly evolved “We knew the impact that game.” In an interview with Jenkins had previously from when he was a 20-year- our experience in the PWBL NBA.com, Popovich, still with drawn praise as Budenholzer’s old in a suit in West Philly, had on us,” Jenkins says, “so we the Spurs, praised Jenkins’ assistant in Atlanta for five the PWBL remains an im- wanted to return that, not just “ability to deal with people seasons and then one year in portant touchstone in his on the court but show them and create relationships.” Milwaukee, where he helped journey. Snyder, one of his some life experiences as well.” Jenkins’ emphasis on rela- Giannis Antetokounmpo be- best friends and mentors in The experience unlocked tionships is the through line come the NBA MVP. the business, has made sure something within Jenkins. that tracks from 58th and Memphis brought in Jenkins he’ll never forget that. Deep down, he felt called to Walnut to Beale Street. While to oversee a multiyear rebuild “I sat down with Coach teaching, figuring it would front-office executives often around No. 2 draft pick Ja Mo- Snyder and asked him if I come later in life as a second tend to distill players to mea- rant, but the young coach has could be an assistant with career. His embrace of the surable characteristics, the Grizz ahead of schedule. him [in Austin], after my PWBL squares with how NBA Jenkins favors a more per- When the NBA season was front-office internships,” colleagues now describe him: sonal touch, a pillar of suspended on March 11 due to Jenkins recalls. “He basically someone with boundless en- Popovich’s philosophy. It the coronavirus outbreak, said, ‘Don’t ever discount the thusiasm who focuses on showed during the Grizzlies’ Memphis was the surprise oc- experience you had coaching teaching and relationships. February stop in Philly to cupant of the final playoff spot 10- to 13-year-olds. The Milwaukee Bucks head play the 76ers, not just in a in the Western Conference. teaching that you did is valu- coach Mike Budenholzer told staff outing to Dalessandro’s Jenkins was named the West’s able and makes a difference, USA Today Network he’ll be for cheesesteaks, but in a Coach of the Month in Janu- and it’s something that’s re- “forever, ever grateful” to his group singalong of “Happy ary, the youngest to win the quired of all us coaches.’” former assistant coach for his Birthday” to a member of the award in 15 years. —Matthew De George

78 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Buy Covers half page.indd 1 6/9/20 10:14 AM Portland

The Penn Club of Portland actively engages nearly 300 Penn alumni, reaching not only the immediate Portland metropolitan area but across southern Washington and the state of Oregon. Though we may be smaller in size, we have a wonderfully active community partaking in a variety of ex- periences and connection opportunities throughout the year. We love to gather for some of our favorite Penn celebrations such as Ben Franklin’s birthday, First September happy hours, and of course the pinnacle event of the year—our New Student CC MICHAEL DUNN Summer Send-Off Picnic. In between these cornerstone events, we off er club members the chance to engage in giving back to the Portland metro community with volunteer opportunities such as sorting goods at the Oregon Food Bank and assisting in forest trail clean-ups. We also get together for quintes- sential Portland fun, spending time socializing at the best breweries in town, uniting for family-friendly fun at the bowling alley, attending our very own club members’ comedy shows, and coming together to root on our beloved Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center. We also provide educational occasions such as local and Univer- sity-assisted speaker series and luncheons; some of our favorites having been the honor to host The Power of Penn as well as Univer- sity Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli these last two years. Our club is active on Facebook (Penn Club of Portland) and we welcome all those who are interested in getting more involved. We are always seeking additional engagement on our volunteer board, whether it be helping to drive event planning, social media and web support, or general club leadership opportunities. If you’re interest- ed please reach out to [email protected]. ALUMNI Notes Events

“I hope the country can UTAH The Penn Club of Utah is proud to cohost return to normal health and the 9th annual Penn Wharton Sundance Schmooze, a gathering of entertainment economics soon, maybe by industry professionals and friends of film, at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. This complimentary the time this is printed.” event features a panel discussion with —Dr. Claude Springer D’54 noted alumni in the industry, moderated by Penn Cinema Studies Professor Peter Decherney, followed by a catered cocktail party. Cohosted by Penn Film and Media / Sat on a bench / Near the glistening lake / Pioneers, Penntertainment, the Penn/ 1942 Enjoy whirling sounds / The crows do make Wharton Club of Los Angeles, PennNYC, Howard C. Story Jr. W’42 turned 100 / We’ve retreated / To our homes / Read and and the Penn Club of Westchester and years old on April 1. To the newly admitted cook and / Use the phone / Recall the apoca- Rockland Counties, the event will take Class of 2024, he writes, “I hope your memo- lyptic / Books we’ve read / That was fantasy place the weekend of January 23, 2021, ries of Penn are as precious to you when you / Now it’s real instead / We’re all in / For a with exact details forthcoming. For are my age. Congratulations! Hurrah, hurrah, bumpy ride / It’s the black hole / On the un- updates, follow our website dear Pennsylvania!” known side / Sometimes I recall / A Biblical (bit.ly/PennUtah) or email Jesse Tendler psalm / To raise my spirits / And stay calm / EAS’03 W’03 at [email protected]. I can write a poem / Release my heart / Drop VIRTUAL paint on my palette / Create some art / Peer 1950 In light of ongoing global health concerns, Dr. George Kurz C’50 M’54 GM’55, a re- at the sky / Where the sun still shines / Pray visit www.alumni.upenn.edu/clubs to find tired ophthalmologist, has written Something this virus retreats / And the world is fine.” the latest information on Regional Club in Return: Memoirs of a Life in Medicine. As events in your area. And be sure to check described in the press release, the book “re- out www.alumni.upenn.edu/govirtual for counts vignettes from his 37 years in ophthal- 1954 an abundance of virtual events and mology. Some are surprising or humorous Dr. Claude Springer D’54 writes, “I retired digital resources available for alumni. while others are inspiring, and a few are tragic.” from my general dental practice in Little Neck, New York, 25 years ago and am now 90 and thankfully in good health—I walk 25 minutes nationwide conspiracy to curtail Jewish stu- 1952 every day and lift weights twice a week. My wife dents from entering the dental profession. It Dr. Herbert Kean C’52 writes, “My grand- died 14 years ago, and I now have a lady friend. identifies the perpetrators and those who son Joseph Kean enrolled in the College, I have four children and five grandchildren, enabled them.” Perry received Emory Univer- Class of 2023. He is the seventh of the Kean play bridge during normal times, sing in a cho- sity’s Maker of History Award for exposing family to enroll within the last 100 years. He rus, and attend a writing class. I have written religious discrimination at Emory’s dental joins his sister Jeannette Kean, Class of 2021.” 2–3,000 poems, some published. I hope the school where 65 percent of the Jewish stu- country can return to normal health and eco- dents were failed over a 10-year period. He nomics soon, maybe by the time this is printed.” received the Anti-Defamation League Centen- 1953 nial Award “for the courage to speak up, the Shirley Magitson Grallnick Ed’53 shares perseverance to make a difference, the com- this poem she wrote, titled “Social Distanc- 1960 mitment to building a world without hate.” ing”: “Read the Daily News / But it creates Dr. S. Perry Brickman GD’60 writes, “I’m the Blues / The radio—not great fare / Full of pleased to announce the publication of my medical despair / Left the house / To take a new book, Extracted: Rampant Antisemitism 1965 walk / See some folks / And get some talk / in America’s Higher Education. Described as Barry Moore GAr’65 writes, “I have been Communicate—at a distance / Put up no re- ‘equal parts autobiography and the sleuthing honored by the University of Houston’s Ger- sistance / It’s still a fact / The need to interact of a history detective,’ Extracted exposes a ald D. Hines College of Architecture by the

80 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 We Want to Hear from You creation of the Barry Moore Endowed Profes- reached adulthood. They have clear moral EMAIL [email protected] sorship in Historic Preservation. In my 24- compasses, communicate well with others, Please include your school and year, along year engagement as an adjunct professor, I support themselves in these turbulent times, with your address and a daytime telephone started the preservation studies program and and have not been drawn into the black hole number. We include email addresses only was proud to see the work of my students in of drugs, alcohol, or crime. And their children when requested or obviously implied. Texas and Mexico recognized locally, state- seem to be on that course as well. So the joy of Please note, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gazette offices are closed until further wide, and nationally by the profession.” my life comes somewhat from my education notice and we cannot retrieve postal mail Rick Williams C’65 writes, “I live outside but mostly by learning from others, belonging at this time. of Boston and am using my ‘at home time’ to to a wonderful family, and by having friends DEADLINES 7/15 for the Sep|Oct issue; finish a book, entitled Create the Future—For whom I care for and who care for me.” 9/15 for Nov|Dec; 11/15 for Jan|Feb; 1/15 Your Company and Yourself. The book is a Dr. Marc Rosenberg C’67 V’71 shares this for Mar|Apr; 3/15 for May|Jun; and 5/15 how-to field guide for leaders who want to commentary that he wrote before the COV- for Jul|Aug. think creatively about where to take their or- ID-19 pandemic erupted: “I can’t believe that ganizations. It will have leadership team ex- after all these many decades I still don’t un- Len Gaffga WG’70 has written a new ercises to define the problem, create solutions, derstand how to say hello to my friends. When book, Following on Seas of Glory. This Navy and choose the future. The book builds on my I was a kid, ‘Hey, how you doin’?’ was my military memoir recounts his family’s mari- experiences as a management consultant and greeting. As a teen, a high-five was often add- time background spanning generations, from company founder, and I am hoping to bring ed. As a middle-aged adult, I gave my male his grandfather’s 1901 invention and patent the planning and decision-making tools used friends a firm handshake and female friends of a marine engine to his son’s current uni- by strategy consulting firms to companies who a two-handed shake and an occasional peck formed service. must rely on their own resources. I expect the on the cheek. Now, as a member of the senior book to be published in the fall.” set, I have to steel myself for the upcoming greetings. The women approach with a hug 1971 and a small kiss. Not wanting to be standoff- Marian Sandmaier CW’71 has won a 2020 1967 ish, I reciprocate. But at that moment all I can Writing Award in the category of First-Person Evelynn Snyder Caterson CW’67, an think of is the fear of my hands hugging too Essays from the American Society of Journal- attorney, has been reappointed to her fourth low, too high, or god forbid not hugging at all. ists and Authors. Marian writes, “It’s a particu- term as commissioner on the Atlantic Coun- No sooner have I regained my personal space lar pleasure to share the news here, because ty (NJ) Board of Elections. She was also re- than one of my guy friends approaches with the article that won the award, ‘Still Life with elected as chair of the board, a position she an outstretched hand, quickly pulling me in Dick Van Dyke,’ was published right here in the has held since 2015. for a short tap on his chest. For guys like me, Pennsylvania Gazette [May|Jun 2019]. The David Kaplan C’67 writes, “I’m in my 49th who really don’t like to be touched (except by piece explores my experience getting, and then year of medical practice, and life continues to my wife and children), there is perpetual conducting, an interview with the actor back be good and meaningful. During my career, greeting anxiety. I like and respect my friends. in 1974, when I was a very shy, 26-year-old I’ve worked in primary care, with group homes I know they would understand that—even if writer and terrified to meet him. He turned out for autistic adults, multiple handicapped folk, I didn’t hug, kiss, and chest-thump them. This to be even shier than me, and I ended up learn- geriatric patients, and drug addicts. There have way personal space stays intact, health and ing something from him about busting through been some dark sides in my life, as well—poor hygiene are reinforced, and a truly affection- self-limiting personal beliefs.” decision-making, faulty judgment, and a rath- ate verbal exchange can be appreciated. So, if Stephen Tocknell C’71 has been named to er nasty cancer from which I’ve recovered. But you are out and about and you see me, ‘Hey, the College of Fellows of the American Insti- what an honor it has been to be allowed to do Marc how you doin’?’ are the words that re- tute of Certified Planners (AICP), the highest this work. I’ve received so much from practic- ally warm my heart.” honor of AICP, given to urban and regional ing medicine—mostly from being a stranger planners who have provided outstanding con- invited into the intimacy of people’s lives, the tributions to their profession. Stephen has satisfaction of being able to successfully treat 1970 written extensively about traffic sheds, an -in people, and the ability to have a positive impact Ronald H. Bayor Gr’70, professor emeritus novative growth management tool for rural in the lives of others. This is quite humbling. of history at Georgia Tech, has been presented and exurban areas facing high levels of unan- It has been especially satisfying to know the with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ticipated new development, and he worked to many elderly people whom I treat and from Immigration and Ethnic History Society for his secure dedicated funding for new bicycle and whom I continue to learn. Additionally, I’ve intellectual influence and leadership in the pedestrian facilities in Jacksonville, Florida. had the joy of five children who have now field of immigration and ethnic history. Coming from a long line of Quakers, he is the

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 81 ALUMNI Notes

father of Cathleen Tocknell C’05, son of fessional Engineers. He writes, “I recently pur- the mountain on South Georgia Island, I was Elizabeth Kochersperger Tocknell chased a house in the Raleigh, North Carolina, honored by being asked to read associated CCC’40, and grandson of Stephen Morris area and will be moving there soon with my passages from his journal, describing looking Kochersperger C1894. Stephen also serves wife, Nancy Carlisle Henry W’75.” out from the pinnacle over the Greenlandic on the board of the First Coast Penn Alumni Hazel Ann Lee CW’73 has published The whaling station at Stromness Harbour. Cer- Club, and he is past chair and current member Astronaut’s Window: Collection of Poems and tainly, a voyage of a lifetime. On more mun- of its alumni interview committee. Short Stories Celebrating Nature. In the dane topics, I have been busy during these book’s preface, Hazel writes, “When I was 10 dystopian times, working on COVID-19 stud- years old, I watched the historic event of as- ies, publishing on bioethics issues, and col- 1972 tronaut John Glenn traveling into outer laborating on numerous projects focused on Robert Goldman W’72 writes, “Facing space in the Friendship 7 spacecraft. I saw improving the research and development COVID-19 and after a nine-year engagement, this momentous occurrence on my family’s process to bring new medicines, vaccines, and Miriam Alfonso and I got married at the old black-and-white RCA television set. Prior diagnostics to patients in need.” Marin County (CA) Clerk’s office on March 4. to this experience, I was always fascinated Gary L. Greenberg C’75 was recently fea- She has legally changed her last name to mine; by science and scientists. I especially enjoyed tured in the Chambers USA 2020 Guide, a we are now Robert and Miriam Goldman. And learning about animals, nature, and how publication ranking the leading lawyers and her daughter Evelyn is changing her name, scientists heal people. The Astronaut’s Win- law firms across the US. Gary is a principal in too. Evey grew up with me and my daughters dow is a book I wrote to acknowledge contri- the Cincinnati office of Jackson Lewis PC, spe- Becca and Lily, so I now have three daughters butions of astronauts and scientists to hu- cializing in workplace legal issues. in their 20s. The ceremony was attended by manity and the world.” Nancy Carlisle Henry W’75 see Robert the county clerk (presiding), our accountant, Henry CE’73 GCE’74 Gr’80. our lawyer, and a psychiatrist (friend). Beauti- Dr. Peter Kowey M’75 is a retired chief of ful location, a Frank Lloyd Wright building. 1974 cardiology at Lankenau Hospital and author We wanted to demonstrate our commitment Tim Smith C’74 of Richmond, Virginia, of five mystery novels. His latest is Death by to the world while we still can.” writes, “This March, our family partnered to Your Own Device. Peter is currently the Wil- Randy Abramson Steiner CW’72 writes, build a new ‘Opportunity Zone’ mid-rise hous- liam Wikoff Smith Chair in Cardiovascular “In mid-February I received thrilling news ing project overlooking the historic James Research at Lankenau Hospital and Medical that my submittal to become a fellow in the River. My entrepreneurial son, Tyler, a Vander- Research Center, and also Professor of Medi- American Institute of Architects was ap- bilt and Stanford alum, held the ceremonial cine and Clinical Pharmacology at Jefferson proved! I am one of the two architects in shovel with me. Tyler planted one foot in real Medical College. He writes, “I live with my Maryland to receive the honor and the first estate, and very wisely, has another foot in the wife, Dorothy Freal Kowey CW’71, in Bryn professor/chairperson of an architecture pro- healthcare business. Would love to hear from Mawr, and we have three daughters, all at- gram in a community college (Montgomery my classmates.” Tim’s email address is timo- torneys—Susan Kealy, Jaime Shean, and Ol- College in Maryland) to receive the award. I [email protected]. ivia Kowey—and six grandchildren.” created a nonprofit organization, the Coalition Gretchen L. Temeles CW’74 has been pro- of Community College Architecture Programs, moted to special counsel at Duane Morris LLP in 2012. Our mission is to share/promote our in the Intellectual Property Practice Group. 1976 150+ programs, to establish transfer relation- Dr. Robert M. Fleisher GD’76 writes, “I’m ships with accredited schools of architecture happy to announce the publication of my new and to expand the equity and diversity within 1975 thriller novel, The American Strangler, by Black our profession. I am proud of my start at Penn Art Gertel C’75 writes, “I noted in the Rose Writing. The title has a dual meaning: the and my urban planning class with Edmond May|Jun issue of the Pennsylvania Gazette, legal system is strangling America, and now a Bacon but especially proud to be a woman that my freshman-year roommate, Brad Bor- serial killer is strangling the legal system. We architect who pushed the envelope and is kan C’75 G’79, recently visited Antarctica. all know how lots of people have disdain for working to still ‘widen the pathway.’” Coincidentally—and this is not the first for the lawyers, especially if they have ever been sued. two of us, having found ourselves at a confer- Even William Shakespeare had something to ence in Oslo, Norway, after more than 40 years say about the legal profession: ‘The first thing 1973 of no contact—I also visited the White Conti- we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.’ (Dick the Butch- Robert Henry CE’73 GCE’74 Gr’80 was nent (my seventh) in March. I, too, gave an er, Henry VI, Part 2, Act IV, Scene 2.) Ron Rel- named Engineer of the Year in New Hampshire onboard lecture on Shackleton’s ghostwriter lick loses everything, including his sanity, to a for 2020 by the New Hampshire Society of Pro- and, on a hike retracing Shackleton’s trek over malpractice claim and goes homicidal, becom-

82 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 ing the hunter to avenge what he sees as the wards Sustainability and The East West Arc: scales of justice fractured and out of balance. Re-thinking Growth in the London Region. In 1980 Get inside the mind of a good man turned vio- addition, I have produced numerous articles, Hon. Marc H. Morial C’80, president of lent. See how the evil of corrupt lawyers leads book chapters, and conference keynotes since the National Urban League, the nation’s largest to unforgiving vengeance.” Robert is a lifetime arriving in London.” historic civil rights and urban advocacy orga- member of International Thriller Writers and nization, has published his second book, The is currently working on his next novel. Gumbo Coalition: 10 Leadership Lessons That Michael P. Malloy L’76 helped organize 1978 Help You Inspire, Unite, and Achieve. He writes, and cohost the 7th Annual International Con- Marjorie Harness Goodwin Gr’78 writes, “Published by Harper Collins, it contains les- ference on Business, Law, and Economics, “In November 2019, at the American Anthro- sons from my career as an entrepreneur, law- sponsored by the Athens Institute for Educa- pological Association annual meeting, the Ed- yer, legislator, mayor, and civil rights activist.” tion and Research, held virtually from May 4 ward Sapir book prize was awarded to Co- Marc was recently a visiting fellow at the Uni- to 5. He writes, “I offered welcoming remarks Operative Action, a book by my late partner, versity’s Robert A. Fox Leadership Program. and participated in online discussions of sev- Charles Goodwin Gr’77. The Sapir prize eral paper presentations. Selected papers will (offered biennially) recognizes a book that be published by the Athens Institute in an makes the most significant contribution to our 1982 anthology I am editing. Later, on May 13, I understanding of language in society. At the Mark Banash C’82 writes, “I thought I attended a virtual session of the steering com- heart of the book is ‘an integrated vision of would take time while I had the time to let my mittee of the UN Housing 2030 Initiative, human capacities in their full linguistic, social, Penn friends know that I have celebrated my based at the UN offices in Geneva. The com- material, biological, cognitive, and historical first year running my own nanotechnology con- mittee is in the planning stages of a study on intertwining, which sits at the root of anthro- sultancy, Neotericon. I really enjoy being able to housing affordability. As one of the principal pology’s original, radical vision of what it is to focus on the scientific and technical issues with drafters of the newly revised Policy Frame- be human’ (pp 477–78). The celebration was nanomaterials as well as having the time to write work for Sustainable Real Estate Markets, I bittersweet, since Charles passed away shortly the odd patent application or two. While it is was invited to participate as a member of the after the official release of his book in March always challenging to look for the next client as Real Estate Markets Advisory Group of the 2018. I accepted the prize on his behalf. The well as to look for investor money to develop UN Economic Commission for Europe. Also absolute joy that Chuck Goodwin took in ex- those patents, I would not want to go back to my this year, Wolters Kluwer published the third changing ideas with colleagues was evident in former corporate management position, attend- of five supplements for my three-volume trea- a short video clip filmed at a surprise party for ing weekly executive team meetings and writing tise Banking Law and Regulation.” him a month before his death and shown at the performance reviews. I am instead able to do meeting. The video vividly showed him thank- what my Penn faculty mentor, chemistry profes- ing his colleagues for ‘a lifetime of shared love sor Eugene Nixon, taught me to do—sit at my 1977 of thinking about human interaction and data desk in my office and write out my ideas long- Michael Neuman ChE’77 GCP’86 GFA’86 and that leading to my warmest friends who hand with a good fountain pen in a real lab writes, “In January 2017, I was appointed pro- share my deepest feelings with me.’” notebook. It makes you think.” fessor of sustainable urbanism at the Univer- sity of Westminster in London. It’s a pleasure to announce my new book, Engendering Cities: 1979 1983 Designing Sustainable Urban Spaces for All, Thomas Connell L’79 writes, “I spent my Marcia Geller Sawyer C’83 and Sandy published by Routledge and coedited with Inés entire legal career litigating, arbitrating, and Mayer C’83 have cowritten Betsy’s Philadelphia Sánchez de Madariaga, professor and UNESCO mediating cases at WilmerHale (and its pre- Adventure: From the Betsy Ross House to the chair of gender equality policies at the Poly- decessor firm) in Washington, DC, and in University of Pennsylvania. Marcia writes, “The technic University of Madrid and currently London, England. Since retiring in 2012, I’ve book features the University of Pennsylvania, visiting professor at UCLA. Soon to be pub- travelled the world, often on foot for great popular Philly food, activities, and tourist desti- lished is another book, The Routledge Hand- distances. After trekking 1,100 miles on two nations. We teamed up with the Penn Bookstore book of Regional Design, which I edited with ancient pilgrimage routes in northern Spain, to arrange a book signing event during Alumni Wil Zonneveld, and which has many contribu- I published a comprehensive journal/photo Weekend, but, understandably, that was post- tions from current and former Penn faculty. My book, called Shadow of a Pilgrim: An Apos- poned. You may still order the book or its com- research team and I have just completed two tate Walks Two Caminos in Spain. It is avail- panion coloring/activity book on Amazon if you research projects, with reports titled London able on Amazon and is described in detail at need a ‘dose’ of Penn, a special graduation pres- Soundings: London Creative Communities To- www.shadowofapilgrim.com.” ent, or an all-occasion gift. Enjoy and be well!”

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 83 ALUMNI Notes

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine 1984 and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. 1990 Larry Lebowitz C’84 is an immigration Dr. Christopher A. Troianos GM’90, pro- lawyer and shareholder with the Pittsburgh fessor and chair of the Anesthesiology Insti- law firm of Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, where 1988 tute at the Cleveland Clinic, delivered the he has worked for 33 years. He is also a pro- Joe Leibrandt C’88 writes, “My spouse and Arthur E. Weyman keynote lecture at the fessor of practice at the University of Pitts- I are developing a refrigerator that will allow Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists’ burgh School of Law, where he teaches im- craft beer enthusiasts to store and age their (SCA) Echo Week Conference on February 20 migration law and other classes. He writes, beer under ideal conditions. We have patented in Atlanta. The selected lecturer of this series “My wife, Lynn, and I have three children: our technology and are now pursuing licensing “must have demonstrated sustained excel- one in New York, one in Pittsburgh, and the agreements with refrigerator manufacturers. lence in echocardiography or cardiovascular other at UW Madison. I get together with my I invite alumni contact at josephleibrandt@ ultrasound, and be a widely recognized indi- 312 South 40th Street buddies at least once alumni.upenn.edu. Drink a craft beer and be vidual whose career has served to promote a year, and we just celebrated our 35-year jolly. Here’s a toast to dear old Penn!” and improve the field of perioperative echo- reunion last summer with a weekend of golf.” cardiography.” Christopher’s lecture was Frank Luntz C’84 see Lisa Nass Gra- entitled “Celebrating Our Past and Securing belle C’93 L’96 and Kiera Reilly C’93. 1989 Our Future.” He is the immediate past-pres- Vicki Rothbardt Oswald GEd’89 writes, ident of the SCA. “I have been scouring the Gazettes, looking for 1986 any news from my START cohorts, GSE, in the John K. Fiorillo W’86 is a commercial semester that began in September of 1988. 1991 litigator at Unruh Turner Burke and Frees, Nothing in 20 years! Lisa, Maria Lee, Ralph, Dr. Mikkael A. Sekeres C’91 GM’96 whose practice is focused on creditor’s rights, Andrea, Anne, Silvijia, Stephanie, Robin, An- M’96 has written When Blood Breaks Down: business litigation, and real estate tax assess- gie, Chris, Jennifer, Christine, Richard, Mary Life Lessons from Leukemia. From the book’s ments. John was interviewed on how the as- Lu, Sharon, Delia, Penny, and Tuesday! Where press materials: “He tells the compelling sto- sessment process works on a new TV show on are you and what are you doing in life? I will ries of three people who receive diagnoses of MLTV-Main Line Network, Legal Talk with start with myself. I have been retired from adult leukemia within hours of each other. ... Stacy Clark. John discussed key deadlines, key working life for about 12 years. I turned 63 in We join the intimacy of the conversations paperwork, and how the entire real estate tax May. I live in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, in a Sekeres has with his patients and watch as assessment process works. The show can be 100-year-old house with my husband of al- he teaches trainees. Along the way, Sekeres viewed at youtu.be/CgDoZAaC5-o. most 30 years. I taught for 10 years in inner- also explores leukemia in its different forms Rod J. Rosenstein W’86 writes, “After city Philadelphia. I had to quit from the vio- and the development of drugs to treat it.” serving in the United States Department of lence and the horrible relationships with Justice for almost three decades, I joined unsupportive administrators. I am still in King & Spalding, one of the nation’s oldest touch with four former students. My three- 1992 and largest law firms, as a partner based in year-old is now 35. He has a one-year old and Elizabeth Alexander Gr’92, an essayist, Washington, DC. You can find me at www. I am Nana! I got certified in Swedish massage poet, and president of the Andrew W. Mellon kslaw.com. My practice focuses on helping therapy, and studied psychoanalysis and coun- Foundation, has been elected into the Amer- clients resolve complex regulatory and litiga- seling at Arcadia. Dystonia ended that. I was ican Philosophical Society. tion challenges, including government inves- diagnosed bipolar I in 1985. Lithium allowed Gregory Ulmer C’92, a partner at Baker- tigations, crisis management, internal inves- me to have a normal life until I developed dry Hostetler, has been elected to the firm’s policy tigations, national security, compliance, and eye, blepharitis, and chronic kidney disease committee, which is its governing body. Greg monitoring. My wife, Lisa, and I have two (CKD). The CKD came as a result of not cut- also leads the firm’s national product liability daughters, a college sophomore and a high ting back on the lithium years ago. Sounds and toxic tort team. He works out of Baker- school senior.” bad but I’m OK. Working on a memoir, and I Hostetler’s Houston office as a trial lawyer, have a collection of poems I’d like to publish. and his practice consists of civil defense litiga- Had a few meals with Ryda and went to Jim tion with an emphasis on defending products, 1987 Larkin’s funeral. I have a few choice words product manufacturers and distributors, as Raymond Pitetti EAS’87 has been ap- about my experiences at Penn. My email ad- well as premises owners, in areas of product pointed director of pediatric emergency medi- dress is [email protected]. I would liability, premise liability, wrongful death, cine in the Department of Pediatrics at the love to hear from my former GSE classmates!” catastrophic injury, and toxic exposure.

84 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 ALUMNI IN BUSINESS A guide for Gazette readers seeking to reach Nancy Yang W’92 see Angela Duck- Frank Caccuro EAS’93 GEng’96 WMP’99, the business services of Penn graduates. worth G’03 Gr’06. Bill Knapp C’93, Mark Sullivan C’93, Jon- athan Mayo C’93, Josh Astrof C’93 W’93, Andy Roth C’93, Doug Glanville EAS’93, 1993 Jef Pollock C’93, and Frank Luntz C’84 for Jeff Blander W’93 has coauthored a chil- being a guest speaker or cohosting one of our dren’s picture book, Maisha and the Rainbow sessions. We have found the silver lining in Tree. He was recently interviewed about it for staying at home during a pandemic, and it is a segment on his local ABC News channel, connecting with the awesome Class of 1993!” which can be viewed at bit.ly/2ZimfaG. He Chrissy Bass Hofbeck C’93 writes, “My writes, “It is a project I have been working on motivational business book, Winning Condi- with my daughter, her friends, and neighbors tions: How to Achieve the Professional Success for Earth Day. Catalyzed by actual events— You Deserve by Managing the Details That when a group of friends staged a protest at a Matter, will be published in September by New York Real Estate Expert six-year old’s birthday party to prevent a tree Viva Editions/Simon & Schuster, and it is Buying • Selling • Renting from being taken down—the journey to com- available now for preorder everywhere books plete this book has been magical. Personally, it are sold. It’s about becoming extraordinary by Jane F. Katz Licensed Real Estate Salesperson has provided closure and is a full circle moment delivering your work and ideas in a winning m 917.887.5309 | o 212.360.2288 with my mom, who went to heaven when I was way. I write about our Penn days in the intro- [email protected] a young boy. She had started but never finished duction—including how carrying the Penn 1226 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10128 a beloved children’s book project for me. Com- flag at our graduation kicked off a lifetime of pleting a similar project many years later with exploration about winning conditions. I’d love my daughter is truly extraordinary and a heal- you to give it a read!” In 2017, Christine com- ing experience. At a time when it can be very peted on the television show Survivor. For advertising information, contact Linda Caiazzo at [email protected] difficult to find the rainbows amongst the many Nancy Oliver C’93 was recently featured in storm clouds, I hope that this project can bring the Chambers USA 2020 Guide, a publication 215-898-6811; Fax: 215-573-4812 some joy, kindness, and smiles to others.” ranking lawyers and law firms across the US. Lisa Nass Grabelle C’93 L’96 and Kiera Nancy is an associate in the Portsmouth, New Jacqueline Berkell Friedland C’99 L’00 Reilly C’93 write, “We’d like to thank our won- Hampshire, office of Jackson Lewis PC. She rep- released her second novel on April 14, titled derful classmates for signing on and streaming resents employers in litigation matters before That’s Not a Thing. Jackie writes, “The book is our weekly Zoom calls during stay-at-home the state and federal courts and the New Hamp- contemporary fiction about what happens when orders. What started as a virtual happy hour shire Commission for Human Rights, the Equal the one that got away ... comes back.” In its re- turned into vibrant weekly calls with different Employment Opportunity Commission, the New view of the novel, Publisher’s Weekly wrote, themes—tips for working from home, favorite Hampshire Department of Labor, and the Mas- “This tender, introspective romance from Fried- apps we discovered, everyone is a comedian, sachusetts Commission Against Discrimination. land hangs on the difficult choice between new everyone has a story, favorite Penn memories, and old lovers. ... Fans of sensitively handled love favorite sports memories, politics in the time triangles should snap this one up.” of coronavirus, and crazy things we’ve done 1997 during quarantine. Thank you to our VP of data Jennifer Satz Enslin C’97 is cofounder and technology, Eli Faskha EAS’93 W’93, for of Ashlyn Lee, a subscription menstrual pad 2000 facilitating our calls. We were thrilled that in and tampon business for teens and adults. Kendra Brodin SW’00 is chief attorney addition to our US-based classmates, we had development officer at Taft, Stettinius & Hol- classmates join us from Singapore, Australia, lister LLP, where she is responsible for attor- Peru, Panama, the United Kingdom, and Saudia 1999 ney development and well-being. She received Arabia. Thank you Monica Muzzi Moore Kimberly Y. Erwin GEd’99 has written the 2019 Hennepin County Bar Association Nu’93 GNu’97, Stacey Wruble Seewald a children’s book, “There’s Only 1 RACE—The (HCBA) Excellence Award for Service to the C’93 W’93, Zach Conen C’93, Jackie Ein- HUMAN One,” Says Me!—A Children’s Book: Association and serves as chairperson of the stein Astrof C’93, Caren Lissner C’93, Jen- ENDING RACISM! Find more information HCBA Institute for Leadership in the Legal nifer Jarett C’93, Ed Gold W’93, Marc on her website www.oneuniversalmedia.com, Profession signature program. She writes, Stern W’93, Kysha Harris W’93, Lesley Instagram @kimberly.erwin, and Facebook “After I graduated with my MSW from Penn, Wolff C’93, Alysa Mendolson Graf C’93, @kimberlyyerwinauthor. I attended law school at the University of Min-

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 85 ALUMNI Notes

nesota. Since that time, my career trajectory the early United States, and this book is masks to front line medical workers. I work in has been focused on the personal and profes- about the precariousness of US westward marketing, Laura was instrumental in early sional development of attorneys. Every day, I expansion in the 1830s and 1840s.” stage programming, and Chrissy runs product draw on my social work and law degrees and management. Learn more at www.mymask- training as I bring both ‘head and the heart’ movement.org and download the MyMask app to my position, my firm, and those I serve.” 2005 from the Apple App Store.” Clayton S. Rose G’05 Gr’07 has been elected chair of the trustees of the Howard 2002 Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Rose 2010 Dr. Jill M. Baren CGS’02 Gr’06 has been joined HHMI as a trustee in 2009 and has Annie Jean-Baptiste C’10, head of prod- named provost and vice president of academic been president of Bowdoin College since 2015. uct inclusion at Google and intrapreneur-in- affairs at University of the Sciences in Philadel- residence for the School of Education’s mas- phia. Most recently, she served as professor of ter’s program in education entrepreneurship, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and medical 2007 has published a new book, Building for Every- ethics at the Perelman School of Medicine. Maura Kelley Travers C’07 and Patrick one: Expand Your Market with Design Prac- Travers C’07 write, “We welcomed our sec- tices from Google’s Product Inclusion Team. ond son, Liam, on April 7 in Boston. Three- Annie writes, “Establishing diverse and inclu- 2003 year old Cullen is excited to be a big brother sive organizations is an economic imperative Angela Duckworth G’03 Gr’06, a psy- and to show Liam around campus soon!” for every industry. Any business that isn’t chology professor at Penn, is the inaugural reaching a diverse market is missing out on recipient of the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang enormous revenue potential and the oppor- Professorship. This appointment is thanks 2008 tunity to build products that suit their users’ to the generous support of Nancy Yang Stephanie Guy Hutch C’08 was honored core needs. This book makes publicly available W’92, in honor of her parents. The profes- at an AFCEA International conference held for the first time the same inclusive design sorship supports a dual appointment at the in San Diego earlier this year. According to process used at Google to create user-centric, Wharton School and School of Arts and Sci- the release, “Stephanie received the AFCEA award-winning, and profitable products.” ences’ Department of Psychology. International Women’s Appreciation Award, Andrew Sommers LPS’10 has published Nathan J. Jun G’03 has been promoted which recognizes and honors AFCEA mem- Engaged: A Citizen’s Perspective on the Future to professor of philosophy at Midwestern bers who have gone above and beyond to of Civic Life. He writes, “It is my first book on State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. further the careers of women. AFCEA is a civic engagement, politics and public service.” Garrett Kennedy C’03 L’08 has been nonprofit association serving the military, promoted to partner at the law firm DLA government, industry, and academia as an Piper. Garrett is based in the firm’s New York ethical forum for advancing professional 2012 office in the employment practice. knowledge and relationships.” Emily Brennan LPS’12 started a new role as digital experience manager at Cisco Webex 2004 2009 in January. Hannah Megacz Pop Nu’04 has graduated Monica Chen C’09, Laura Gao W’18, and from Rush University in Chicago with a doctor- Christina Ha, a student in Penn Engineering’s 2018 ate of nursing practice. Her doctoral project, master of computer and information technol- Laura Gao W’18 see Monica Chen C’09. which focused on patient fall prevention in the ogy program, have joined MyMask Movement. emergency department, has been published in Monica writes, “MyMask Movement is a vol- the Journal of Emergency Nursing. She works unteer-run nonprofit combatting the COVID-19 2020 in the NorthShore University HealthSystem as PPE shortage crisis. The project was founded William Rosa Gr’20 has been awarded the a critical care nurse practitioner. by Jesse Chang, Stanley Liu, and Cole Hersh- Public Health Service Award from the Ameri- Tommy Richards C’04 GEd’06, a his- kowitz, who developed an iPhone app which can Nurses Association. This award recognizes tory teacher at Springside Chestnut Hill uses Apple’s Face ID depth-sensing tech to cre- the outstanding contribution by an individual Academy, has published Breakaway Ameri- ate personalized masks engineered to fit an to public health. William is a nurse practitioner cas: The Unmanifest Future of the Jacksonian individual’s unique face shape. MyMask Move- in Supportive Care Service at Memorial Sloan United States (Johns Hopkins University ment partners with industrial grade 3D print Kettering Cancer Center in New York. Press, 2020). He writes, “I am a historian of shops across the globe to provide free custom

86 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 ALUMNI Obituaries Notifications

1938 1944 Please send notifications of deaths Nancy Kester Cantrell CW’38, West- Richard E. B. Parker ME’44, Doylestown, of alumni directly to: Alumni Records, minster, CO, a retired kindergarten teacher; PA, a retired mechanical engineer; Dec. 16, University of Pennsylvania, Suite 300, March 8, at 103. At Penn, she was a member 2018. At Penn, he was a member of the V-12 2929 Walnut Street, Phila., PA 19104 of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Navy College Training Program and the light- EMAIL [email protected] weight rowing team. One daughter is Nancy Newspaper obits are appreciated. 1939 L. Parker EE’85. Grace Cole Jones CW’39, Greenwich, CT, a volunteer at the Norwalk Hospital (CT) 1945 1950 for 55 years; April 1, at 103. At Penn, she was Naomi Rittenberg Barsky Ed’45 GEd’46, Milton Silver EE’50 WG’52, Huntingdon a member of Kappa Delta sorority. Her son Rutledge, PA, Jan. 29. At Penn, she was a Valley, PA, a professor of management and is Rev. Keith E. Jones W’64, and her daughter member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority and the entrepreneurship at Drexel University; April is Grace Jones Vineyard CW’66. Two grand- swimming team. 8. His daughter is Susan Silver Miller C’78 children are Sarah E. Jones Nu’95 WEv’12 Dr. Robert W. Keeler M’45, Yarmouth W’78, and one son is Carlton I. Silver EAS’84. GNu’13 and Scott W. Vineyard W’96. Port, MA, a retired pediatrician; April 5, at 99. One grandchild is Jodi L. Miller C’14 GEd’15. Richard D. Wood WG’50, Indianapolis, 1941 1946 retired chairman, president, and CEO of Eli John R. Kleiser C’41 G’42 Gr’53, Lan- Suzanne Weinstein Diamond CW’46, Lily, a pharmaceutical company; April 16. At caster, PA, retired head of the psychology de- Bala Cynwyd, PA, Feb. 1, 2019. Her daughter Penn, he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. partment at the Woods School for special is Thea D. Howey G’83 Gr’04. education; March 15, at 100. He served in the 1951 US Navy during World War II. At Penn, he was 1947 Eric H. Cocklin C’51 G’59, Pleasant Gap, a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, the William Dodies C’47 GEd’49, Ambler, PA, a former lab technician at the Children’s Daily Pennsylvanian, Glee Club, chorus, Fri- PA, Feb. 10, 2019. At Penn, he was a member Hospital of Philadelphia who later worked ars, and the fencing, rowing, and swimming of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. on his family farm; April 20. He was a vet- teams. One grandson is Grant R. Kleiser C’17. Frances Rafferty CW’47,Townsend, MA, eran of the Korean War. a former director of procurement at an army Roy A. Fetterman Jr. ME’51, Fort Wash- 1942 base; Feb. 26. At Penn, she was a member of ington, PA, a retired engineer, inventor, and Leonore Ingber Toll Ed’42, Warminster, Penn Players. owner of a textile business; Feb. 8. He served PA, a retired teacher; Jan. 11, at 99. At Penn, in the US Navy during World War II. she was a member of Delta Phi Epsilon soror- 1948 Oliver F. Green Jr. L’51, Newport Beach, ity and the chorus. Dr. Wilmer A. Abbott Jr. C’48 D’51, CA, a retired attorney; Feb. 25. He served in Ventnor City, NJ, a retired dentist; April 23. the US Navy during World War II. 1943 He served in the US Navy during World War Edward Gabriel Janosik Gr’51, Spring- David A. Dinkin Ed’43 GEd’47, Pitts- II. At Penn, he was a member of the swim- field, MO, a retired political science professor burgh, retired executive director of the Tree ming team. at SUNY Geneseo; March 7, at 102. He served of Life synagogue; March 14. He later taught E. Lee Barnett W’48, Sedalia, MO, a re- in the US Army during World War II. adult education classes at the Jewish Com- tired manager at General Motors; April 20. He Colman I. Kaplan L’51, Elkins Park, PA, munity Center of Greater Pittsburgh. He served in the US Navy during World War II. a retired attorney; Sept. 24, 2018. served in the US Army during World War II. Betty Tucker Hendrickson G’48, New- Patricia Wolf King CW’51, Lafayette, David E. Pinsky C’43 L’50, Washington, town Square, PA, a retired librarian; Feb. 17. CA, Jan. 1, 2019. DC, a retired attorney; Dec. 31. He was one Barbara Brunton Kime Ed’48, Vonore, Ernest “Ernie” J. Prudente Ed’51 of the 10 NAACP Attorneys of Counsel on the TN, a retired first-grade teacher; March 28. GEd’62, Wallingford, PA, a former football, landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Josephine Condello Yerger CW’48, basketball, and baseball coach at Haverford school desegregation case. For much of his Gwynedd Valley, PA, July 20, 2019. and Swarthmore colleges; April 14. He served career he was a housing attorney at the US in the US Navy during World War II. At Penn, Department of Housing and Urban Develop- 1949 he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fra- ment. He served in the US Army during Donald D. Baker W’49, Malvern, PA, a re- ternity, and the football, basketball, and base- World War II. At Penn, he was a member of tired manager in the cost accounting depart- ball teams. He remained an active member the Philomathean Society and the debate ment at what is now GlaxoSmithKline; April 23. of the “Mungermen,” returning to Frankiln team. One son is Ross G. Pinsky C’78. He later started a kitchen design consultancy. Field often to visit with old football team-

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 87 ALUMNI Obituaries

mates who, like him, played under famed Mary Bratton Stewart DH’52, Palm City, John Patrick Mullen G’53, King of Prus- coach George Munger Ed’33. His son is Ernie FL, a retired dental hygienist; April 8. Her sia, PA, an English professor at Saint Joseph’s L. Prudente EAS’89. husband is George H. Stewart W’53, and one University for 51 years; Feb. 25. He served in Robert L. Stern WG’51, Rye, NY, a former daughter is Linda N. Stewart W’77. the US Army during World War II, earning a partner at a brokerage firm who later opened Dr. Royall Whitaker C’52 Gr’65, Arnold, Bronze Star. a wine and liquor store; April 14. He served MD, professor emeritus of economics at the Harold Weisman C’53, Pelham, NY, an in the US Navy during World War II. US Naval Academy; Aug. 26. attorney; March 24. He served in the US Edward A. Weil Jr. W’51, Sun Valley, ID, Dr. Saul Winegrad C’52 M’56, Philadel- Army during the Korean War. At Penn, he a retired stockbroker; March 18. He served phia, professor emeritus of physiology at was a member of Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity in the US Army during the Korean War. Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine; March and the Penn Band. His daughter is Diane F. 13. He joined the Penn faculty as assistant Calderon C’81 GEd’82. 1952 professor of physiology and medicine in 1962. Natalie Reilly Anderson DH’52, Clear- In 1969, he became a full professor. He found- 1954 water, FL, Feb. 13. ed and organized the Biomedical Graduate Duncan A. Bruce W’54, New York, a re- Jeanne Thomson Castillo CW’52, Vero Studies program, which oversees all Perel- tired stock trader and author of books on Beach, FL, April 23. At Penn, she was a mem- man School of Medicine graduate groups. He Scottish history; Nov. 22. At Penn, he was a ber of Delta Delta Delta sorority. Her hus- was recognized internationally for his re- member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, Fri- band is Arthur T. Castillo W’53, and one sister search in cardiac muscle physiology and was ars, Mask & Wig, and Penn Players. is Joanne Thomson Welsh CW’52. a Fulbright Fellow, National Science Founda- Dr. Thomas T. Doran D’54, New London, Myron I. Dworken W’52, Fairfield, CT, tion Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow, and Fogar- NH, a retired dentist who maintained a prac- a retired CPA; April 20. He served in the US ty-CNRS International Fellow. The Saul tice in Huntington, NY, for 30 years; Feb. 26. Navy during the Korean War. At Penn, he was Winegrad Award for Outstanding Disserta- Dr. Stanley “Shep” Goren GM’54, Jen- a member of Phi Epsilon Pi fraternity. tion was established for the graduate groups kintown, PA, a retired physician; Feb. 12, 2019. Charles W. Grassel C’52 GEd’61, Levit- upon his retirement. As a student at Penn, Dr. Gifford Grimm M’54 GM’58, Little town, PA, a retired professor of geography and he was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu frater- Silver, NJ, a retired obstetrician-gynecologist history at West Chester University; March 4. nity. His wife is Dilys V. Winegrad Gr’70. His at Monmouth County Associates for more He served in the US Marines during the Ko- daughters are Naomi Winegrad Usher C’88 than 50 years; Jan. 16. He served as a MASH rean War and was awarded the Navy Cross. and Gwyneth N. Galbraith C’90. One grand- surgeon in the US Army. Donald R. Haws C’52 L’55, Jacksonville, daughter is Amelia L. Galbraith C’21. Robert G. Hoffman WG’54, Forest Hills, FL, a retired attorney; March 19. At Penn, he Norman P. Zarwin C’52 L’55, Bala Cyn- NY, a retired financial advisor; Sept. 12, 2019. was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity wyd, PA, a retired founding partner of a law Newton N. Levine Ar’54, Milford, NJ, a and WXPN. One son is Robert S. Haws W’79. firm; March 6. At Penn, he was a member of retired architect and graphic arts professor William H. Knoll Jr. C’52, Whitehall, Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. at Ramapo College of New Jersey; Feb. 23. At PA, a retired employee at AT&T who worked Penn, he was a member of Kappa Nu frater- in international sales; April 23. He served in 1953 nity and Mask & Wig. the US Army during the Korean War. Nathaniel A. Barbera L’53, Somerset, Leroy R. Loewenstern C’54 G’57, Elkins Bernard J. Korman W’52 L’55, Miami, PA, founder of a law firm; March 10. Park, PA, a high school physics teacher and an former chairman of a real estate investment Marjorie L. Blake-Myers Ed’53, Dan- adjunct professor at Drexel University; March trust company; Feb. 22. At Penn, he was a ville, CA, a retired real estate agent; March 31. Two sons are Daniel A. Loewenstern W’84 member of Beta Sigma Rho fraternity and 22. At Penn, she was a member of Kappa Al- L’87 and Mark A. Loewenstern C’90. the rowing team. One son is Charles H. Kor- pha Theta sorority and the lacrosse team. C. Stetson Thomas Jr. W’54, Middleboro, man C’79 WG’86 CGS’98, and one grandson Joan Mitchell Goldburgh Ed’53, Bala MA, former president of an insurance agency; is Jonathan F. Korman C’05 L’08. Cynwyd, PA, a retired elementary school teach- March 6. He later owned and operated a trav- Richard A. Mulford ME’52 GME’57, er; March 25. At Penn, she was a member of el service with his daughter. At Penn, he was Malvern, PA, a retired engineer for the Phil- Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, WXPN, the chorus, a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. adelphia Electric Company (now PECO), and the fencing, swimming, and tennis teams. James D. B. Weiss Jr. W’54, Philadel- where he worked for nearly 40 years; Feb. 19. Dr. H. Alan Hume M’53 GM’57, Sidney, phia, a teacher in the Philadelphia School Rachel “Phyllis” Ostrolenk Soffen ME, a retired surgeon and a physician and a District; March 30. He served in the US Army Ed’52, Princeton, NJ, a retired nursery school teacher at Colby College; Feb. 20. He served during World War II and remained in the teacher; Feb. 29. At Penn, she was a member in the US Navy during World War II. His reserves for many years. At Penn, he was a of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority and WXPN. brother is Dr. John M. Hume M’55 GM’59. member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.

88 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 89 1955 she became a Penn trustee and served on the Pacey L. Wohlner W’57, Kansas City, Edward M. Callahan W’55, Naples, FL, Executive, External Affairs, and Student Life MO, a lawyer; April 16. At Penn, he was a an entrepreneur; April 2. At Penn he was a Committees. She served on the boards of Penn member of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity and member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. His Medicine, the School of Medicine, and the the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. daughter is Mary Anne Callahan WG’89. Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Joseph D’Angelo Jr. WEv’55, North She was a member of the Trustees’ Council of 1958 Wales, PA, a retired sales executive at a con- Penn Women and an overseer of the Graduate Dr. Edward J. Bajorek GM’58, Erie, PA, veyor systems manufacturer; March 9. He School of Education. The Abramsons also a retired surgeon; Jan. 8. He served in World served in the US Army during the Korean War. created the Pediatric Research Center of Chil- War II on the surgical staff of hospitals in Ruth Hagenlocher Tori Ed’55, Tampa, dren’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which opened France and Germany. FL, Feb. 8. in 1995 and more than doubled the space Linda Downum Byrum FA’58, The Vil- Dr. John T. Ziegler D’55, Carlisle, PA, a available for scientific projects. Gifts from the lages, FL, a professional portrait artist; retired dentist; March 12. He served in the Abramsons established the Abramson Fam- March 30. US Army. ily Professorship in Sarcoma Care Excellence, Sander R. Gorberg L’58, Wynnewood, as well as the Madlyn and Leonard Abramson PA, a retired personal injury attorney; Jan. 1956 Professorship in Clinical Oncology. Earlier 31. He served in the US Army. George W. Ahl Jr. EF’56, Trumbull, CT, this year, the couple gave $1 million to sup- Robert S. Kadis W’58, Raleigh, NC, retired director of the Connecticut Small port Abramson Cancer Center research re- owner of a commercial real estate property Business Development Center, a nonprofit lated to COVID-19. As a student at Penn, she management company; April 6. He served in consultancy; April 1. He served in the US was a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. the US Air Force. At Penn, he was a member Navy during World War II. At Penn, he was Two grandchildren are Samantha J. Felgoise of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. a member of Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity. C’20 and David Z. Wolfson L’20 WG’20. Philip H. Osborne L’58, Pennington, NJ, Dr. Frank H. Barranco M’56 GM’60, Dr. George I. Baxter D’57, Silver Spring, a retired tax attorney and a photographer; Solvang, CA, a retired physician; March 14. MD, a retired dentist; March 12. He was also April 16. At Penn, he was a member of the Law He was also a clinical instructor at UCLA. He a professor of endodontia and periodontia at Review. One sister is Elizabeth Osborne FA’59. served in the US Army. Georgetown University Dental School. He Irwin Rosenbaum C’58, New York, a re- Evan S. Kranzley L’56, North Coventry served in the US Air Force. tired high school English teacher; April 5. He Township, PA, a retired attorney and real estate Francis J. Blee Sr. W’57, Absecon, NJ, a served in the US Army. At Penn, he was a agent; Feb. 24. He served in the US Air Force. retired corporate economist at GlaxoSmith- member of the Glee Club. His daughter is Vincent M. Love WG’56, New York, re- Kline; April 1. He later worked as an addic- Rachel Rosenbaum Mandell C’99, who is tired executive of a hotel; April 16. He served tions counselor in Atlantic City. He served in married to Matthew Mandell C’99. in the US Army. the US Army during the Korean War. Helen F. Sharkey G’58, Bryn Mawr, PA, Philip W. Brandt G’57, Bronx, NY, profes- Dec. 8. 1957 sor emeritus of pathology and cell biology at Madlyn Kornberg Abramson Ed’57 Columbia University; Feb. 17. 1959 GEd’60, Blue Bell, PA, emeritus trustee of James C. DeCesare Jr. WG’57, Burden, Dr. C. Theodore Blaisdell M’59 GM’62, the University of Pennsylvania whose dona- KS, retired president and chief operating of- New Tripoli, PA, a retired anesthesiologist; tion with her husband established Penn ficer at Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, April 3. He served in the US. Air Force during Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center; April a pharmaceutical company; April 4. He served the Korean War. 15. She was a teacher in the Philadelphia in the US Army during the Korean War. Robert N. Burrows Gr’59, Whitewater, School District and a cancer survivor com- Dr. Albert Eichen D’57 GD’58, Teaneck, WI, a retired professor of American and Brit- mitted to research to ease the psychological NJ, a retired dentist; March 26. He also ish literature at the University of Wisconsin; and physiological suffering of cancer patients. taught physiology and clinical dentistry at April 14. He served in the US Marine Corps In 1997, she and her husband, Leonard, the New York University’s Dental School. He during World War II. CEO of US Healthcare, made a $100 million served in the US Army Dental Corps. His wife Lester Eber W’59, Rochester, NY, presi- gift to establish the Abramson Family Cancer is Hon. Naomi Gerber Eichen Ed’59, and one dent of a wine and spirits distribution busi- Research Institute to integrate research, edu- grandson is Benjamin S. Epstein C’21. ness; April 5. At Penn, he was a member of cation, and comprehensive patient care at Robert E. Shapiro W’57, Newton, MA, a Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. what was then known as Penn’s Comprehen- retired professor at Seton Hall University Jane Krumrine CW’59, Newtown sive Cancer Center. Today it is called Penn School of Business; April 4. One son is Brad Square, PA, retired vice president of com- Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. In 1997, Eric Shapiro C’91. munications at an insurance brokerage firm;

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 89 ALUMNI Obituaries

April 17. At Penn, she was a member of Kap- sity; April 18. She was the first female faculty in the US Army during the Vietnam War. One pa Alpha Theta sorority. member at Stanford Law and served as the son is Joshua H. Kern C’96. Dr. Donald G. Lovejoy D’59, Keuka Lake, head of the Justice Department’s civil division Martin Kobak W’61, Upper Gwynedd, NY, a retired dentist; April 3. He served in under President Jimmy Carter, where she lob- PA, a retired senior executive at a large finan- the US Army. bied successfully for women and minorities on cial institution; Sept. 9. At Penn, he was a Dr. Edward L. Reid II M’59, Coral Ga- the federal bench. At Penn, she was a member member of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. bles, FL, a physician and professor of endo- of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Phi Beta Kappa James E. Mahoney W’61, Weymouth, crinology at Florida International University honor society, and Mortar Board senior society. MA, an attorney; March 17. At Penn, he was Medical School; April 7. He served in the US Ross L. Campbell C’60, Ambler, PA, re- a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Army Medical Corps. tired senior vice president at Janney Mont- Ivan M. Popkin W’61, Elkins Park, PA, a Nancy J. Woods SW’59, Danville, PA, gomery Scott, a financial services company; partner at a commercial construction com- retired director of a social work department March 24. He served in the US Army. pany; March 29. At Penn, he was a member at a medical center; April 13. Dr. Peter B. Gregory D’60, Morris, NY, a of Phi Epsilon Pi fraternity. His wife is Susan Linda Gureasko Yang Ar’59, New York, retired dentist; March 12. He also worked as a Alexander Popkin CW’62 G’80. a retired journalist; April 20. Early in her banker and was a partner at an antiques store. David L. Robinson W’61 L’64, Greens- career, she worked for the noted architect Joel A. Rose WG’60, Cherry Hill, NJ, head burg, PA, an attorney and owner of a restau- Edward Durell Stone before becoming a gar- of a management consulting firm; Feb. 13. rant; March 15. He rowed internationally and den columnist for the New York Times. At Dr. Harold P. Wittman D’60, Rockville, competed four times at the US Olympic Trials. Penn, she was a member of the chorus. Her MD, a retired orthodontist; Nov. 26, 2018. At Penn, he was a member of Delta Tau Delta son is David Yang C’89 GAr’92. One granddaughter is Jessica W. Schwartz fraternity and the heavyweight rowing team. Dr. Leslie M. Zatz GM’59, Palo Alto, CA, EAS’18 GEng’19. He served in the Pennsylvania National Guard. professor emeritus of radiology at Stanford Uni- David Segal GCP’61, Philadelphia, a versity; Feb. 21. He served in the US Air Force. 1961 member of the Philadelphia City Planning Dr. Frederick C. Braun GM’61, Vero Commission, where he specialized in the 1960 Beach, FL, a pediatrician specializing in hema- preparation and publication of population David C. Auten C’60 L’63, Philadelphia, tology oncology; Feb. 28. He served in the US and housing data; March 12. He served in the a retired lawyer and University of Pennsylva- Navy Medical Corps and the US Marine Corps. US Army Reserve. nia Trustee; May 9. He served on Penn’s board Ira S. Einhorn C’61, Somerset, PA, a former Sandra Segal Stein Ed’61, Beverly Hills, of trustees from 1977 to 1988, as a member of counterculturist who rose to infamy as the “Uni- CA, an attorney who was one of the leading the board for UPHS (now Penn Medicine), as corn Killer” and fugitive; April 3. In the 1960s asset recovery experts at the law firm Rob- an overseer of the School of Arts and Sciences, and ‘70s he was a sought-after speaker on issues bins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP; Feb. 25. president of the General Alumni Society, chair of peace, love, and environmentalism. In 1979, She also served on the Senate Judiciary Staff of Annual Giving, and president of the Inter- he was charged with the murder of his former of US Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania fraternity Alumni Council. In 1977, he received girlfriend, Holly Maddux, and fled to Europe. and championed many Jewish causes. At honorary membership in the Friars Senior He was later discovered in France and extra- Penn, she was a member of Phi Sigma Sigma Society. He also received the Penn Alumni dited after long negotiations in 2001. He was sorority. Her daughters are Laura S. Stein Award of Merit in 1981 and the Hospital Hero convicted and sentenced to life in prison without C’92 L’95 and Leigh D. Stein C’96. Award of Penn Presbyterian Medical Center parole [“Alumni Profiles,” Jan|Feb 2003]. in 2011. He spent 50 years in the legal field, Barbara Faix HUP’61, Ephrata, PA, Oct. 1962 including serving as the managing partner of 2, 2018. Patricia Conway Diehl Nu’62, Wilming- the Philadelphia office of Reed Smith LLP for M. Louis Goodman Ar’61, New York, a ton, DE, a retired nurse; April 10. 16 years, focusing on real estate, banking, professor of architecture at the Pratt Insti- Dr. Eric Papineau Gall C’62 M’66 healthcare, and international law. As a student tute; April 11. GM’70, Tuscon, AZ, chief of rheumatology at Penn, he was a member of Theta Xi frater- Henry F. Guckes EE’61 GEE’73, West at the University of Arizona and cofounder nity, Mask & Wig, Phi Beta Kappa honor soci- Chester, PA, a former senior consultant with and director of the school’s Arthritis Center; ety, and the Law Review. His daughters are Allied InfoSecurity, a security services firm; Feb. 26. He served in the US Army during the Anne C. Auten C’92 and Meredith Auten C’96 March 21. At Penn, he was a member of Sig- Vietnam War, earning a Bronze Star and L’99. His brother is Donald R. Auten C’68 L’71, ma Phi Epsilon fraternity. One daughter is Army Commendation Medal. At Penn, he was who is married to Dr. Judith W. Auten M’66. Stacey Guckes Helmers G’89 GFA’90. a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Barbara Babcock CW’60, Stanford, CA, Dr. Eugene M. Kern C’61 M’65, Roslyn, Raymond H. Kraftson C’62, West Ches- professor emerita of law at Stanford Univer- NY, a retired physician; March 5. He served ter, PA, an attorney and businessman who

90 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 91 founded Ariane Capital Partners, growing it Dr. John T. Sidener Jr. GAr’63 GCP’63 herpes simplex vaccine, collaborating with into a top 10 private fund placement agent; GFA’63, Kirkland, WA, Feb. 1. Gary Cohen in Penn’s Dental School, and later Feb. 21. He was also a skilled mechanic and Seldon V. Whitaker Jr. GEd’63, Pitts- received funding from the NIH for this re- race car driver. One daughter is Marguerite burgh, a superintendent of school districts search. She was a fellow of the American As- Kraftson Kelly C’95, and his son is Donald W. in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; April 7. sociation for the Advancement of Science and Kraftson WG’96. His brother is Timothy A. He was also an adjunct professor of educa- won multiple University Research Foundation Kraftson WG’68, and his sister is Constance tion at Penn State. Awards. She also earned a Penn Professional Kraftson McDowell WG’75. Women’s Award and the Lenore Rowe Williams Lawrence J. Little WG’62, Ormond Beach, 1964 Award. She retired in 2018. Her daughter is FL, a retired CPA and comptroller for a number Lawrence J. Delaney GEd’64 GrEd’66, Ruth Anne Eisenberg Robbins C’88, who is of firms; Feb. 26. He served in the US Army. Pennsauken, NJ, professor emeritus of phys- married to Steven C. Robbins W’88. Jeffrey M. Milwe C’62, Westport, CT, a ics and engineering at Rowan University; Susan Salek Holland HUP’65 Nu’69, partner at a law firm; March 7. At Penn, he April 4. He served in the US Marine Corps Westfield, MA, a nurse; April 2. She worked was a member of Phi Sigma Delta fraternity. and the US Navy. as a psychiatric nurse, a school nurse, and a His wife is Judith Cohen Milwe W’63. John G. Fairey GFA’64, Houston, TX, a nurse at a senior home. Carol Hill Rizzo CW’62, Scotch Plains, professor of architecture at Texas A&M Univer- Dr. Thomas D. Mull M’65 GM’74, West NJ, a Confraternity of Christian Doctrine sity; March 17. He is also founder of the John Chester, PA, chief of anesthesiology at Bryn teacher; April 11. At Penn, she was a member Fairey Garden, a 39-acre property in Hemp- Mawr Hospital; Feb. 20. He served in the US of Kappa Delta sorority and Penn Singers. stead, Texas, that is a repository of rare and Army during the Vietnam War. Her daughter is Elizabeth M. Rizzo C’86, and unusual plants from the US, Mexico, and Asia. Dr. Samuel H. Rosalsky D’65, The Vil- her son is Louis Robert Rizzo III W’93. B. Scott Gillam G’64, Rancho Palos lages, FL, a dentist; March 18. Verdes, CA, a writer and editor; March 23. 1963 He served in the Peace Corps in Kenya from 1966 Robert J. Aresty W’63, Princeton, NJ, own- 1966 to 1968. Peter Batchelor GAr’66 GCP’66 er and president of a solar energy company; Julia C. Kyner CGS’64, Yorktown GFA’66, Raleigh, NC, professor emeritus of March 21. At Penn, he was a member of Sigma Heights, NY, a high school French teacher architecture and urban design at North Alpha Mu fraternity and the soccer team. His who also owned a show geese farm with her Carolina State University; April 15. sister is Jane Aresty Silverman GCP’70. husband; March 7, at 105. Dr. Jan A. Bergeron V’66, The Villages, Hon. A. Richard Caputo L’63, Wilkes FL, March 8. Barre, PA, a judge on the US District Court 1965 A. Richard Casavant Jr. WG’66, At- for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; Roselyn Goldberg Eisenberg Gr’65, Davis, lanta, retired dean of the College of Business March 11. He served as a federal judge for the CA, professor emerita of pathobiology at Penn’s at the University of Tennessee at Chattanoo- last 22 years after previously working as a School of Veterinary Medicine; March 14. She ga; March 31. He served in the US Air Force trial lawyer. He served in the US Air Force. was hired in 1968 as a lecturer in the School of Medical Service Corps. Dr. Antonio Castro GD’63, St. Petersburg, Dental Medicine. She became assistant profes- Eliott Klein L’66, Philadelphia, former FL, a retired oral surgeon; Dec. 1. He was a sor the following year. She was one of several chief counsel of the Pennsylvania Securities former team doctor for the NHL’s Tampa Bay women in the early days of the women’s move- Commission; April 8. He co-drafted the Penn- Lightning. He served in the US Air Force. ment who filed a lawsuit against the Univer- sylvania Securities Act of 1972 Dr. David K. Kanter D’63, Pittsfield, MA, sity over discrimination based on sex, related William F. Matlack Gr’66, Cranberry a retired dentist; March 18. He taught den- to denial of tenure; the case was settled, and Township, PA, professor emeritus at the tistry at Fairleigh Dickinson University and was she was given a seven-year tenure probationary University of Pittsburgh in the Graduate on the board of directors for Volunteers in period. In 1978, she joined the School of Vet- School of Public and International Affairs; Medicine, where he provided free dental care erinary Medicine as an assistant professor in March 17. He served in the US Air Force dur- to low-income adults. He served in the US pathobiology. She went on to become an as- ing the Korean War. Army Dental Corps during the Vietnam War. sociate professor, and then in 1985 she was Robert Rescorla Gr’66, Austin, TX, pro- Clifford F. Miller Ed’63, Allentown, PA, promoted to professor. While a professor and fessor emeritus of psychology at Penn; March professor emeritus of mechanical technology at head of a microbiology and immunology labo- 24. He joined Penn as professor of psychology Lehigh Carbon Community College; April 19. ratory in the Vet School, she collaborated on a in 1981 and was named the James M. Skinner He served in the US Army during World War II. vaccine to counter the ill effects of vaccinia Professor of Science (1986–2000) and later the Peter M. Ryan L’63, Darien, CT, a lawyer; virus and confer additional protection against Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Profes- March 24. smallpox. She also filed a patent application for sor of Psychology (2000–2009). He served as

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 91 ALUMNI Obituaries

chair of psychology from 1985 to 1988 and Dorothy M. Klecka Nu’70, Fort Worth, ment and was a professor of German, Rus- dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from TX, a retired lieutenant colonel in the US Air sian, and English. Born in Ukraine, she spent 1994 to 1997. In 1985, he was elected to the Force Nurse Corps; Feb. 23. six years in the Lyssenko Displaced Persons National Academy of Sciences, and in 2008 he Michael G. Walsh C’70, Whispering Camp in Germany after World War II before was elected as a member of the American Pines, NC, a lawyer and professor of business immigrating to the US with her family. Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other law at Villanova University; March 21. At Dr. Eric C. Bergman M’73, Washington, accomplishments. He retired in 2009. Penn, he was a member of the Penn Band. DC, former chief psychiatrist at George William M. Stellenwerf WG’66, Mah- Washington University Student Health Ser- wah, NJ, a former partner at an accounting 1971 vice who also had a private practice; Feb. 15. firm; Feb. 26. Pauline A. Bigby GEd’71, Wilmington, His sons are Daniel Bergman WG’10 and Jed DE, a teacher who instructed students from B. Bergman C’11. 1967 elementary to graduate school; March 24. Dr. Paul M. Allen M’67, Inglewood, CA, Janice Ruth Kane Nu’71, Phoenixville, 1974 a retired obstetrician-gynecologist; March PA, a psychiatric nurse at a Veterans Affairs Dr. George C. Farnbach V’74 Gr’77, 16. He served in the US Public Health Service medical center; July 12, 2018. She served in Cherry Hill, NJ, former assistant professor during the Vietnam War. the US Army and the US Army Reserve. of neurology at Penn’s School of Veterinary Dr. Michael Baten C’67, Santa Fe, NM, a Mark D. Paster ChE’71, Annapolis, MD, a Medicine; April 26. He also worked as a se- neurologist and sleep medicine expert; Feb. 29. chemical engineer who worked on biodegrad- nior web developer at Independence Blue Sherry Helfant Malone CW’67, Naples, able plastics and hydrogen fuel cell research; Cross in Philadelphia for 20 years. He served FL, Feb. 25. April 7. At Penn, he was a member of Theta Rho in the US Army during the Vietnam War. One fraternity and the ice hockey and sailing teams. daughter is Ingrid M. Farnbach C’93. 1968 David F. Phillips L’71, San Francisco, a Edward H. Applebaum WG’68, Mt. retired lawyer who later became a heraldry 1975 Lebanon, PA, president of a hardware store; scholar; March 26. Richard L. Brunker Gr’75, Riverton, NJ, March 19. an environmental toxicologist for the EPA and Dr. Samuel E. Lippincott D’68, Moore- 1972 a professor at Drexel University; March 30. He stown, NJ, former assistant professor of re- Mark J. Blum C’72, New York, an actor served in the US military and the Peace Corps. storative dentistry at Penn’s School of Dental and producer; March 25. Best known for his Amy S. Levin OT’75, Philadelphia, a re- Medicine; April 6. He also taught dentistry roles in Crocodile Dundee and Desperately tired occupational therapist at the Children’s at Temple University. Seeking Susan, he most recently appeared as Hospital of Philadelphia; Jan. 1. Her sister is a supporting actor in HBO’s Succession and Naomi Levin Breman WG’73. 1969 the Netflix seriesYou . At Penn, he was a Michele Beulieu Magnotta DH’75, Jud Q. Little W’69, Ardmore, OK, presi- member of Penn Players. Wilmington, DE, a retired dental hygienist; dent and CEO of the Quintin Little Company, Dr. Jerome F. Odlum D’72, West Sims- March 11. a family-owned oil company; March 25. He bury, CT, a retired dentist; Feb. 27. James “Scoots” Marcinkus C’75, Rock- was also a quarter horse breeder and cattle Jane Culver Rouse CW’72, Saint Louis, ledge, PA, a fleet outfitting division director rancher. At Penn, he was a member of Sigma a volunteer for a number of nonprofits help- for the US Department of Defense; Feb. 27. Alpha Epsilon fraternity. ing women, children, and deaf people in her Letty Orlofsky Roth Piper Nu’69 community; March 24. 1977 GNu’76, Gwynedd, PA, former lecturer in Dr. William B. Solomon C’72, New York, Dr. Richard F. Garnet Jr. GM’77, Rich- the department of biobehavioral and health a professor of hematology and oncology at mond, IN, a pathologist; Feb. 18. He served sciences in the School of Nursing; March 7. Downstate Medical School and attending phy- in the US Air Force. One son is Stephen Rogers Piper C’88. sician at a hospital; April 8. He earned a gene therapy patent for his research in iron defi- 1978 1970 ciency. At Penn, he was a member of WXPN. David A. Stasko C’78, Hudson, OH, Dr. G. Leigh Cook D’70, Wilmington, DE, March 3. At Penn, he was a member of Alpha a retired dentist; March 19. He served in the 1973 Epsilon Pi fraternity. US Air Force as a dentist during the Vietnam Eleonora Karpinicz Adams Gr’73, Buck- War. His brother is Jeffrey L. Cook D’76. ingham, PA, head of the arts division at Penn 1979 Dr. Howard Freeman GrD’70, West State, Abington; March 19. She also worked Lorenz J. Bauer II C’79, Schaumburg, IL, Chester, PA, Dec. 18. as an interpreter for the US State Depart- a former senior research technologist at Signal

92 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 93 GEE master’s, Electrical Engineering HUP Nurse training (till 1978) School Abbreviations GEng master’s, Engineering and L Law Ar Architecture Applied Science LAr Landscape Architecture ASC Annenberg GEx master’s, Engineering Executive LPS Liberal and Professional Studies Research Group; April 11, 2019. At Penn, he C College (bachelor’s) GFA master’s, Fine Arts M Medicine was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. CCC College Collateral Courses GGS master’s, College of General Studies ME Mechanical Engineering GL master’s, Law MT Medical Technology His daughter is Rebecca N. Bauer C’09. CE Civil Engineering CGS College of General Studies (till 2008) GLA master’s, Landscape Architecture MtE Metallurgical Engineering Dr. William G. DeLong Jr. GM’79 Ch Chemistry GME master’s, Mechanical Engineering Mu Music GM’83, Haddonfield, NJ, an orthopedic sur- ChE Chemical Engineering GM Medicine, post-degree NEd Certificate in Nursing geon; March 13. He was a former team physi- CW College for Women (till 1975) GMt master’s, Metallurgical Engineering Nu Nursing (bachelor’s) GNu master’s, Nursing OT Occupational Therapy cian for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers. His D Dental Medicine DH Dental Hygiene GPU master’s, Governmental PSW Pennsylvania School of Social Work wife is Virginia D. DeLong SW’00. EAS Engineering and Applied Administration PT Physical Therapy Dr. Morrie E. Kricun GM’79, Audubon, Science (bachelor’s) Gr doctorate SAMP School of Allied Medical PA, professor emeritus of radiology at the Ed Education GrC doctorate, Civil Engineering Professions GrE doctorate, Electrical Engineering SPP Social Policy and Practice (master’s) Perelman School of Medicine; April 4. He EE Electrical Engineering GrEd doctorate, Education SW Social Work (master’s) (till 2005) joined Penn as a lecturer in radiology in 1981. FA Fine Arts G master’s, Arts and Sciences GrL doctorate, Law V Veterinary Medicine He was appointed an associate professor of GAr master’s, Architecture GrN doctorate, Nursing W Wharton (bachelor’s) radiology at the Hospital of the University of GCE master’s, Civil Engineering GRP master’s, Regional Planning WAM Wharton Advanced Management Pennsylvania in 1982, and he became a stand- GCh master’s, Chemical Engineering GrS doctorate, Social Work WEF Wharton Extension Finance GrW doctorate, Wharton WEv Wharton Evening School ing faculty-clinician educator in radiology in GCP master’s, City Planning GD Dental, post-degree GV Veterinary, post-degree WG master’s, Wharton 1988. He was promoted to professor in 1990. GEd master’s, Education Hon Honorary WMP Wharton Management Program He received a University Research Founda- tion Grant for “Radiology-Paleopathology of the Skeletal Remains of Prehistoric Austra- 1983 1987 lian Aborigines.” He also authored a book on Dr. Frank C. Praeger Gr’83, Houghton, Gail A. Robinson L’87, Bethesda, MD, an Elvis Presley. He retired in 2002. He served MI, a researcher in cell aging; May 26, 2019. attorney; July 1, 2019. At Penn, she was a in the US Air Force. His wife is Virginia member of the Law Review. Brawner Kricun CGS’04. 1984 Dr. Ethel M. Weinberg GM’79, Phila- Katherine Mullin Berman WG’84, Min- 1988 delphia, a trailblazing physician, leader in neapolis, executive director of think2per- Janet Mummey Fogg GNu’88, Harris- academic medical education, and advocate form, a business development service; April burg, PA, a neonatal critical care nurse; for women in medicine; Mar. 4. She helped 8. She also worked as a marketing executive March 22. She was also an assistant professor create the specialty of emergency medicine at JP Morgan Chase. Her husband is Arthur of nursing at Penn State. by championing the idea of creating an acute H. Berman WG’80. John S. Lombardo W’88, Baldwinsville, care medicine internship. Donald N. Ford WEv’84 WEv’85, Ben- NY, a senior portfolio manager at an invest- salem, PA, March 18. At Penn, he was a mem- ment firm; April 11. 1981 ber of Omega Psi Phi fraternity. P. Bradford Blauer‑Jones C’81, Wayne, Alan T. Ortiz G’84 Gr’86, Manila, Philip- 1993 PA, April 9, 2018. His father is M. William pines; a foreign policy expert; March 23. He was Dr. Lauren P. Flato V’93, Sunnyvale, CA, Jones W’50. One sister is Carol Adaire Jones president of the Philippine Council for Foreign a small-animal veterinarian and owner of a CW’73, and one brother is Myron W. Jones Relations and an executive at a power company. dog training service; July 21. III C’76 GEd’78 Gr’83. His spouse is M. F. Del Rosario‑Ortiz Gr’94. Michael V. Ciliberti C’81, Philadelphia, Dr. Lawrence J. Solin GM’84, Haverford, 1995 April 15. PA, emeritus professor clinician-educator in Donald “Buddy” Rosenthal WG’95, Kenneth C. Citrino C’81, Philadelphia, radiation oncology at the Perelman School of Denver, a former technology executive at an attorney; May 18, 2019. Medicine who also spent many years with AOL, Yahoo, and RealNetworks; Feb. 21. Diane J. Cornell L’81, Washington, DC, Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center; March 3. He retired special counsel to the chairman at the joined Penn in 1984 as an assistant professor 1999 Federal Communications Commission; Jan. 7. on the clinician-educator (CE) track in radia- Michael E. Rothlein SW’99, Boca Raton, Edward J. Nolan Gr’81, Jenkintown, PA, tion therapy (which later became radiation FL, April 7, 2018. professor emeritus of mathematics at La oncology). He went on to be promoted to as- Salle University; April 10. He was also the sociate and then full professor CE in 1994. He 2004 former head of the re-entry systems depart- retired and earned emeritus status in 2008. Lisa T. Felix CGS’04, Warsaw, NY, an im- ment at General Electric. He served in the He went on to serve as department chair in migration attorney; April 1. She had also US Navy Reserves. radiation oncology at Einstein Hospital. worked as a foreign student advisor at Penn.

Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 93 ALUMNI Obituaries

2007 served as one of the principals in evaluating ment of metabolic diseases at the Children’s Kathleen J. Clawson GEd’07, Horsham, the proposal for a contract between Penn and Hospital of Philadelphia. He studied human PA, a middle school psychologist; March 2, 2019. the Arab Development Institute in Tripoli. He body odors and their meaning, using a diag- Leonard Eveley CGS’07, Philadelphia, also served on the University Council Com- nostic tool to detect early-stage ovarian cancer Jan. 2, 2019. His wife is Helen S. Eveley CGS’07. mittee on Recreation and Intercollegiate Ath- using odor biomarkers in blood. He was part letics. He retired in 1998. He served in the US of a collaborative team with Penn’s Working 2008 Army during the Korean War. His wife is Ce- Dog Center to train dogs to “sniff out” the can- Dr. Constance Keefe Gr’08, Blue Bell, cile Parris Frey CW’60 GEd’62 GrEd’75. cer in patient blood samples. In 2002, the PA, a retired senior software manager for the Dr. Morrie E. Kricun. See Class of 1979. American Chemical Society recognized him global information technology company Uni- Dr. Samuel E. Lippincott. See Class of 1968. for promoting chemistry to the general public sys; March 2. Dr. Calvin F. Nodine, Hershey, PA, pro- through the media. fessor emeritus of radiology in Penn’s Perel- Robert Rescorla. See Class of 1966. 2017 man School of Medicine; March 19. He began Gene Shay, Wynnewood, PA, longtime ra- Dr. Gurpal Singh Sandhu WG’17, Ma- his career at Penn as a research associate in dio host of WXPN’s Sunday night “Folk Show” rina del Rey, CA, a physical medicine and the School of Medicine’s department of radi- and cofounder of the Philadelphia Folk Festi- rehabilitation specialist; Feb. 20. ology. In 1993 he became a research profes- val; April 17. He got on-air experience on sor. His published works in the field of eye Armed Forces Radio in Germany in the 1950s, 2018 movement research benefited the medical later working at a local TV news station as a Jerome Ian Urbano GNu’18, New York, imaging community as well as the develop- jazz and folk music show host. In 1962, he March 18. ment of military camouflage. He retired in cofounded the Philadelphia Folk Festival. In 2003. He served in the US Army. 1963, he and his wife, Gloria, brought Bob Faculty & Staff Tomoko Ohnishi, Radnor, PA, professor Dylan to Philadelphia for the first time, for a Madlyn Kornberg Abramson. See Class of biochemistry and biophysics who taught at sparsely attended gig at the Ethical Society on of 1957. the University for more than 52 years; March Rittenhouse Square. In 1967, Joni Mitchell, David C. Auten. See Class of 1960. 17. She joined Penn in 1967 as a visiting as- whom he called “the most creative person I Roselyn Goldberg Eisenberg. See Class sistant professor in biophysics and to work as ever met,” played “Both Sides Now” for the of 1965. a postdoctoral fellow within the Johnson Re- first time on his show. He was involved with Dr. George C. Farnbach V’74 Gr’77. See search Foundation under the guidance of di- Penn’s WXPN from 1995 to 2015, hosting the Class of 1974. rector Britton Chance Ch’35 Gr’40 Hon’85, weekly “Folk Show.” In 2013, he was inducted Donald D. Fitts, Gladwyne, PA, professor founder of what is now the department of into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of emeritus of chemistry and former associate biochemistry and biophysics. She stayed at Fame. A plaque bearing his name is located dean for graduate studies at the Penn; March Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, becom- on the Avenue of the Arts. 25. He joined the faculty in 1959 as an assis- ing a full professor in the department of bio- Dr. Lawrence J. Solin. See Class of 1984. tant professor, and also served as an assistant chemistry and biophysics in 1996. Her daugh- Hans Stoll, Nashville, TN, former associate professor in the Laboratory for Research on ter is Noriko Ohnishi Lovasz C’92. professor at the Wharton School; March 20. the Structure of Matter for several years. From Letty Orlofsky Roth Piper. See Class of 1969. He joined the faculty at Penn in 1966 as an 1978 to 1994, he served as the associate dean Dr. George Preti, Philadelphia, a former assistant professor of finance at Wharton. In for graduate studies for the School of Arts and adjunct professor in Penn’s department of 1971, he became an associate professor. A few Sciences. He was a NATO Senior Science Fel- dermatology who also worked in the depart- years later, he also took on the role of assistant low, an academic visitor at the University of ment of obstetrics and gynecology at Penn’s director of the Wharton PhD program. While Oxford, and a visiting fellow at Corpus Chris- Perelman School of Medicine; March 3. In at Penn, he spent a year with the Board of ti College, Cambridge. He retired in 2011. His 1971, he took on appointments at Penn’s chem- Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The sons are Dr. Robert K. Fitts C’87 and William istry department as a lecturer, as well as the following year he participated in a high-pri- R. Fitts C’92 G’93 Gr’02. Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadel- ority study of securities markets for the Secu- Frederick “Fred” W. Frey, Haverford, PA, phia, as a research associate. At Penn, he went rities and Exchange Commission. In 1980, he professor emeritus of political science; March on to serve as a research assistant professor, received a grant from the Center for the Study 26. He joined Penn in 1974 as a professor in then adjunct assistant, and then associate of Future Markets at Columbia University. He political science. He was also the director of professor, all in obstetrics and gynecology. left Penn in 1980 to join the faculty at Vander- Penn’s Anspach Institute of Diplomacy and During the 1990s, he was an adjunct professor bilt’s Owen School and founded the Financial Foreign Affairs. He was chairman of the Grad- in dermatology. He also served on the mass Markets Research Center. uate Group in International Relations, and he spectrometry advisory board in the depart- Dr. Saul Winegrad. See Class of 1952.

94 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020 Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 94 CLASSIFIEDS

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Jul | Aug 2020 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE 95 OLD PENN

ne hundred years ago last month, approximately 2,000 alumni Friendships descended on the Quadrangle for Alumni Day. “It was the largest turnout in the history of the General Alumni Society,” wrote the O Gazette in its June 25, 1920, issue. (Last year’s Alumni Weekend celebrations brought over 13,000 alumni and guests to campus.) Renewed It was also the fi rst Alumni Day since the Treaty of Versailles was signed, formally ending World War I, and several classes held memo- rial services to honor classmates who had lost their lives. Perhaps because of this, a letter sent to class secretaries prior to the event urged conviviality: “Nobody wants to see a lot of glooms marching around the [Franklin] Field. Show that you are as young as you used to be on this day at least and produce a little gaiety and color.” The image on this page shows the schedule for Alumni Day, on the weekend of June 12, 1920, which the Gazette judged “more inter- esting than ever before.” The parade of classes started sharply at 2:30 p.m., and 40 classes marched from the Quad to Franklin Field. The Medical School Class of 1900 wore “high hats and whiskers,” while the Class of 1912 were “attired in over- alls, large straw hats, bandanas and hand- kerchiefs.” The Class of 1918 arrived in “hats with red and blue bands, dark shirts and white trousers.” The oldest alumnus repre- senting his class was Enoch Hollingshead M1867, a 76-year-old doctor. “As each class passed the box of Provost [Edgar Fahs] Smith, the retiring Provost was given the University and class yells.” Once they were settled in the stands, a crowd of 8,000 alumni and students watched Penn’s fi nal baseball game of the season—a “disastrous” 8–3 loss to the University of California—before gathering back in the Quad for a special treat. “Cromie’s Circus and Carnival” was “the fi rst time that the under- graduates had undertaken to entertain the returning alumni, and in spite of many hand- icaps, they did it in splendid fashion.” Although the Class of 1919 did not hold a formal one-year reunion, 43 members partici- pated in the parade. It was their fi rst time to- gether since the end of the war, where they lost 28 members of their class in active duty. “Many friendships were renewed,” the Gazette reported. —NP

96 THE PENNSYLVANIA GAZETTE Jul | Aug 2020

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