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Important note: Please share this digital-only edition of Almanac with your colleagues. Read more. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Tuesday August 4, 2020 Volume 67 Number 4 www.upenn.edu/almanac Jessica Wachter: Inaugural Gift from Ofer Nemirovsky Establishes NEMO Prize, Dr. Bruce I. Jacobs Professorship in César de la Fuente: Inaugural Recipient Quantitative Finance Earlier this year, Ofer Nemirovsky (EE’79, de la Fuente said. He will use the NEMO Prize Jessica Wachter W’79), a manag- funds to begin devel- has been named the ing director of Har- oping the prototype inaugural recipient bourVest Partners, for this paper-based of the Dr. Bruce I. Ja- LLC, a global private coronavirus test, as cobs Professorship in equity firm in Boston, well as other “blue Quantitative Finance, donated $500,000 sky” ideas for detect- effective July 2020. to the University of ing pathogens, such A member of the Pennsylvania’s Penn as antibiotic-resis- Wharton faculty since Health-Tech pro- tant bacteria. More 2003, Dr. Wachter re- gram to establish the research will also be searches asset pricing Nemirovsky Engi- required to further models that incorpo- neering and Medi- miniaturize the sys- rate rare events and cine Opportunity tem so it can be in- behavioral finance. (NEMO) Prize. The tegrated into face goal of the prize is to She serves on the Jessica Wachter Ofer Nemirovsky masks. Even without César de la Fuente board of the Western encourage collabora- that advance, howev- Finance Association and as an associate editor tion between the University of Pennsylvania’s er, larger versions where samples were provid- of Quantitative Economics. Before coming to Perelman School of Medicine and the School of ed at dedicated testing sites would still be sig- Wharton, she was an assistant professor at New Engineering and Applied Science by supporting nificantly faster and less expensive than current York University’s Stern School of Business. Dr. early-stage innovative ideas at the intersection of methods. Wachter holds a PhD in business economics and engineering and medicine that might not receive “The COVID-19 pandemic had a tremen- an undergraduate degree in mathematics from funding from traditional sources. dous impact on the NEMO Prize,” said Glory Harvard University. The first recipient of this term prize, which in- Durham, associate director of Penn Health-Tech. The Dr. Bruce I. Jacobs Professorship in cludes an award of $80,000, is César de la Fuente, “César’s proposal is an opportunity to develop a Quantitative Finance was established in 2020 Presidential Assistant Professor in the depart- transformative technology that is sensitive and with a generous gift from Dr. Bruce I. Jacobs ments of psychiatry, microbiology, and bioengi- scalable. It is an excellent illustration of Penn (G’79, GRW’86) and supports the appointment neering. He proposed a paper-based COVID di- Health-Tech’s mission to catalyze early stage in- to Wharton’s finance department of faculty who agnostic system that could capture viral particles novation in medical technology across Penn.” are experts in quantitative finance (Almanac on a person’s breath, then give a result in a matter Mr. Nemirovsky focuses on sourcing, eval- April 21, 2020). of seconds when taken to a testing site. uating, and monitoring direct investments. He Similar tests for bacteria cost less than a dol- is also involved in HarbourVest’s business de- lar each to make. Dr. de la Fuente is aiming to velopment efforts. He has been responsible make COVID tests at a similar price point and for a number of HarbourVest’s direct invest- Jonathan Zimmerman: with a smaller footprint so that they could be di- Berkowitz Chair in Education ments, including Artisoft, AVID, AXENT, Cen- rectly integrated into face masks, providing fur- tra, Clarus, Creo, Dendrite International, Digital Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor of the his- ther incentive for their regular use. tory of education in Penn GSE’s literacy, culture, Insight, eTapestry, Frame, Gilead, Insignia So- “Wearing a face mask is vital to containing lutions, Manugistics, Marcam, m-Qube, NET- and international edu- the spread of COVID because, before you know cation division, has COM On-Line, Progress Software, Radware, you’re sick, they block your virus-carrying Retix, Shopzilla, SpectraLink, Ultimate Soft- been named the Judy droplets so those droplets can’t infect others,” & Howard Berkow- ware, and UUNET. Mr. Nemirovsky’s previ- Dr. de la Fuente said. “What we’re proposing ous experience includes four years in technical itz Professor in Edu- could eventually lead to a mask that can be in- cation. Considered computer sales and marketing with Hewlett- fected by the virus and let you know that you’re Packard. one of the foremost infected, too.” education historians He received a BS in electrical engineer- The proposed detection system would use ing and a BS in finance from the University of today, Dr. Zimmer- dozens of tiny, 3D-printed electrodes seeded man has been list- Pennsylvania in 1979 and an MBA from Har- with fragments designed to bind to the SARS- vard Business School in 1986. He serves or has ed among Education COV-2 virus’ spike proteins. These electrodes Week’s annual Top served on the Boards of the National Venture would then be deposited on conductive paper, Capital Association, the Overseers of the School 100 “Edu-Scholars” onto which a sample of respiratory droplets who influence public of Engineering of the University of Pennsylva- could be introduced. The electrodes’ overall re- nia, the African Wildlife Foundation, and the In- discussion in the US Jonathan Zimmerman sistance would go up as more viruses bound to for the past decade stitute of Contemporary Art. Born in Israel, Mr. the fragments, meaning the relative concentra- Nemirovsky is fluent in Hebrew. (Almanac January 28, 2020). tion of the virus could be instantaneously mea- Using the proceeds from the Berkow- sured with a potentiometer. itz Chair, Dr. Zimmerman is launching the Existing virus tests are based on assays of ge- Berkowitz Fellowship in History of Education INSIDE netic material, which take more than 24 hours, 2 Deaths beginning Fall 2021. It will help fund a fifth require much more expensive equipment and 3 Honors & Other Things year of study for doctoral students who are ad- reagents, and need to be conducted by trained 4 From the Provost & EVP: Update to mitted in tandem to the Graduate School of Edu- Undergraduates on Plans for the Fall Semester technicians. 5 From the Deputy Provost: Update to Graduate and cation and the School of Arts & Sciences depart- “With our proposal, a person could go to a Professional Students ment of history, where Dr. Zimmerman holds a testing site to see if their mask is infected, then 6 Tennis Courts Reopened; PPSA Board Members 7 Update; CrimeStats; Morris Arboretum (continued on page 3) follow-up with another kind of test if so,” Dr. 8 Bird-Friendly Film at Lauder College House ALMANAC August 4, 2020 www.upenn.edu/almanac 1 Deaths James Buchanan, Penn Vet Don Norris, CHOP Ward Plummer, SAS James Buchanan, Donald Geoffrey (Don) Norris, former as- E. Ward Plum- professor emeritus sistant professor of Pediatrics at CHOP, died at mer, former director in cardiology at the home with family in Audubon, Pennsylvania, on of LRSM and physics University of Penn- April 26 from cancer. He was 79. & astronomy profes- sylvania School of Dr. Norris was born in Pullman, Washing- sor at the University Veterinary Medicine, ton. He graduated from Pullman High School of Pennsylvania, died died July 20 in Phil- and Washington State University. He received July 23. He was 79. adelphia. He was 85. his MD from the University of Pennsylvania Dr. Plummer was Dr. Buchanan School of Medicine in 1966, and then pursued born in Astoria, Or- grew up in Jackson, advanced medical training at Henry Ford Hos- egon. He graduated Michigan. He re- pital in Detroit, Michigan, and the Mayo Clinic with a BA in phys- ceived his undergrad- Graduate School of Medicine. While stationed ics and mathematics uate degree in vet- in Frankfurt, Germany, Dr. Norris served three from Lewis and Clark erinary medicine in years as a general medical officer in the Third College in 1962 and Photo courtesy of Eddy Perez, LSU 1958 and his doctor- James Buchanan Armored Division of the US Army, reaching the earned his PhD in Ward Plummer ate in veterinary med- rank of major. physics from Cornell icine in 1960 from Michigan State University. He joined the faculty at CHOP as a lecturer in 1967. After completing a National Research In 1960, he accepted a research and teaching in pediatrics and was promoted to assistant pro- Council Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Nation- position at the University of Pennsylvania Veter- fessor that year. He left Penn in 1981. He also al Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), inary School and Hospital. He earned his MMS held positions at the Cleveland Clinic Founda- he remained as a staff scientist until 1973. While in cardiology from the University of Pennsylva- tion and the University of Medicine and Den- there, he was a central part of the team that de- nia’s School of Medicine in 1967. Dr. Buchanan tistry of New Jersey, before launching a second veloped single-electron spectroscopy, which en- was a full professor at Penn Vet for more than 40 career in peer review and quality improvement abled the first-ever glimpse into electronic ener- years. Dr. Buchanan was integral in establishing in the field of medicine. gy levels of atoms at the surface of a metal. veterinary cardiology as the scientific discipline Dr. Norris is survived by his wife, Sue; their Dr. Plummer was a leading scientist in materi- known today.