Important note: Please share this digital-only edition of Almanac with your colleagues. Read more. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Tuesday May 12, 2020 Volume 66 Number 34 www.upenn.edu/almanac Angela Duckworth: Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professorship Brigitte Weinsteiger: Associate Penn President Amy Gutmann, Wharton logical science to help children thrive. Her book Vice Provost for Collections and Dean Geoffrey Garrett and Penn Arts & Sciences Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance is Scholarly Communications at the Dean Steven J. Fluhar- a #1 New York Times University of Pennsylvania Libraries ty recently announced best seller, and her The University of the establishment of the TED talk on the top- Pennsylvania Librar- Rosa Lee and Egbert ic has reached nearly ies proudly announc- Chang Professorship at 20 million views. She es the appointment the University of Penn- earned a PhD in psy- of Brigitte Weinstei- sylvania, generously chology from Penn, ger as associate vice funded by Nancy Yang a master’s in neu- provost for collec- (W’92) in honor of her roscience from Ox- tions and scholarly parents. Angela Duck- ford University, and communications. In worth will be the inau- a bachelor’s in neu- this role, Ms. Wein- gural recipient, effec- robiology from Har- steiger directs the tive July 2020. vard University. strategy, advance- The endowed Rosa “Angela Duck- ment and growth of Lee and Egbert Chang Nancy Yang worth’s scholarship Angela Duckworth the Penn Libraries’ Professorship supports combines innovative preeminent collec- Brigitte Weinsteiger a dual appointment at the Wharton School and thinking and methodologies to examine how tions while promot- Penn Arts & Sciences’ department of psychology. people confront challenges and make good deci- ing academic engagement both on campus and A renowned expert on grit and self-control, sions,” said President Gutmann. “Nancy Yang’s with the Greater Philadelphia community. Ms. Dr. Duckworth is a SAS professor of psychology, thoughtful and generous support creating the Weinsteiger also collaborates both nationally faculty co-director of the Behavior Change for Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professorship will and internationally in the fields of collections Good Initiative, and faculty co-director of Whar- encourage ambitious, interdisciplinary research. and scholarly publishing. ton People Analytics. Dr. Duckworth joined the Advancing knowledge for the good of the world “We are extremely delighted that Brigitte has Penn faculty in 2006. Dr. Duckworth is a 2013 is a wonderful tribute to Nancy’s parents. We accepted the inaugural position of the associate MacArthur Fellow and Founder and CEO of are honored by her generosity and her heartfelt vice provost for collections and scholarly com- Character Lab, a non-profit that uses psycho- (continued on page 4) munications,” said Constantia Constantinou, H. Carton Rogers III Vice Provost and Director of Libraries. “Collections are a pillar of our strate- School of Arts & Sciences 2020 Teaching Awards gic plan, and under Brigitte’s leadership, we will The School of Arts and Sciences announces the following recipients of SAS 2020 teaching awards: make great strides in our goals to advance in- formation equity and ensure access to the schol- Ira H. Abrams Memorial Award for lously superficial or forbiddingly dense. That he arly and cultural record in all forms. Her exten- Distinguished Teaching has done it so successfully for so many years sive knowledge of scholarly publishing, coupled Created in 1983, the Ira H. Abrams Award shows how much thought and effort he puts into with her presence on national committees, recognizes teaching that is intellectually chal- teaching.” brings invaluable experience and expertise.” lenging and exceptionally coherent and honors The Charles and William L. Day Distin- In her new role Ms. Weinsteiger oversees the faculty who embody high standards of integri- guished Professor in the Natural Sciences in the Libraries’ $23 million budget for collections, its ty and fairness, have a strong commitment to department of biology, Mark Goulian’s teaching 8.5 million print and electronic volumes, and learning, and are open to new ideas. This year’s engages students in the complex interdisciplin- a rich array of digital resources. She leads the recipients of SAS’s highest teaching honor are: ary areas of his research, which, astonishingly, Collections and Scholarly Communications di- Paul Goldin, professor of East Asian lan- range from theoretical physics to experimental vision of the Penn Libraries and supervises the guages and civilizations, is known for his con- molecular biology and microbiology. His stu- collections-related functions of over 30 librar- tributions in shap- dents admire his en- ians across the system. Departments under her ing his department’s ergy and enthusiasm, purview include Collection Strategy; Preserva- undergraduate cur- his ability to engage tion; Acquisitions, Access, and Licensing; Schol- riculum and for his them and explain dif- arly Communications; Academic Engagement; skillful and creative ficult concepts, and and Community Outreach. She is responsible for approach to engaging his welcoming man- ensuring that the selection, acquisition, manage- students in Introduc- ner and approach- ment, and preservation of the Libraries’ collec- tion to Chinese Civ- ability. His depart- tions meet the diverse needs of the Penn commu- ilization. According ment chair reflects, nity; and for overseeing outreach to faculty and a faculty colleague, “it takes true teach- students at Penn, in Philadelphia, and beyond. “since his arrival at ing talent and depth (continued on page 4) Penn, the undergrad- of knowledge to uate education in bring it all together East Asian Languag- and have the students INSIDE es and Civilizations come to an apprecia- Mark Goulian 2 Deaths; Trustees; PPSA Meeting; Correction Paul Goldin tion of the common 3 Benefits Open Enrollment has been transformed 4 Pennovation Works by his vision and his stellar ability to deliver the thread of biological processes rather than see- 5 Honors & Other Things gateway course.” Dr. Goldin’s department chair ing biology as a complex collection of a mil- 6 COVID-19 Canine Scent Detection Study; agrees: “I can testify from personal experience lion facts. Clearly, Professor Goulian succeeds One Step Ahead Tip at this.” 7 Penn’s 2020 Virtual Commencement; how difficult it is to teach 3,000 years and more (continued on page 3) Update; CrimeStats of Chinese culture in a way that is not ridicu- 8 Fun Facts About Penn’s Previous Commencements ALMANAC May 12, 2020 www.upenn.edu/almanac 1 Deaths Open Meetings of the Howard Lesnick, Law a member of the board of directors of the Cen- Trustees of the Howard Lesnick, ter for Law and Human Values and Philadel- University of Pennsylvania Jefferson B. Fordham phia Community Legal Services, on the adviso- Professor of Law ry board for the Journal of Law and Religion, Thursday, May 14, 2020 Emeritus who built and as visiting fellow at the Center for Law and the foundation for the Social Policy. Among other awards, Mr. Lesnick There will be virtual meetings of the University of Penn- received a Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Budget & Finance Committee and the sylvania Carey Law Fellowship, the Society of American Law Teach- Executive Committee of the Trustees. School’s national- ers Distinguished Service Award, the Commu- Go to https://secretary.upenn.edu/ ly recognized public nity Legal Services Equal Justice Award, the trustees-governance/open-trustee-meeting service program and American Association of Law Schools Deborah Please contact the Office of the Uni- was part of Penn Law Rhode Award for contributions to public service, versity Secretary at (215) 898-7005 with for 50 years, died and the University of Pennsylvania Law School questions regarding Trustee meetings or April 19 after a brief Beacon Award. your attendance plans. illness. He was 88. Howard Lesnick “Howard never forgot the true meaning of le- Mr. Lesnick was gal practice,” said Ted Ruger, Dean and Bernard born in New York City and raised in the Bronx G. Segal Professor of Law. “He intuitively un- and Bangor, Pennsylvania. He graduated from derstood that lawyers had a professional respon- PPSA Election Meeting and New York University with a BA in history in sibility to help the less fortunate gain access to Nominations Deadline: May 13 1952. He went on to earn a master’s in Amer- justice and made a point of instilling those val- Nominations are open for positions on the ican history in 1953 and a law degree in 1958 ues into the culture of the Law School.” Penn Professional Staff Assembly (PPSA) Execu- from Columbia University. He also served in the Dean Ruger continued, “He had an immea- tive Board and University Council Committees. US Army, 1953-1955. surable impact on Penn Law. Hundreds and All monthly-paid, full-time University staff mem- After law school, he practiced law and hundreds of students are working in the public bers are eligible to participate and are encouraged clerked for US Supreme Court Justice J.M. Har- interest due to his influence. He brought glory to self-nominate or nominate colleagues for con- lan before joining the Penn Law faculty in 1960 to our institution and everyone who knew him sideration by no later than Wednesday, May 13. as an assistant professor. He became a full pro- was better for it.” For more information and for nomination forms, fessor in 1965. Mr. Lesnick helped establish Mr. Lesnick is survived by his wife, Carolyn visit https://ppsa.upenn.edu/2020-call-for-board- Penn Law’s original Center on Professionalism, Schodt; his children, Alice (Robert Goldberg), and-committee-nominations/ which became a national model for similar pro- Caleb Schodt (Carolyn Ingram) and Abigail The 2020-2021 election for officers will grams all over the country, and he served as a (Jonathan Marvinny); brothers, Irving (Sheila) occur following PPSA’s annual meeting on participating faculty member 1982-1996.