Events 2014-2015

Please join us on Tuesday, May 12, 2015 as we explore the challenges involved in maintaining an urban wilderness park in the Wissahickon section of Fairmount Park.

Our day begins at 10:00 a.m. with coffee or tea, juice, bagels, and danish in the historic Valley Green Inn. We will then board vans for a tour of Forbidden Drive narrated by Dr. Maura McCarthy, Executive Director of the Friends of the Wissahickon and PASEF’s own Professor David Pope of SEAS. From time to time we will stop for those who wish to take short excursions on side trails. At noon we will return to Valley Green Inn for lunch and informal discussion.

To join us for an enlightening and eye-opening study of an often overlooked urban gem, please contact Heidi George at emeritus@pobox.upenn.edu or 215-746-5972 for reservations and more information. The deadline for reservations is May 3, 2015. Guests are welcome. Cost: $25 per person includes meals and tour. Driving directions to the Valley Green Inn can found at www.valleygreeninn.com. Please let us know if you need a ride and we will try to arrange one.

PASEF/ASEF-PSOM Lecture

12:00-1:30 p.m.

Thomas Childers, PhD, History

Dr. Childers is the Sheldon and Lucy Hackney Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. His research and teaching specialty is modern German history and World War II. A prodigious author, he is also quite well known for his legendary and distinguished teaching career spanning two decades. Since 1997, Dr. Childers has received many of the highest honors for outstanding teaching awarded by the University of Pennsylvania.

The lecture will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in the Hourglass Room in the University Club in the Inn at Penn. Lunch is available for a modest cost.

This session offers expert advice about the practical nuts-and-bolts aspects of the transition to retirement, such as phased retirement options, the Faculty Income Allowance Program (FIAP), pre-retirement sabbaticals, health and other benefits for eligible retirees and their families, emeritus status, and the rights and privileges of retired faculty. The speakers will be Hilary Lopez, Senior Benefits Specialist in the University’s Human Resources office, and Victoria Mulhern, Executive Director of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development in the Perelman School of Medicine. (Hilary and Vicki also spoke in November at a similar session organized by PSOM’s ASEF. That event was oriented primarily to Medical School faculty, while the April 21 program will be relevant to faculty from all schools–including Medicine, for those who missed the fall presentation.)

3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Class of ’55 Room on the second floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library

Penn Law School, Silverman Hall, Room S240B

3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m. (catered reception to follow)

Dr. Tishkoff’s lecture, “Integrative Genomic Studies of Evolution and Adaptation in Africa,” will cover the important role African populations have played in human history, and will present the tremendous cultural, linguistic, climatic, and genetic diversity in a region considered to be the homeland of all modern human populations. The study of these aspects of the lives of African peoples includes research into human genomic diversity, the genetic basis of adaptation to diverse environments and diets, adaptation to infectious diseases, and why Pygmies carry the trait of short stature.

Dr. Sarah Tishkoff, the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor in Genetics and Biology, holds appointments in both the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences. In addition, she is a PIK endowed chair, and a recipient of the NIH Pioneer Award.

At this session, a panel of retired Penn faculty will reflect candidly about their own decisions to retire, offer practical advice about opportunities and pitfalls in the retirement process, and describe what life in retirement has been like for them. The speakers will be Peter Conn (SAS/English), Audrey Evans (PSOM/CHOP), Lois Evans (Nursing), and Ross Webber (Wharton). A reception will follow the panel discussion, offering an opportunity for informal conversation among panelists and attendees.  Although a formal RSVP is not necessary, we would appreciate an indication of attendance for the purpose of a head count for the caterer.

3:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Class of ’55 Room on the second floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library

PASEF/ASEF-PSOM Luncheon

12:00 p.m.

Olivia S. Mitchell: Financial Literacy and Financial Decision-making

Dr. Mitchell recently completed an assessment of a rapidly growing body of economic research on financial literacy. She will discuss recent theoretical research that casts financial knowledge as a form of investment in human capital. She will present findings from recent surveys that show how much (or how little) people know, and identify the least financially savvy population subgroups. Dr. Mitchell will address how financial literacy affects economic decision-making. She will conclude her lecture with some thoughts on what remains to be learned if researchers are to better inform theoretical and empirical models as well as public policy.

Dr. Olivia S. Mitchell is the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans Professor, as well as Professor of Insurance/Risk Management and Business Economics/Policy; Executive Director of the Pension Research Council; and Director of the Boettner Center on Pensions and Retirement Research; all at the Wharton School.

The lecture will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in the Hourglass Room in the University Club in the Inn at Penn. Lunch is available for a modest cost.

ASEF-PSOM/PASEF Luncheon

The past decade has brought advances in our understanding of the genetic basis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These devastating disorders affect approximately 1:68 infants born in the United States each year. One key finding is that in the majority of cases of ASD, individuals do not harbor a defect in a single gene, but instead have many genetic defects in neural development in general. Dr. Bucan’s laboratory focuses on the essential genes in autism, and how testing in both mice and humans reveals genetic variation.

Dr. Maja Bucan is a Professor of Genetics at the Perelman School of Medicine. She earned her PhD from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and conducted postdoctoral research in both London and Philadelphia. She joined the Department of Psychiatry in 1990, and the Department of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002.

The lecture will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in the Hourglass Room in the University Club in the Inn at Penn. Lunch is available for a modest cost.

PASEF/ASEF Luncheon

Today there are many types of tests and testing that can be performed away from the confines of a hospital. P4 Medicine (Personalized, Predictive, Preventive, and Participatory) is designed to slash the costs of laboratory testing (for example, through the use of Wellness Centers). This modern option may curb the spiraling costs of healthcare. As consumers we have access to many locations that provide direct testing, such as pharmacies and retail health clinics. Also available in our technological age is the capacity for Direct to Consumer testing and collection kits via the Internet. New routes for obtaining testing devices such as thermometers, blood pressure monitors,and glucose meters are also increasing. Finally, due to the explosion of medical apps on phones and tablets, self-testing and monitoring devices are quickly creating unprecedented possibilities in medicine.

Dr. Larry J. Kricka is Director of the General Chemistry and the Critical Care Laboratories, and Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. His current research focuses on point-of-care and direct to consumer testing.

The lecture will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in the Hourglass Room in the University Club in the Inn at Penn. Lunch is available for a modest cost.

PASEF/ASEF Luncheon

Dr. Brendan O’Leary will present “The State of Kurdistan and the State of Kurdistan,” an up-to-date review of the politics of contemporary Iraq, and US foreign policy, centered on the Kurdistan region, which has recently come under attack from the Islamic State.

O’Leary is the Lauder Professor of Political Science at Penn. He was born in Ireland, raised in Nigeria, the Sudan,and Northern Ireland, and educated at Oxford and the London School of Economics. In 2014, he received the inaugural Juan Linz Prize of the International Political Science Association in recognition of his scholarship on decentralization, multinational and ethnic conflict, and federalism.

He was appointed constitutional advisor to the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq from 2003-2009. From 2009-2010 he served as Senior Advisor on Power Sharing to the United Nations. His ideas contributed to the Good Friday Accords,which ended the sectarian violence in North Ireland.

O’Leary has published three books especially relevant to his November 13 talk: The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq(2005), Terror, Insurgency, and the State: Ending Protracted Conflicts (2007), and How to Get Out of Iraq with Integrity(2009).

The lecture will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in the Hourglass Room in the University Club in the Inn at Penn. Lunch is available for a modest cost.

PASEF/ASEF Luncheon

Amita Sehgal will present: Tick-tock, time to wake up: timing of behavior and physiology by the clocks within us.

Dr. Sehgal will describe the functioning of our internal circadian clocks. She will discuss how our clocks are synchronized with the environment, and are driven by various metabolic and physiological changes which determine the rhythms of sleep, wakefulness, and eating patterns. Dr. Sehgal will also discuss the molecular mechanisms effecting circadian clocks, and why daily rhythms are significant.

Dr. Amita Sehgal is Director of the Chronobiology Program, and the John Herr Musser Professor of Neuroscience at the Perelman School of Medicine. She pioneered a model which studies the regulation of sleep which has been adopted by laboratories worldwide. Dr. Sehgal received her PhD from the Graduate School of Medical Studies, Cornell University.

The lecture will be held from 12:00-1:30 p.m. in the Hourglass Room in the University Club in the Inn at Penn. Lunch is available for a modest cost.

25-Year Club Annual Dinner

Dr. Adrian Raine is a global leader in the modern study of neurocriminology. He applies techniques from neuroscience, such as brain imaging, to study how biological and social factors interact to cause criminal behavior, especially violent crime. Dr. Raine was recruited to Penn in 2007 as a PIK (Penn Integrates Knowledge) professor. A former chair of Penn’s Department of Criminology, he holds the Richard Perry University Professorship in Criminology, Psychiatry, and Psychology. His 2013 book, The Anatomy of Violence, received widespread attention and resulted in numerous media appearances. Dr. Raine was educated at Oxford University and York University in his native England. He and his collaborators are conducting on-going research projects in the United States, China, Mauritius, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The lecture will be held from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in the Class of ’49 Auditorium, 2nd Floor Houston Hall.

During the past thirty years architects have used increasingly sophisticated simulation tools and ever escalating performance goals to evaluate the environmental performance of buildings. These goals have come to be known as “net-zero energy,” “net-zero water” and other net-zero measurements.  Dr. Braham will present his most recent projects and explain their holistic approach to fundamental design questions such as, “how much is enough?”

Dr. William W. Braham, FAIA, is Director of the Master of Environmental Building Design and the TC Chan Center for Building Simulation and Energy Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He received an engineering degree from Princeton University, and Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Pennsylvania