Using a President’s Engagement Prize, fourth-years Justin Wang, Janine Haros, and Eric Lee will dedicate the first year after graduation to Shared Vision, a project that will provide unhoused populations in Philadelphia with comprehensive vision care and related social support.https://bit.ly/4us1bKf

Fourth-year finance major Margaret Zhu received the President’s Innovation Prize for Serpent Robotics, which is prototyping a rope-climbing, ground-controlled robotic arborist system to improve safety in a dangerous industry. Read More: https://bit.ly/4ukqSwa

Physician-scientist Kate O’Neill brings patients hope. She directs innovative research that helps people suffering from infertility, endometriosis, and other issues build families and have excellent quality-of-life. Learn more about how PennMatters: https://www.upenn.edu/about/penn-matters

In recent decades, Penn has taken major steps to build a stronger, supportive relationship with its neighbors in West Philadelphia and beyond. This article examines the University’s community engagement efforts amid widespread societal change. Read More: https://bit.ly/3ODe4C5

Views from Hey Day 🔴 🔵 Relive the day and see if you can spot yourself in the crowd in our 146-photo Flickr album: https://bit.ly/4cXy1eJ

Wharton School fourth-year Gabrielle Fine plans to pursue sustainability consulting after graduation. Fine is an undergraduate who has benefited from the Quaker Commitment, which guarantees full tuition for families with typical assets making $200,000 or less. Read More: https://bit.ly/4eSWzZ0

A Penn Engineering and Penn Medicine team built CAMEL, an artificial intelligence model that forecasts dangerous cardiac rhythms before they strike. Their findings pave the way for a new era of real-time, predictive heart care. Read More: https://bit.ly/42HRb3v

Working with community partners, Penn offices offer options for off-campus pickups, on-campus donations, and additional curbside trash pickup days aimed at keeping the neighborhood clean and limiting what ends up in the landfill. Read More: https://bit.ly/4201u2T

Commencement is just 3 weeks away! Share your special moments with us using #PennGrad to be featured at the ceremony on May 18th.

Six Penn fourth-years and three recent graduates have each received a 2026 Thouron Award to pursue graduate studies in the United Kingdom. Thouron Scholars receive tuition for as long as two years, as well as travel and living stipends. Read More: https://bit.ly/4vRZuaF

Vendor Matt Nam, founder of ViaNexta and Win Win Coffee, counts on Penn support to help sustain and grow his local businesses, both as a distributor of his company's products on campus and a source of talent. https://www.upenn.edu/about/penn-matters

The 130th annual Penn Relays featured track and field athletes of all levels competing at Franklin Field from Thursday through Saturday, April 23-25. Penn athletes marked numerous milestones during the world-famous meet. Read More: https://bit.ly/4cU30IV

The Biochemical Engineering of Wine course provides a real-world application of engineering principles, teaching students about the science behind the processes involved with making wine. Read More: https://bit.ly/48FtMDB

Jana Dweek, a fourth-year on the women’s squash team, discusses the team’s national championship-winning season. Dweek clinched the national title for the Quakers. The victory marked the women’s squash team’s first national title in 26 years. Read More: https://bit.ly/42w3rE8

"Five from Penn elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences--Mark G. Allen, Sara Cherry, Provost John L. Jackson, Jr., Michael E. Mann & Duncan Watts recognized for contributions to bio, social, natural, physical & behavioral sciences" via @upenn.edu News: penntoday.upenn.edu/news/five-pe...

Mark G. Allen, Sara Cherry, Provost John L. Jackson, Jr., Michael E. Mann, and Duncan Watts have been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an honorary society and independent research center. Read More: https://bit.ly/42odLhv

Penn’s tree-lined campus is in bloom, and the community takes advantage of any T-shirt-weather day in the abundance of outdoor spaces for studying, lounging, and some spikeball. View All of the Photos: https://bit.ly/3OFjdth

The Penn Dental GRD Lab is more than a classroom—it’s a rite of passage. Madeline Dwamena (D'26) shares how comprehensive, hands‑on training in the GRD lab at Penn Dental Medicine is preparing her to enter the profession of dentistry.

Research led by Penn Dental’s Henry Daniell shows that antiviral and antibacterial chewing gums reduce the levels of three microbes linked to worse outcomes in oral cancers, paving the way for more effective and affordable therapies. Read More: https://bit.ly/3QQ4Y5o

Catherine Seavitt of Penn's Weitzman School of Design examines the connections between public space and public health through the lens of ecology, policy, and plant science. Learn more about how Penn Matters: https://www.upenn.edu/about/penn-matters

Jean Bennett, Albert Maguire, and Katherine High have been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for developing the first FDA-approved gene therapy that dramatically improves vision in people with a form of blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis. Read More: https://bit.ly/48dUnau

Penn’s NSF AIRFoundry brings together researchers from across Penn and partner institutions to improve how RNA is designed, manufactured, and delivered, with potential applications spanning medicine, agriculture, animal health, and environmental sustainability. https://bit.ly/4vAzpwx

Dancing in unison, rehearsing lines, practicing instruments, harmonizing together: These experiences are a window into the vibrant world of student-run performing arts groups at Penn. Check out more photos in Penn Today: https://bit.ly/3O9rqWv

Eight fourth-years representing four teams have won the 2026 President’s Engagement, Innovation, and Sustainability Prizes, which will advance their work in robotics, energy efficiency, vision care, and childhood development. Read More: https://bit.ly/4sDH8ai

Same place, different chapter.

In a Q&A, President J. Larry Jameson discusses how Penn Forward’s initial nine priority initiatives aim to build trust with the people Penn serves, enable bold discovery, and extend Penn’s reach geographically and across a lifetime. Read More: https://bit.ly/42eDQPX

Ahead of the season two finale of “The Pitt” this week, Bobbie Poller shares how the hit medical drama compares to his experience as a nurse in Penn Presbyterian Medical Center’s emergency department. Read More: https://bit.ly/4elNac4

Penn Today spoke with three Penn experts about the Artemis II crew’s use of social media during the mission, how space images are more than just pretty pictures, and why space continues to fascinate. Read More: https://bit.ly/3Q88Azv

Enmanuel Martínez supports first-generation and limited-income students through Penn First Plus, expanding their access to campus resources and professional opportunities. https://www.upenn.edu/about/penn-matters

Fourth-year Caitlyn Chen plans to pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. and develop medical devices that can make diagnostics for rare diseases more affordable, especially in migrant communities. Read More: https://bit.ly/4dJzyaC

The Eastern Redbud on College Green is covered in gorgeous cauliflorous blooms!

The 2027 Ivy Madness men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will be held at The Palestra in conjunction with the historic venue’s 100th anniversary celebration. Read More: https://bit.ly/41K5lRz

Linguist Marlyse Baptista, neuroscientist Nacho Sanguinetti, and humanities scholar Fritz Breithaupt were hired through MindCORE for research that fits into the theme of "interconnected minds." @pennmindcore.bsky.social Read More: https://bit.ly/4tDDM86

Members of Penn’s Pan-Asian American Community House unveiled a new mural in the ARCH building. Acknowledging the United States’ Semiquincentennial, the installation features 250 mandalas symbolizing connection, individuality, and community.

Ahead of Take Back the Night, a global event condemning sexual assault, President J. Larry Jameson asks the Penn community to support one another in building a network of awareness, accountability, and allyship. Read More: https://bit.ly/48oouvP

How do small icebergs affect the waters around them? Assistant Professor Hugo Ulloa and a Hokkaido University colleague found that icebergs don’t sit passively. Rather they release dense, cold water and jet across the surface, churning and mixing everything in their paths.

Collecting Colors 🎨

Ahead of an AI Month panel showcasing AI use in the classroom at Penn, Catherine Turner of the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation poses three questions instructors can consider while planning AI-informed assignments and activities. Read More: https://bit.ly/3OsDOkl

How do we develop public trust in AI to make important medical diagnoses? René Vidal works to solve this problem by developing AI algorithms that are easier to understand, reliable, and trustworthy, helping make AI safer and more transparent in real-world use.

From connecting with her Andean roots to helping patients access medical records at a North Philadelphia clinic, fourth-year Penn Nursing student Melanie Contreras is breaking down barriers to care. Read More: https://bit.ly/4md2cTm

Penn Medicine pharmacies are streamlining care through advances in automation, AI, and delivery technology, enabling pharmacists to work directly with patients, doctors, and nurses. https://bit.ly/3Qio8AB

Penn Electric Racing has unveiled REV 11 🏁 Next, they’ll compete at the Formula SAE Electric competition in Michigan, where student teams design, build, and race formula-style electric vehicles.

“Betty,” Penn’s first University-wide high-performance computing and artificial intelligence cluster, is reshaping research across Schools and Centers. Read More: https://bit.ly/4m9tFFI

Members of the Weitzman School are transforming unavoidable food waste—like fruit peels and eggshells, which account for 14.8% of post-consumer restaurant food waste—into durable, biodegradable building materials in collaboration with Penn Dining. Read More: https://bit.ly/4s8vEeL

On Friday, Holi returned to College Green, bringing students together for a burst of color and energy. The tossing of vibrant powders represented the triumph of good over evil and reflected Penn's multicultural pride and strong community, as vibrant festivities filled the air.

As founder and director of the Computational Social Science Lab, PIK Professor Duncan Watts and his team are using new technologies to explore how people behave, how media works, how society functions, and how the human mind operates. Read More: https://bit.ly/47sKxRO

Raymond Tabak leads Penn's Medical Emergency Response Team, helping keep Penn and the Philadelphia area safe through outreach, health workshops, and emergency medical care. Learn more about how Penn Matters to community: https://bit.ly/4mjndKI

In his new book, Steven Weitzman, Ella Darivoff Director of the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, explores how the biblical story of the 10 plagues has been retold for millennia as people make sense of and respond to the disasters of their times. Read More: https://bit.ly/4816irY

2025 President’s Innovation Prize recipients Melanie Herbert and Alexandra Popescu are leveraging AI and privacy-focused computing to address the crisis of an aging population and overburdened health care staff. Read More: bit.ly/4rLQyjL

Class of 2030, this is YOUR moment! 🎉💙❤️ You are so many things, and we can’t wait to see you on campus!