Eight professors named for fellowship

Robert Carpick is used to doing experiments in his lab, but he's about to become the guinea pig for a new program.

The Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics professor is among an inaugural group of eight faculty recently selected for the Penn Fellows program.

The newly-launched initiative seeks to provide mid-career Penn faculty members with leadership development through University networking opportunities, including a series of intimate monthly dinners that kick off with an event at Penn President Amy Gutmann's house.

The other fellows include Marketing and Statistics professor Eric Bradlow, Graduate School of Education professor Marybeth Gasman, Annenberg School for Communications professor John Jackson, Jr., Psychology professor Sharon Thompson-Schill and School of Medicine professors Charles Branas, Joshua Metlay and Sarah Tishkoff.

"We're trying to tap into a stream of faculty who have shown great promise as faculty leaders and introduce them to issues that confront Penn and all of higher education," said associate Provost for Faculty Affairs Vincent Price, who spearheaded the program with Provost Ron Daniels.

The group will also have the chance to meet with administrative leaders around campus and possibly hear outside speakers, all with the goal of "exposing them to a wider array of groups they may not normally perceive," Price said.

At the same time, he added, the fellowship will not take professors out of their normal roles in the classroom.

The Provost's Office accepted nominations from school deans and faculty before selecting a small, "mid-career" group. Fellows will serve for two years, but new members will be brought in each year.

Students say they have high opinions of the professors selected as Penn Fellows.

"He's good at teaching beyond just his subject," said Engineering sophomore Lucas Hartman of Carpick, whom he had as a professor last year. "He's definitely a people person and ... he cared about making concepts you learned applicable in the real world."

The University has been striving to develop strong academic leaders before they officially step into leadership roles for some time, according to Price.

He said he hopes the program will direct faculty attention to University-wide issues and provide a sounding board to the Provost's Office.

And the fellows are excited to connect further with the Penn community.

"The part I look forward to the most is interacting with people in different schools and bringing my business background to people with different disciplines," Bradlow said. "It's a chance to make my research known to people outside my direct community and a chance to reevaluate what I teach."

Jackson also said he appreciates Penn's support of faculty at different stages in their careers.

"Sometimes you get so preoccupied with your own research that you forget to make time to interact with other folks in the community," he said.

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