Faculty authors honored at bookstore

They prepare lectures, grade papers and deal with grade-obsessed students -- and on top of that, Penn professors publish award-winning books sold at the neighborhood bookstore. It's all part of the job. Around 30 Penn faculty authors were honored last Wednesday with a reception at the University of Pennsylvania Bookstore cafe. Sipping wine and munching on cheese, the writers mingled and enjoyed displays of their recently published works at the event, sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania Press. According to Penn Press Director Eric Halpern, Penn faculty members published about 75 books this semester. He estimated that roughly 25 percent of Penn Press authors are somehow University-affiliated. The publisher's mission is to "share knowledge and scholarly insight." This sharing of knowledge takes major effort on the part of already burdened faculty members. Biology Professor Ann Fowler Rhoads, co-author of The Plants of Pennsylvania, said she completed her book "with great difficulty, by working many hours of the day, night [and] weekend." Music Professor Cristle Judd, author of Reading Renaissance Music Theory, sympathized. "I didn't sleep," she said. Faculty authors say they value highly their time spent with students -- as taxing as it is to balance both tasks. "I wouldn't give up either one of them," Rhoads' co-author, Biology Professor Timothy Block, said. In fact, Rhoads and Block weaved student opinions into their book. "We tried out parts of the book on our classes.... [We had] two years with students as guinea pigs," Rhoads said. Wharton Professor Michael Steele, author of Stochastic Calculus and Financial Applications, agreed. "The book wouldn't have been written without the participation of the students," he noted. Some professors push student involvement a bit farther than feedback. "There were students who were involved in some of the research," said Ira Schwartz, dean of the School of Social Work and co-author of Kids Raised by the Government. In addition, many sections of Wharton Professor Olivia Mitchell's book Pensions in the Public Sector were actually co-written by students. The double duty of Penn faculty members does not go unnoticed. Halpern said that several authors have been "very successful." For instance, The Plants of Pennsylvania and Building America's First University, co-written by Urban Studies Professor George Thomas and Art History Professor David Brownlee, have sold more than 8,000 copies combined.