On Aug. 26, 2003, the worldwide movement to bring computers into classrooms lost one of its greatest advocates.
And the Penn engineering community lost one of its closest friends and advisers -- Sylvia Gorsky Charp, known for creating the online course component Blackboard, as well as for her flashy jewelry and proud gait.
Charp, who met her husband while studying at Penn, was a senior fellow in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, advising the school's administration weekly on enhancing the curriculum by incorporating technology.
Late last month, she died at age 84 after suffering complications from a car accident.
In addition to receiving her master's and doctorate of education degrees from Penn and teaching courses in the College of General Studies, she helped the Engineering school develop some of its computer-based educational initiatives, such as distance-learning and Blackboard, according to Helen Anderson, the Engineering School's technology coordinator.
Internationally, she was recognized for her leadership and expertise.
"She was really a pioneer in educational technology," Anderson said. "She was a promoter and a connector. She tried to encourage people to use computers, to help people understand the use of computers, and she also connected people so that they could talk to each other about this area."
Editor-in-chief of Technical Horizons on Education Journal, Charp served as an educational consultant across the country, as well as internationally, working with teams in Turkey, Russia, South Africa, India, Colombia and Japan.
Not only did her colleagues call her an icon in the field, but they also said that her early interest in educational technology -- dating back to the 1970s -- was unique.
"She started to work on that before anybody coined the expression 'digital divide,'" Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt said. "Sylvia sensed that drift of the two cultures, those who navigate the digital world and those who do not, and worked on bridging that gap before it was given that name."
But to Glandt, Anderson and others involved in the Engineering School, Charp was much more than an expert with incredible foresight.
Charp, famous around campus for her outspokenness and retro attire, was also a friend to administrators and students alike.
Glandt said that he used to look forward to monthly dinners with her because her sprightly personality and mothering tendencies were refreshing at the end of a long, tiring day at work.
"I had tremendous fun with her," Glandt said, adding that she would always order a lot of food and have him bring home the leftovers.
"We would... have endless discussions about everybody and everything," Glandt said. "She went to the grave never having minced one word.... Usually we don't verbalize things, and she had no compunction in verbalizing things and describing them by their names."
Mike Berry, who graduated from Penn Engineering in 1997 and helped introduce Charp to the Internet in 1994, agreed.
"The thing about Sylvia is that she could be very honest.... A lot of people liked to get her advice," Berry said. "She wouldn't ever sugarcoat anything."
While Charp was an educator herself, Berry said that her curiosity never ceased to amaze him.
"She was very open to learning about new things," Berry said. "That's what made it so interesting -- this was someone who knew so much more about everything, and here she was, eager to learn from someone who was so much younger."
