On Nov.14, Philadelphia Magazine held its annual ThinkFest, which invited many of Philadelphia’s brightest minds to discuss ideas and innovations that can potentially change the future of the city.
Penn President Amy Gutmann was among the speakers, along with “The Sixth Sense” writer M. Night Shyamalan , Drexel President John Fry , Philadelphia Schools Superintendent William Hite and Saxbys Coffee CEO Nick Bayer . Hosted at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business , ThinkFast attracted around 400 guests from a diverse background, as well as University City students.
Speakers shared their ideas on how to make Philadelphia a “world-class city,” which ranged from improving healthcare to educational reform.
Brand Manager of Replica Creative , a design and print marketing firm, Keith Leaphart listed “performing arts, culinary arts, architectural arts” as creative segments of the city and suggested that “creativity is the biggest asset” for Philadelphia.
Gutmann pointed to innovation as a valuable asset for the city. “Historically, it’s a fundamental truth that the greatest innovations come from collaboration,” she said. She proudly discussed Penn’s newly launched Pennovation Center and expressed her belief in the nonprofit research engine’s impact on the city of Philadelphia as a whole.
When asked about underrepresented minority groups and gender bias in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Gutmann said that Penn’s two consecutive MacArthur Genius Award winners are both women, and Penn’s women faculty increased from 16 to 35 percent since she became Penn’s president.
In addition to sharing Penn’s vision on innovation and research in STEM, Gutmann also made insightful comments on the current state of humanities fields. When asked by the interviewer about her comment on a Harvard Crimson article that criticized elite schools for treating students as “human capital,” Gutmann shared her personal experience as a social studies major.
“If you can’t communicate well, there is no profession in which you can excel. And it is so important for the country to support the humanities,” Gutmann said.
In the afternoon, other ThinkFest speakers also shared their mutual love for Philadelphia and visions on the city’s future development.
Fry envisioned the future of the University District as an innovation neighborhood, and he emphasized Drexel’s mission in shaping the surrounding area to be more lively. Hite discussed the challenges faced by the school district and outlined his agenda for tackling them.
Karen Buchholz, the senior vice president of Comcast, presented the company’s plans for the new innovation and technology center, which she said will have staggering economic impact on Philadelphia and be the highest building in the city after its completion in 2017.
Emma Fried-Cassorla , founder of “Philly Love Notes,” shared her story behind the popular blog and showed the audience many inspiring love notes for Philadelphia. She hopes to gather people together to talk about their love for the city and to “connect people to something larger.”
