Score one for Penn’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library: the library recently acquired a large collection of the works, writings, and letters of Penn alumnus Chaim Potok, a noted Jewish-American novelist, rabbi, and professor who taught at Penn during the 80’s.
While Potok died in 2002, the University just received the papers for students and researchers to study his works and life. Potok was most known for his novels that captured the struggle between religious and secular life, such as “The Chosen” and “My Name is Asher Lev.”
Also included among the docs is a letter from Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who told Potok that he had read of all his works “with fervor and friendship.”
Next month, on Feb. 17, the Rare Book and Manuscript Library will celebrate the papers and what would have been the author’s 81st birthday.
As you know, Cosmo just released the “Hottest Bachelors of 2009″ issue. Representing DC is one Dan Katz, a 2004 Penn Grad. He sounds smart!
Name: Dan Katz Job: Grad Student
Personality profile: “I’m intelligent, driven, and deliberate.” Dating turnoff: “Neediness” Brainy fella: “I’m looking for a girl who’s smart. She’s gotta impress me with her intelligence.”
He’s game: “It’s sexy when a woman doesn’t agree with me. I like it when a girl challenges me.”
Hottest girl gear: “I’m a sucker for those knee-high leather boots.” Hint from a hottie: “I think women overanalyze men.”
His must-haves: “Books, the gym, and a vibrant social scene”
Usually a guy like this would be totally impossible to snag (not that we’re over-thinking men or analyzing why that is!). But thankfully, Cosmo provided an e-mail address. We took a shot at winning his heart, and surprisingly enough, we haven’t heard back yet. Check out our attempts after the jump, and send us yours if you go for it.
Penn sure pulled a fast one on chairman and chief executive of InVivo Therapeutics Inc. Frank Reynolds. See, he applied to a fancy pants Penn program to get a schmaltzy “Executive Masters in Technology Management” degree. And, he assumed that with a pretty sounding name like “Executive Masters” that this coveted degree would come from Wharton. Boy was Reynolds surprised when he discovered his Technology Management degree came from the lowly Engineering school. Uh oh! What’s a Penn grad to do? What any good all-American Ivy-Leaguer would do: sue.
According to the DP, Reynolds filed suit against the University because any ole Penn degree just wouldn’t do. But who can blame him? Come on now, we all know how much that Wharton name is worth. Or, well, I guess we don’t know exactly how much its worth. But it looks like a Philadelphia court does: $435,000. Yup, that’s right, Reynolds was awarded $435,000 to compensate for the worthwhile Penn degree.
In other news: Reynolds was recently named one of “America’s most innovative entrepreneurs” by Inc. magazine. Hmm… looks like he didn’t need that Wharton degree after all.
As you know by now, John Legend went to Penn. Fellow Quakers take pride in this fact, and as such, the Penn Alumni Relations people are making it even easier for Penn alum to support their own. Legend is performing August 15 at the Mann Center in Philly, and Penn Alumni Relations has reserved a bunch of tickets for the show. Want one? For just $25, it can be yours. Alums, click here for more info.
Once upon time Street employed an editor by the name of Stephen Morse. Morse was a ridiculous if entertaining character, even gaining 15 seconds of fame through his invention of the Assbrella in his post-Penn years. Morse was recently asked to donate to the Penn Fund. Absurdity ensued. Though these antics remind us of the spider e-mail of last fall, we enjoy the Penn twist.
Check out the entirety of the e-mail chain after the jump, because let’s be honest, your internship is boring the shit out of you this afternoon. (Note: clicking on the e-mails makes them life-sized and just that much more enjoyable to read.)
Listen up, Kerry Golds, this could be you in four short years: onetime Street editor and ‘05 alum Grant Ginder can officially update his already-impressive resume to include his new novel, This Is How It Starts, which is out in bookstores this week. Ginder was featured on Daily Intel yesterday, where he plugged his book and sadly made no mention of Penn. Good thing we never forget a Streetie! (We don’t, um, actually call ourselves that though.) The book, per Amazon, is “about how far one postcollegiate idealist will go to be an insider in a town that is unyielding in what it will take from a person in exchange for granting him a margin of knowledge and power.” Sounds juicy — we would expect nothing less from one of our own.
In case you missed it, Penn alum David Fraga (C ‘07) was recently on Fox Business News promoting his not-for-profit microfinance internet platform, Lend For Peace, designed to provide economic opportunities for specific micro-entrepreneurs in the Palestinian Territories. According to their website, Lend For Peace was “founded by two Jews and two Palestinians (all current or former Penn students) … to enable people of all faiths and backgrounds to make a tangible difference in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
Check out the heartwarming interview below:
*In addition to being a Penn alum, Fraga was also a Mask & Wigian, (cough, cough) just like Tae. -Ed.
In Obama’s “not-the-State-of-the-Union” State of the Union, he name-dropped Wharton alum Leonard Abess (father of Matt Abess, C ‘08) as an example of a selfless and responsible member of the finance industry. Abess distributed bonuses to past and current employees of Miami’s City National Bank based on years of service to the company. Some received up to $100,000. You may have caught a glimpse of Abess last night, seated with First Lady Michelle Obama in her private box. Quothbama:
“I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him. He didn’t tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, ”I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old. I didn’t feel right getting the money myself.’”
Right on! Whartonites, there still is hope for your souls.
Once upon a time, a super-cool New York-y little bookshop had to close and everyone was wistful and sad about it. No, we’re not talking about our favorite movie, You’ve Got Mail–NYC literary landmark Gotham Book Mart shut its doors in 2007. The Inquirer and the New York Times are now reporting that the store’s enviable book collection has been donated to Penn. Highlights of the collection include Truman Capote’s and Anais Nin’s personal libraries; Allen Ginsburg worked there and Jackie O. shopped there. Which is to say, it sounds like it was a very cool little shop.
The donation was anonymous, but the collection is reportedly valued at several million dollars. The NYT seems to think the gift came from Leonard A. Lauder, Penn alum and Gotham fairy godmother. Whoever it came from, the collection will fit in nicely with our library’s existing rareties, which include two of Shakespeare’s First Folios and several volumes bound in human skin.
A friendly tipster e-mailed us the other day with a note about the male restrooms in Rosengarten. Most Street editors are female, so it was news to us that Penn’s fundraising efforts even extend to sponsoring individual urinals. Yep, some of the urinals have plaques above them–one reads “The relief you are now experiencing is made possible by a gift from Michael Zinman.”
Another picture, and some speculation, after the jump.
Our ongoing love affair with New York Magazine continues with this week’s issue, which contains a profile of actress Becki Newton, best known for playing the fierce receptionist Amanda on Ugly Betty. And Newton went to Penn, just like you!
I said to my husband, ‘I’m going to get it!,’ ” she says. “But based on what? All my exquisite comedic work in a Nike commercial? Yet something about the character made perfect sense in my head, even though she’s so demented. I knew exactly how I wanted to portray her.”
Ugly Betty was Newton’s first serious gig; after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a history degree, she decided to pursue acting in New York, with the usual lack of success. “I auditioned for every play, even if they were looking for a 50-year-old African-American person, which confused a lot of casting directors,” Newton says drily. “Looking back, it’s horribly embarrassing, but I thought I was amazing. Somehow that prepped me for what I do now, because I’m not afraid to look stupid.”
Shameless attention slut with delusions of granduer? Sounds like a Penn girl to us–and we mean that in the best way.
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In Obama’s “not-the-State-of-the-Union” State of the Union, he name-dropped Wharton alum Leonard Abess (father of Matt Abess, C ‘08) as an example of a selfless and responsible member of the finance industry. Abess distributed bonuses to past and current employees of Miami’s City National Bank based on years of service to the company. Some received up to $100,000. You may have caught a glimpse of Abess last night, seated with First Lady Michelle Obama in her private box. Quothbama:
Our ongoing love affair with New York Magazine continues with this week’s issue, which contains 