Jasmine Wilson of Howard University discusses her research with Presidential Associate Professor Daniel Gillion of Political Science. Photo credit: Alex Schein
Eight Penn schools joined forces this fall to put on the first Penn Honors Diversity (PHD) symposium, welcoming outstanding undergraduates from the Middle States region—particularly those from underrepresented groups—to learn about the value and availability of a Ph.D.-level education. The visiting students met current graduate students and faculty and presented their own research at a poster session. Panels ranged from practical advice about job opportunities and how to get into graduate school to topics like “Can I Get a Ph.D. and Still Have a Life?”
The PHD steering committee was led by Eve Troutt Powell, associate dean for graduate studies and Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of History and Africana Studies in Penn Arts and Sciences, and Michael Nusbaum, associate dean for graduate education, director of biomedical graduate studies, and professor of neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine. As a keynote speaker, Larry Gladney, the Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Professor for Faculty Excellence in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the associate dean for natural sciences in Penn Arts and Sciences, described his own path to a Ph.D.
