Time to Shine On the Road

Alumni Spotlight: Farnia Fresnel, ENG’98

After graduating from Penn with a B.S. in Systems and Engineering, Farnia Fresnel, ENG ’98, went on to receive her M.B.A. from NYU’s prestigious School of Business. From there, she put her education to good use, working at Citi and Morgan Stanley and eventually founding her own consulting firm, The Lenserf Group. An active member in the local community (she is Vice President for the GHAQ neighborhood association and a founding member of  Friends Of, a group focused on developing community enrichment programming for a local park) and in the Penn alumni realm as President of the Penn Engineering Alumni Society (EAS) and Co-Chair on the Penn Spectrum Planning conference, Ms. Fresnel was recently chosen by her Penn peers to receive the Young Alumni Award of Merit, in recognition of her outstanding engagement and many contributions to the University. 

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Expanding the Good of the Fox Leadership Program

Founders’ $5 million gift doubles number of fellowships dedicated to service and leadership.

For over a decade, the Fox Leadership Program has been a force for good at Penn, in Philadelphia, and across the nation. And now, thanks to a generous boost from its founders, Robert A. Fox, C’52, and Penny Grossman Fox, ED’53, the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania will be able to prepare even more students for lives of leadership and service.

Established in 1999 and permanently endowed in 2007 with a $10 million gift from its founders, the Fox Leadership Program engages thousands of students each year with its “study and serve” mission, using a combination of coursework, advising, events, and service experiences to equip and encourage Penn undergraduates to be public-spirited, results-oriented leaders both as students and after graduation.

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Quattrone Center: Redefining Justice

In recent years, scientific advances such as those in DNA testing have challenged idealism about the justice system by revealing errors in findings of guilt and innocence. The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, a national research and policy hub created to catalyze long-term structural improvements to the U.S. criminal justice system, will be the first in the nation focused explicitly on interdisciplinary, data-driven research and policy recommendations designed to prevent such errors.

Initial funding for the Center, established by a $15 million gift to Penn Law, comes from The Frank and Denise Quattrone Foundation. Trustees Frank Quattrone, W’77, and his wife Denise Foderaro, SAMP’78, are Penn graduates and Philadelphia natives.

“The Quattrone Center is being established with one fundamental purpose: to advance the fairness of our justice system by deepening our understanding of the most crucial issues affecting its performance and proposing improvements that will ensure a just process for all,” said Law School Dean Michael A. Fitts.

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Investing in Outstanding Leadership

A managing partner of a leading private equity firm, Ofer Nemirovsky, EE’79, W’79, understands the importance of a sound investment. He also recognizes outstanding talent and leadership. It was these two instincts that led Ofer and his wife, Shelly, to establish the Nemirovsky Family Deanship, an endowment that will provide financial and research support to the dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science in perpetuity, attracting the most successful scientific thought leaders in academia.

"The knowledge that the position of the Engineering dean is comfortably funded is gratifying," Ofer says. "In the short term, I am honored to have our family name paired with Dr. Eduardo Glandt, for whom I have great respect."

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Penn Alumni Turn Locust Walk Into Memory Lane: Alumni Weekend 2013

More than 8,000 proud alumni returned to their Penn home to rediscover their Red and Blue roots during Alumni Weekend, held May 10-13, 2013.

Returning Quakers reconnected with fellow classmates and recaptured their Penn pride while attending countless events and festivities. Not only did alumni find themselves reminiscing, but they engaged with faculty, classmates, and even Penn President Amy Gutmann in stimulating discussions, lectures, and panels. From film screenings and live theater performances to guided tours of new buildings and art galleries, there was something for everyone.

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