As part of the Side Gigs for Good series, Penn Today highlights staff who spend time outside their work hours giving back to Philadelphia organizations.
Travelers at a security checkpoint at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago during the government shutdown in November.
(Image: Nam Y. Huh via Getty Images)
Air travel quandary: Gad Allon and Megan Ryerson on challenges and solutions
The recent government shutdown exposed long-standing issues facing commercial air travel. Leading into Thanksgiving holiday travel, Gad Allon of the Wharton School and Megan Ryerson of the Weitzman School of Design discuss the system’s infrastructure challenges and the need for workforce development.
Fourth-year Florence Onyiuke is a 2026 Rhodes Scholar.
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Penn fourth-year Florence Onyiuke named a 2026 Rhodes Scholar
Onyiuke has been awarded a 2026 Rhodes Scholarship, which funds tuition and a living stipend for graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. She is among 32 American Rhodes Scholars and an expected 100 worldwide.
Students work on a pop quiz in Daniel Gillion’s class.
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Machine learning and the social sciences
Daniel Gillion’s course teaches students without a coding background how to apply models to a wide range of problems across political science, economics, and sociology.
Alan Charles Kors (left) and Philip E. Tetlock, elected members of the members of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.
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New members of American Academy of Sciences and Letters
Alan Charles Kors and Philip E. Tetlock have been invested as members of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters, a nonprofit that promotes scholarship and honors achievement in the arts and sciences.
The Declaration of Independence on display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
(Image: Mark Schiefelbein via AP Images)
Connecting with America’s 250th anniversary
Ahead of the main event on July 4, 2026, marking the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Penn students, faculty, and staff will have multiple early opportunities to engage with America’s 250th anniversary.
Americans are having more political conversations than they were 24 years ago, and are more likely to be talking with people they agree with politically, Penn researcher Diana C. Mutz finds.
(Image: Hill Street Studios via Getty Images)
How has talking about politics changed in the last quarter-century?
Penn researcher Diana Mutz finds that we’re having more political conversations now with like-minded people, and that political intolerance has increased as a result.
Penn archivist J.J. Ahern has been putting his professional experience and personal passion for the past to work as a volunteer for the Navy’s 250th anniversary curating an exhibition about the human side of the service’s history.
Sanae Takaichi (center) was chosen as the new leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party during recent leadership elections.
(Image: Kyodo News via AP Images)
What to expect from the next Japanese prime minister
Penn political scientist Daniel Smith discusses this week’s Japanese prime minister election and the possible selection of a staunch conservative as the new premier.
