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2004 Dean's Scholars
Click on a picture to read about their achievements.
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Lauren Barr, C’04 A Biochemistry submatriculant into Penn’s Biotechnology Masters program, Lauren is also a Vagelos Scholar. Since her freshman year, she has conducted research on embryonic brain development in Zebrafish in the Medical School’s Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. This work has led to her thesis on the development of neurons that produce either dopamine or serotonin, the future clinical implications of which are that patients with neurological disorders can possibly be treated by artificially manufactured versions of these neurons. Awarded the Helix Prize from the Biochemistry Department as a junior for co-chairing the undergraduate Biological Chemistry Seminar Series, Lauren is a contributing author on a paper about the genes involved in brain segmentation in Zebrafish during embryonic development that will soon be submitted to Development, a premier science journal. After graduating from Penn, Lauren will enter medical school where she will pursue an M.D./Ph.D. program and study Neuroscience.
Jonathan Bronson, C’05 As a Biochemistry submatriculant into Penn’s graduate Chemistry program, throughout his time in the College, Jonathan has worked on projects involving x-ray crystallography, organic synthesis of dendritic molecules and protein modeling in laboratories in the Medical School and Chemistry Department. A member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Benjamin Franklin Scholar, in 2003, Jonathan participated in an archeological dig in Turkmenistan where he helped excavate a bronze-age trading post and was one of three hundred students nationwide awarded a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for his Junior and Senior years at Penn. As a junior he began tutoring University City High School students in Mathematics and Chemistry as a volunteer for the West Philadelphia Tutoring Project community service group. Jonathan plans to write his Biochemistry senior thesis on protein design and in the future would like to work toward his Ph.D. in the field of Chemistry.
Simon Brooks, C’04 A childhood interest in theoretical mathematics led to Simon’s pursuit of a Math major in the College at Penn where he is also majoring in English. As a submatriculant in the Mathematics Department, Simon will also graduate with a Masters degree for which he is currently writing his thesis on complex dynamical systems, the long-term behavior of iterated mappings of complex numbers. A dedicated tutor in Math and Physics since his sophomore year, Simon received an award of recognition from the Penn Tutoring Center in 2003. As a senior, Simon also taught 12th-grade physics at a Philadelphia high school. Throughout his undergraduate years, Simon has served
as head director for the Hillel /University City Hospitality Coalition Sunday night soup kitchen. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Simon plans to attend graduate school where he will pursue a Ph.D. in Mathematics with the goal of becoming a professor.
Sarah Chesney, C’05 Sarah’s attraction to ancient cultures led her to double major in Classical Studies and Anthropology with a concentration in Archeology. Sarah’s additional interests in classical Greek language and civilization and historical archeology have led to a position she has held since her freshman year as a collections assistant in the Mediterranean section of the University Museum. A recipient of the Jay and Deborah Tartell endowed scholarship for study at Penn and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sarah is the current president of the University’s women’s rugby club and for the past three summers has taught confidence building skills to young girls through outdoor education. In the summer of 2004, Sarah will travel to Maryland to work on an archeological project excavating the first city in the state and would like to eventually earn a Ph.D. in Anthropology with a concentration in Historical Archeology.
Jeffrey Cohen C’05 A double major in Molecular Biology and Economics with a minor in Chemistry, Jeffrey was one of fifty college students nation-wide awarded a Department of Homeland Security Scholarship. As a student researcher in the Department of Surgery he has explored treatments to reduce effects of chronic heart disease, presented his work at the June 2003 International Society for Minimally-Invasive Cardiac Surgery Conference and has co-authored a paper accepted by the Journal of Thoracic and Cardio-vascular Surgery for publication in 2004. A recipient of the Institute of Economic Research Kuznets Award presented annually to two Penn juniors, Jeffrey will spend the summer of 2004 in Washington with the Department of Homeland Security examining strategic responses to bio-terrorism. A Benjamin Franklin Scholar and Phi Beta Kappa inductee, Jeffrey’s future plans are to earn his M.D. and in affiliation with the Department of Homeland Security, work toward enhancing urban hospitals’ emergency response capabilities
Sonali Mishra, C’06 Majoring in Linguistics with an interest in the historical branch of the field, Sonali is also minoring in French and presently learning Sanskrit. As a University Scholar, during the summer of 2004 she will begin writing a biography of another Penn student for an independent research project. A soprano soloist and member of Penn’s Baroque Ensemble, Sonali sings works by Bach and Scarlatti among other composers and is also a Penn Madrigal Singers member. An avid reader, she serves as the librarian and co-chair of the ‘Keats and Beats’ and Afternoon Tea committees for the Philomathean Society and is currently working on an original manuscript that she eventually hopes to have published about a fictional character named Hieronymous Osbourne, a young man in college concerned with the ability of conveying reality through art. After graduating from Penn, Sonali would like to pursue graduate study in Historical Linguistics.
Michael Tseng, C’04 A double major in German and Classical Studies with a Latin and Greek concentration, Michael also minored in Mathematics while at Penn. A Benjamin Franklin Scholar and member of Phi Beta Kappa, he was awarded a four-year trustee scholarship and was the sole recipient of the George Allen Memorial Prize in Latin Translation. The recipient of the Adolph C. Gorr Delta Phi Alpha Prize for outstanding first year German students, in 2002-2003 Michael was awarded the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Scholarship for study at the University
of Munich where he won the Goethe Prize for his paper comparing magic scenes in Seneca’s Medea and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Michael plans to work on an excavation project at a classical site in Greece after graduation and has been accepted to Masters programs in Classics at Cambridge and Oxford where he would like to study old comedy and satire in Greek and Latin literature.
Lauren Zeitels, C’06 A Biochemistry major, Vagelos Scholar and Goldwater Scholarship recipient, Lauren is a student researcher at the Penn Center for Neurodegenerative Disease where she examines protein expression with transgenic mice in relation to Alzheimer’s disease. In the summer of 2003, she worked at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, MD researching the effect of acetylcholine receptors in the microscopic worms C. elegans to determine their effect on the aging process and the relevance of these effects specifically to aging in humans. A Benjamin Franklin Scholar, Lauren is on the executive boards of Penn’s Habitat for Humanity and the community service organization Circle K and also serves as the Director of Philanthropy for the Alpha Phi sorority’s Eta Iota chapter at Penn. Planning on submatriculating into a Masters program in Chemistry, Lauren is interested in applying to M.D./Ph.D. programs where she would like to focus on neuroscience or the study of aging.
Nicholas Zwang, C’04 An Intellectual History major with minors in Chemistry and Biology, Nicholas was the recipient of the College Alumni Society Derish M. Wolff Research Grant. He also received the Penn Humanities Forum Fellowship for research conducted for his honors thesis, “Strange as It Seems: Individualist Anarchist Thought in 19th Century America.” A Benjamin Franklin Scholar and junior-year Phi Beta Kappa inductee, Nicholas was awarded the Mandell Essay Contest First Prize from the Penn Writing Center in 2002 for his paper comparing the works of several classical liberal authors. As a result of volunteer work in the Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology at the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital, in the summer of 2003 Nicholas co-authored two chapters in a medical text on intussusception and Infantile Hypertrophic Pyloric Stenosis, surgical gastroenterologic diseases in infants. After graduation, Nicholas will attend medical school and in the distant future, sees himself involved in shaping American healthcare policy.