Deven M. Patel, Advisory Co-Chair
Deven M. Patel is Associate Professor of South Asia Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in Literature and Literary Theory, Philosophy, and Mythology. He has served as both Chair and Undergraduate Chair of South Asia Studies at Penn and as member of the Executive Committee for the Program in Comparative Literature. Before arriving at Penn, he taught at Stanford University, Hofstra University, Rutgers University, and Seton Hall University. Deven has a long-standing relationship with TIP, as member of the advisory council and as seminar leader of such courses as Storytelling Traditions of South Asia and the Middle East and Contemplative Practices Across the World’s Religions. He is also the National Advisory Council Representative of the Yale National Initiative to strengthen teaching in public schools. He works with faculty across Penn’s various schools to foster a more expansive and inclusive global perspective to the study of Humanities. As author or co-author of three books and multiple journal articles, his published research focuses on Sanskrit literature, linguistics, philosophy and other aspects of Indian humanities and intellectual culture. He has been awarded several prestigious fellowships, including the Fulbright and the American Institute of Indian Studies fellowships, and is a board member of several prominent national and international academic bodies. He holds a BA in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in South and Southeast Asian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley.
Henry Towsner, Advisory Co-Chair
Henry Towsner is Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania. His research investigates how to find concrete, quantitative information hidden in abstract mathematical arguments. He received his PhD at Carnegie Mellon University, and taught at UCLA and the University of Connecticut before coming to Penn. He has been involved with TIP since teaching the seminar “What Makes Something a Number?.” He is an Editor of the Bulletin of Symbolic Logic and the Journal of Logic and Analysis, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Association of Symbolic Logic.
Cory Bowman, Treasurer
Cory Bowman has been working for Penn Program for Public Service since 1991 and for Penn’s Netter Center for Community Partnerships since its inception in 1992. Mr. Bowman helps coordinate the core functions of the Center, including developing academic partnerships with schools, non-profits, and communities of faith. He also supports the Center’s local and national replication and adaptation efforts of its university-assisted community school programs. Mr. Bowman serves on the board of the Bernett L. Johnson, Jr. Sayre Health Center and on the advisory committee of PHENND’s K-16 Network.
TIP University Advisory Council Members
Herman Beavers, Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt President’s Distinguished Professor of English and Africana Studies, Penn SAS
Sigal Ben-Porath, MRMJJ Presidential Professor, Penn GSE
Cory Bowman, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships
Kathleen Brown, David Boies Professor of History, Penn SAS
Peter Decherney, Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor in the Humanities; Professor of Cinema & Media Studies, Penn SAS
Al Filreis, Kelly Professor of English, Penn SAS; Faculty Director Kelly Writers House
Ira Harkavy, Associate University Vice-President & Founding Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships
Amy Hillier, Associate Professor, Penn School of Social Policy and Practice
Marilyn Howarth, Adjunct Associate Professor, Penn Medicine
Walter Licht, Walter H. Annenberg Professor Emeritus of History, Penn SAS
Carol Muller, Professor of Music, Penn SAS
Ben Nathans, Alan Charles Kors Endowed Term Professor of History, Penn SAS
Deven Patel, Associate Professor of Religious Studies; Undergraduate Chair, South Asia Studies, Penn SAS
Christina Rosan, Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple CLA
Jorge Santiago-Aviles, Associate Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Systems Engineering, Penn Engineering
Cynthia Sung, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, Penn Engineering
Henry Towsner, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Penn SAS