Reto Gieré, Advisory Co-Chair
Reto Gieré investigates Earth materials, their response to geological forces, and their interaction with the environment and humans. He is engaged in research projects around the world and is dedicated to promoting the health of our fragile planet through teaching, mentoring and research. He obtained his Ph.D. at ETH Zürich (Switzerland), was a professor at Purdue University (USA), École Normale Supérieure (Paris), and the Universities of Basel (Switzerland), Freiburg (Germany) and Siena (Italy), and a visiting researcher at the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation and at Argonne National Laboratory (USA). He is Editor of Journal of Petrology, Chief Editor of European Journal of Mineralogy, a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and the Geological Society (London), an Honorary Member of the Mineralogical Society of Slovakia, and received an Honorary Doctorate from the Université de Haute-Alsace in France.
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.
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, Professor of English and Africana Studies
Sigal Ben-Porath, Professor at Penn GSE
Cory Bowman, Associate Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships
Kathleen Brown, David Boies Professor of History
Peter Decherney, Professor of English and Cinema & Media Studies
Dennis DeTurck, Professor of Mathematics
Al Filreis, Kelly Professor of English; Faculty Director Kelly Writers House
Reto Gieré, Professor and Department Chair, Earth and Environmental Science
Ira Harkavy, Associate University Vice-President & Founding Director, Netter Center for Community Partnerships
Amy Hillier, Associate Professor of Social Policy and Practice
Marilyn Howarth, Adjunct Associate Professor at Penn Medicine
Ross Koppel, Adjunct Professor of Sociology; Senior Fellow, Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics
Walter Licht, Walter H. Annenberg Professor Emeritus of History
Deven Patel, Associate Professor of Religious Studies; Undergraduate Chair, South Asia Studies
John Puckett, Professor Emeritus at Penn GSE
Tina Rosan, Associate Professor of Geography and Urban Studies
Rickie Sanders, Professor Emeritus of Geography and Urban Studies
Jorge Santiago-Aviles, Associate Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering
Cynthia Sung, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and Computer and Information Science
Henry Towsner, Assistant Professor of Mathematics