College Students Receive President’s Engagement Prize
Five College students and alumni have been selected by Penn President Amy Gutmann as winners of the 2020 President’s Engagement Prize. Awarded annually, the prize empowers Penn students to design and undertake post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world. Each prizewinning project will receive $100,000, as well as a $50,000 living stipend per team member. The prizes are the largest of their kind in higher education.
Aditya Siroya, C’19, W’20, of Bangalore, India; Shivansh Inamdar, ENG’19, C’20, of Indore, India; and Artemis Panagopoulou, C’20, ENG’20, of Athens, Greece, will develop Aarogya, a social enterprise that aims to save lives by providing medicines free-of-cost to those most in need. The students will work to broaden healthcare access by creating India’s first digital medicine redistribution platform, providing life-saving support to patients while preventing medical waste. They will use a decentralized blockchain system that enables safe, convenient redistribution of unused medicine at scale to patients who cannot afford them. The team is being mentored by Mark Pauly, Bendheim Professor of Health Care Management in the Wharton School.
Kwaku Owusu, W’20, of Bay Shore, New York; Mckayla Warwick, C’20, of Lynchburg, Virginia; and Hyungtae Kim, C’20, of Hoboken, New Jersey, will establish Collective Climb, which aims to increase economic prosperity among communities in West Philadelphia through a novel financial literacy initiative and innovative debt-forgiveness model. The students will adapt and create a culturally relevant and historically inflected financial literacy program that simultaneously connects, empowers, and celebrates the West Philadelphia community. Their debt reduction model centers around “community pots,” collections of monetary contributions that leverage collective wealth to obliterate debt. The team is being mentored by Glenn Bryan, Assistant Vice President of Community Relations in Penn’s Office of Government and Community Affairs.
“These student recipients continue Penn’s proud tradition of positive impact here at home, across the nation, and around the world,” said Gutmann. “They embody the highest mission of Penn and our students to put knowledge to use for the betterment of others, a most vital and urgent calling during these challenging times.”
The students will spend the next year implementing their projects.
The prizes are generously supported by Emerita Trustee Judith Bollinger and William G. Bollinger, in honor of Ed Resovsky; Trustee Lee Spelman Doty and George E. Doty, Jr.; Emeritus Trustee James S. Riepe and Gail Petty Riepe; Trustee David Ertel; and Beth Seidenberg Ertel; Wallis Annenberg and the Annenberg Foundation; and an anonymous donor.
To see a full list of 2020 President’s Engagement Prize winners, click here.
