Douglas Jerolmack Named Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Science

Douglas Jerolmack, Professor of Earth and Environmental Science and Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, has been named Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Endowed Term Professor of Earth and Environmental Science. Jerolmack is pioneering the emerging field of “Soft Earth Geophysics” that centers on advancing our understanding of Earth’s dynamic surface through the physics of “squishy” materials. He also works with roboticists and cognitive scientists to improve how we explore our Earth, the moon and Mars, and with education experts to improve learning and engagement in STEM.

Jerolmack’s group, the Penn Soft Earth Dynamics Lab, uses laboratory experiments combined with field work and theory to elucidate the minimum number of ingredients required to explain physical phenomena. Particular areas of focus include natural hazards such as mudslides, earthquakes, and flooding; the formation and evolution of land forms, such as rivers, sand dunes, and crack patterns on Earth and other planets; stochastic and nonlinear transport processes; and landscape response to climate change. Applications of this research are aimed at improving sustainable geomaterials, hazard prediction, landscape management practices, and planetary exploration.

The Kahn chairs were established through a bequest by Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn. Edmund Kahn was a 1925 Wharton graduate who had a highly successful career in the oil and natural gas industry. Louise Kahn, a graduate of Smith College, worked for Newsweek and owned an interior design firm. They supported many programs and projects at Penn, including Van Pelt Library, the Modern Languages College House, and other initiatives in scholarship and the humanities.