Talk:List of University of Pennsylvania people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think that notable faculty should come before noted alumni - after all, they're Penn people now. I also am going to alphebetize the list of categories of noted alumni since I can't think of any reason why the current order exits. Flying fish 19:19, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

I hadn't realized that the Nobel laureates section was exclusively alumni. I think it would make sense to have all Nobel laureates associated with Penn at the top, then faculty, then alumni. Flying fish 19:24, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm surprised to see Wole Soyinka (the 1986 Nobel laureate in literature) on this list; his name was added earlier today (Nov. 20, 2006) by User:Chelsaz27. I am not aware of any connection between Soyinka and Penn. I did some research and all I found were articles about individual lectures he delivered on campus in 1996 and 2004. He's not an alum and, as far as I can tell, has never been a member of the faculty or held any other position within the university. Is there more of a connection than I was able to find, or was Chelsaz27 just eager to add another Nobel winner to the list?

If there's no response to this inquiry within the next couple of weeks I will delete Soyinka from the article.4.232.225.112 02:05, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Since no one has responded, I'm going to go ahead and delete Soyinka's name. I did a little more research and found that he received an important medal from Penn in 2004, but that isn't enough of a connection to justify listing him here. Since the medal can be presented to people with or without other Penn connections, Soyinka's receipt also does not suggest that he has a meaningful relationship to the university.4.232.225.162 23:42, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I just checked Penn's "official" list of its Nobel laureates (http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/notables/awards/nobel.html) and I note that it does not include Wole Soyinka. It also doesn't include Hideki Shirakawa (Chemistry 2000), whose autobiography (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2000/shirakawa-autobio.html) explains that he was only at Penn for a year (1976-1977) as a visiting research scientist. Like most other universities, Penn does not count short-term visitors toward its Nobel total.

I suggest deleting him from the list as well, but I don't want to act unilaterally. If no one makes a good argument for keeping him on the list I will remove his name and Soyinka's early next month. 4.232.126.32 03:11, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

I've decided to leave Shirakawa's name on the list after all. Most major universities, including Penn, wouldn't claim him based on a one-year visit, but I don't see why information on Wikipedia should be limited by this convention.4.232.225.162 23:42, 14 December 2006 (UTC)