The College of Liberal and Professional Studies is pleased to congratulate Gabrielle Solair and Elana (Ellie) Forman for being named Dean's Scholars, an honor presented annually to students who exhibit exceptional academic performance and intellectual promise.
Undergraduate programs
Gabrielle Solair is graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) in leadership and professional writing and Certificates in Leadership and Communication, Advanced Professional Writing, and Creative Writing. She is a recipient of the Bread Upon the Waters Scholarship. After taking her first course at Penn in digital culture, Gabrielle proposed and procured an internship with a diversity-equity-inclusion consulting firm. Since then, she has been promoted twice and is now a client executive in the firm’s multicultural marketing and advertising division. Her experience at Penn has refined her personal and professional mission: to uplift and help underserved communities by making important information and resources accessible by developing inclusive marketing and communications strategies for health research, for-profit, and nonprofit projects.
Professional master’s programs
Elana (Ellie) Forman (she/her) is in her final semester of the Master of Liberal Arts (MLA) program. Situated at the interdisciplinary cross section of psychology, anthropology, and public health, her current research interests include: the roles of storytelling and narrative in public health communications, cultural and religious barriers for behavior change in a health context, and new modes of media and their impact on community and behavioral health. While in the MLA program, Ellie obtained a graduate research position at the Social Action Lab at the Annenberg School for Communication, where she is currently assisting with an NIH-funded digital initiative for protecting rural populations amid the US opioid epidemic. Ellie also served as the 2021/2022 MLA representative for the LPS student government. Outside of Penn, Ellie is certified as a Peer Recovery Specialist and volunteers as a health educator, presenting interactive workshops to middle and high school students on substance use and mental health. She also enjoys running in local races, playing piano, and café-hopping until she finds the best cup of coffee in Philly.
Read more about the 2023 School of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Scholars >
