About us
SASGOV Executive Board 2021-2022
AISHA A. CHUGHTAI
PRESIDENT
Aisha is a fourth year PhD student in Medical Anthropology and served as the department co-representative to SASGov in 2018-2019, SASgov representative to GAPSA in 2019-2020, and VP of Public Affairs in 2020-2021. Aisha's research focuses on questions of global health infrastructure and understandings of care. Aisha is also a local Philadelphia community organizer and uses her position in SASgov to help advocate for graduate students across campus.
RAWAD WEHBE
VP OF POLICY
Apart from being a fifth year PhD candidate in NELC, Rawad is a literary scholar and translator specializing in classical and modern Arabic poetry. When not drawing links between nostalgia, anxiety, and literature, he will be advocating for grad students, interfacing with administration, and organizing the annual town hall. In his capacity as VP of Policy, Rawad looks forward to exploring what SASgov can do to serve grad students in an academic world that is only beginning to navigate the balance between “remote” and “in-person” modalities of education.
SAMANTHA GILLEN
VP OF COMMUNICATIONS
Sam is a sixth year PhD candidate in Italian Studies (dept. of Romance Languages) where she researches literary depictions of industrialized spaces during the Italian economic boom of the 1950s-1960s. She's looking forward to continuing in a more active role this year to organize logistical aspects of SASgov and to serve as a member of GAPSA's Research Council, advocating for student needs and prioritizing wellness.
ORION STAPLES
VP OF FINANCE
Orion is a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry. He studies the catalytic functionalization of methane to higher value products to help reduce carbon emissions. As VP of Finance, he is in charge of the financial well-being of SASgov as well as finding ways to effectively and efficiently utilize the available funds. During his term of service he aims to improve the wellbeing of graduate students by providing new sources of beneficial financial support as well as maintaining the current funding platforms. He works closely with the President, VP of Financial Operations, and the Finance Committee.
JACOB MOHAR
VP OF FINANCIAL OPERATIONS
Jacob is a third year PhD candidate in the department of chemistry studying the chemistry of uranium nitrides. He serves as the VP of Financial Operations which oversees the allocation of grant funds including travel, merit, professional society, and event grants. Additionally, he co-chairs the Finance Committee with the VP of Finance.
ANANTH SRINIVAS
VP OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Ananth is a fourth year PhD candidate at the Earth and Environmental Science, where he studies paleontology, focusing on the evolution of skull shape, biomechanics and material properties of snakes and other limbless vertebrates. He served as the department co-rep from 2018-19. As the VP of Public Affairs, he is responsible for organizing the 2022 Penn Grad Talks, updating our social media outlets and the SASGov website.
HALLIE NELL SWANSON
VP OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS
Hallie is a third-year PhD student in Religious Studies, specializing in South Asian Islam. She served as the department representative to SASGov in 2021-2021 and has helped organize several conferences at Penn and elsewhere. As VP of Social, Hallie organizes events for graduate students across Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences.
General Body 2021-2022
Department
Ancient History
Anthropology
Applied Mathematics
Art & Archaeology of the Mediterranean World
Biology
Chemistry
Classical Studies
Comparative Literature
Criminology
Demography
Earth & Environmental Sciences
East Asian Languages & Civilizations
Economics
English
History
History of Art
History and Sociology of Science
Linguistics
Music
Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations
Philosophy
Physics & Astronomy
Political Science
Psychology
Religious Studies
Romance Languages
Sociology
South Asia Studies
Representative
Matt Reichelt & Peter Satterhwaite
Jeanne Lieberman
Runtian Miao
Madeleine Nelson & Charles Ro
Benjamin Glass
Drew Behrendt & Ziao Liu
Michael Russo & Abigail Worgul
Oded Even-Or
Courtney Perales Reyes
Michael Lachanski
Sophie Silver
Sarah Chang
Joao Ritto
Jacob Nielsen
Jennifer Reiss
TBA
TBA
Christine Soh
Ania Vu
Kaley Keener
Kate Nicole Hoffman & Yosef Washington
Anna Kofman & Steven Gassner
Chloe Ricks
Mengting Fang
Kirby Sokolow
Pauline Carbonnel & Marta Sanchis Ferrer
Richard Patti
Kaustubh Naik