Member News and Events
New Benefit for ALL Members!
SHARE THE MUSEUM you love with the people you love. Beginning on November 16, the Penn Museum invites members to bring a friend—for free!—on Member Guest Sundays, which occur on the last Sunday of each month. Members are invited to bring one guest for each adult represented on their membership.
LES and Expedition Circle Spring Preview and Dinner
ON MAY 7, members of the Loren Eiseley Society and Expedition Circle joined us for a behind-the-scenes preview of spaces on our Main Level (previously Floor 2) under transformation. Members of the Loren Eiseley Society enjoyed their annual dinner following the program.
left to right: Peter Gould, Ph.D., LPS10; Robin Potter WG80; and Williams Director Julian Siggers, Ph.D.
Meet Our Members
Nina Vitow, CW70, WG76
NINA VITOW is a Penn and Wharton alumna who has actively supported Penn and the Penn Museum for many years. She is a member of the Director’s Council and the Loren Eiseley Society, and was a member of the Women’s Committee.
DISCOVERING ANTHROPOLOGY
I first became involved with the Penn Museum because my college roommate was an anthropology major. We became roommates when I was a junior, and once I realized how much fun she was having, it was too late to change my major to anthropology. I knew the Penn Museum was there, but until I started taking classes there, I really wasn’t that aware of it, except for the fact that my room- mate talked about it all the time, and I was really jealous.
JOINING THE COMMUNITY
I became involved again with the Penn Museum about nine years ago. My husband had just died after a long illness, and my friend, Gretchen Riley, GS70, PAR, who had been very active at the Museum told me, “You need to do something!” She took me to a Women’s Committee meeting, and they voted me in as a member. Then I began to realize that there was much more to the Museum than the eye could see.
DIAMONDS IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
As for why I support the Penn Museum, I don’t see why anyone who loves the Museum wouldn’t. Do you know the expression “acres of diamonds in your own backyard”? I see the Penn Museum like that. People don’t know about it as much, so it doesn’t get as much support as some other institutions, but it should. In recent years, I have seen the Museum bloom. I supported the Mexico and Central America Gallery in particular, because a branch of my family lives in Mexico, so I’ve always felt an affinity for Mexico. Also, these are our closest neighbors, and they have a fascinating history.
AN UNMATCHED COLLECTION
When you ask me if I have a favorite object or collection in the Museum, that’s more difficult to answer. I love all the collections. If pressed, I’d say that my favorite artifact is the Ram in the Thicket. In fact, my friend and I went to the British Museum after seeing the Penn Museum’s new Middle East Galleries. As you know, the Penn Museum conducted a joint expedition with the British Museum, and they have another Ram in the Thicket. My own personal feeling is that our Ram in the Thicket is much nicer than theirs. People might disagree with me, but I really like our exhibition much better.
To conclude, I think that people are doing themselves a disservice if they’re anywhere near Penn’s campus and they aren’t going over to visit the Penn Museum.