Widener University

Special Events American Sailing Tours Daily, 90-min. Delaware River tours on Chinese junk-rigged schooner. Informative History Sail, musical Tropical Sail, romantic Sunset Sail. American Sailing Tours - Pier 24, 401 N. Columbus Blvd. www.americansailingtours.com . $40-$50. Annual Spring IBD Education Day Panel of health specialists will explore the aspects of living with Crohn's disease & ulcerative colitis (IBD). Thomas Jefferson University Hospital - Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 233 S. 10th St. www.ccfa.org . 4/28.

Teams from area high schools vied for prizes in the "Mousetrap Target Practice" last Thursday at Widener University in Chester. The goal: to see which could catapult an eraser the farthest into a target using only a standard mousetrap spring for power. The team from Upper Darby - Hong Ten, Sumin Pak and BettyAnn Atkinson - won first prize, $100.

Robert C. Melzi, 96, of Bala Cynwyd, professor emeritus of Romance languages at Widener University, died Thursday, March 1, at home. Dr. Melzi was on the Widener faculty for 30 years and chaired the Romance language department in the 1970s. He also taught courses at the University of Pennsylvania, St. Joseph's University, Villanova University, and Bryn Mawr College. In 1967, Dr. Melzi, an expert on Dante, wrote Castelvetro's Annotations to the 'Inferno': A New Perspective in Sixteenth Century Criticism . After 11 years of work, in 1973 he published the Bantam New College Italian-English Dictionary . "Up until now," he told the Philadelphia Daily News, "the bilingual dictionary for the most part reflected the tastes, culture, and language of Great Britain.

A sometime firefighter, teacher and mayor of Marcus Hook, Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.) is borrowing another title this fall: professor. Last week at Widener University, he led his first class of a three-hour seminar, "Issues in American National Security," that he is teaching with Martin E. Goldstein, a government professor. Weldon has focused on relations with Russia and China during his 12 years in Congress. He said he planned to draw on that experience in the course, which will focus on a different topic in global security each week.

Jay Bechtel's first decision as president of Widener University was a doozy. He could pluck from the waiting list and admit the hopeful high school senior whose grades and SATs were mediocre at best. Or, despite that student's improving attendance record and ambitious course load, he could send him packing. "I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt," Bechtel said. "I hope he doesn't prove me wrong. " "Sounds good, Mr. President," responded Ed Wright, Widener director of admissions.

As Widener University president Robert Bruce prepares to retire next month, he can justly say that he has achieved virtually everything he set out to do when he took the school's helm 20 years ago. Bruce, 63, has guided Widener from an uncertain infancy to its current status as a well-established and respected regional educational institution. During his tenure, the university has invested more than $100 million in improvements to its three campuses and more than tripled the size of its annual operating budget.

The dye-stained fingers and sticky palms of 68 fifth graders were enough to convince science teacher Dorothy Waninger that the chemistry experiment at Widener University was a success. The students had discovered the science behind Silly Putty, while the teachers had observed how encouraging students to "get their hands dirty" increased interest in the lesson. Such sharing of educational techniques, Waninger said, was one of the goals of the Professional Development School contract established this school year between Lakeview Elementary School and Widener.

Finish college and get your law degree - in just six years! That is the promise held out to students at Pennsylvania's 14 state-run universities, under a new partnership between the public State System of Higher Education and Widener University, a private institution. The 3+3 Early Admission Program, announced yesterday, gives qualified students the option to leave undergraduate studies after three years to enter the Widener School of Law in Harrisburg. The first year of law school would also satisfy credit requirements for a bachelor's degree.

Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, a nonprofit organization that organizes Philadelphia's largest regatta, elected Benjamin Speciale and Jennifer Wesson to its board. Speciale is managing member of Speciale L.L.C., Philadelphia and New York. Wesson is community-development manager at the Delaware County Office of Housing and Community Development.   The Center for Professional Innovation and Education, a provider of biotech and pharmaceutical training courses, elected Michael Pierro chairman of its advisory board.

Holding two candles, Widener University student Inarni Baidzaloi performed a demonstration of the Malaysian martial art gayong America. Her demonstration yesterday was part of the school's International Student Fair, which university officials hope to make an annual event.

MOTHER NATURE assured yesterday that one specific comment will not be heard next week after the 2013 Public League baseball final. "If only we'd been able to use our top pitcher . . . " When Franklin Towne Charter and Frankford bang heads Tuesday at 3:45 at Richie Ashburn Field, in South Philly's FDR Park, the pitchers will be the same guys who posted strong outings in the semis, and they'll be going on significant rest. In Monday's semis, senior righthander Tim Hart spun a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts as Towne muffled Girard Academy Music Program, 4-2. In a 3-2 success over Prep Charter, Frankford senior righthander Carlos Ramirez allowed five hits.

Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, a nonprofit organization that organizes Philadelphia's largest regatta, elected Benjamin Speciale and Jennifer Wesson to its board. Speciale is managing member of Speciale L.L.C., Philadelphia and New York. Wesson is community-development manager at the Delaware County Office of Housing and Community Development.   The Center for Professional Innovation and Education, a provider of biotech and pharmaceutical training courses, elected Michael Pierro chairman of its advisory board.

It has happened fast for Adonis Jennings. It has also been a long road. "I've worked hard to make this happen," Jennings said of his emergence as one of the most highly recruited football players in the state in the class of 2014. A junior wide receiver at Timber Creek, Jennings has generated plenty of buzz this spring. He was the only South Jersey player on the list when the ESPN 150 was announced a couple of weeks ago. A four-star recruit, he was No. 132 nationally and No. 5 in New Jersey.

Special Events American Sailing Tours Daily, 90-min. Delaware River tours on Chinese junk-rigged schooner. Informative History Sail, musical Tropical Sail, romantic Sunset Sail. American Sailing Tours - Pier 24, 401 N. Columbus Blvd. www.americansailingtours.com . $40-$50. Annual Spring IBD Education Day Panel of health specialists will explore the aspects of living with Crohn's disease & ulcerative colitis (IBD). Thomas Jefferson University Hospital - Bluemle Life Sciences Building, 233 S. 10th St. www.ccfa.org . 4/28.

Vivian Middleman, 84, of Haverford, a retired professor and assistant dean at Widener University who as a young nurse rode on horseback to treat patients in rural Kentucky, died Sunday, Feb. 24, of pneumonia at Bryn Mawr Hospital. Mrs. Middleman devoted her life to nursing. One of her first jobs was with the Frontier Nursing Service, which provided nurses to remote areas. "She went down to Hyden, Ky., in the early 1950s," said her brother, Richard Hastings. "She worked as a nurse missionary.

The filled-to-capacity crowd at Widener University was already rocking by the time Chester got to within a basket of Imhotep Charter. Loud all game, the fans made their presence known when the Clippers tied the score at 54, and again at 61. But the possible noise volume of the crowd at the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic couldn't truly be gauged until Rondae Jefferson made an unbelievable post move and placed the ball over his shoulder and...

The inventor of magicJack, an Internet phone device, has contributed $500,000 to fund three full scholarships at Widener University for siblings or dependents of victims of the Connecticut mass shooting last week. The university announced Friday that it would fund a fourth full scholarship and cover room and board for all the scholarships. Daniel Borislow, an alumnus of the Chester university and chief executive officer of the company that sells magicJack, said he hoped other CEOs and business leaders would fund similar scholarships at their alma maters.

Janet Maddox Jones needed physical therapy for sciatica and scoliosis, and her insurance was tapped out. Her doctor referred her to Widener University's free clinic, set up and run by graduate students. "They took care of you like you were an individual person, not a number," said Jones, 77, a lifelong Chester resident and one of the first black cheerleaders at its high school in the 1950s. That experience and others have made Jones, a retired customer relations manager, a Widener fan. While a simple tale, it symbolizes the kind of relationship that the 6,240-student private university has been striving to build with its struggling host city, especially over the last decade under president James T. Harris III. Widener started a charter school, opened a free nursing clinic, linked students' community service to scholarship money, fostered community-based work by its professors, and established a civic engagement committee of the board of trustees.

Robert C. Melzi, 96, of Bala Cynwyd, professor emeritus of Romance languages at Widener University, died Thursday, March 1, at home. Dr. Melzi was on the Widener faculty for 30 years and chaired the Romance language department in the 1970s. He also taught courses at the University of Pennsylvania, St. Joseph's University, Villanova University, and Bryn Mawr College. In 1967, Dr. Melzi, an expert on Dante, wrote Castelvetro's Annotations to the 'Inferno': A New Perspective in Sixteenth Century Criticism . After 11 years of work, in 1973 he published the Bantam New College Italian-English Dictionary . "Up until now," he told the Philadelphia Daily News, "the bilingual dictionary for the most part reflected the tastes, culture, and language of Great Britain.