John Heon, Ph.D
Educational Coordinator of the China Partnership of Greater Philadelphia, Programming Director of the Penn International Sustainability Association
John Heon, PhD, is the Educational Coordinator and a Founding Executive Board Member of the China Partnership of Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit that promotes collaboration on public/private cleantech and sustainable building initiatives between Philadelphia and the People's Republic of China. He is also the Programming Director and Founding Advisor of the Penn International Sustainability Association, an interdisciplinary group at the University of Pennsylvania that helps students launch green careers and entrepreneurial ventures through an extensive network of academic, corporate, and government organizations.
Among Dr. Heon's areas of interest are global environmental media and marketing and the various elements of language, culture, science, politics, and economics they entail. He is currently leading an effort by faculty, students, and alumni to integrate and expand Penn's work in these fields. His CPGP and PISA projects focus on urban sustainability, green building, and the creative reuse of existing structures for environmental and economic revitalization.
One of his essays, "History and Change at the Marshall Street Complex," analyzes the conversion of a former textile mill and brownfield site into the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. He earned his doctorate in English, with a concentration in science, technology, and culture, from the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Benjamin Franklin Fellowship, the Arts and Sciences Distinguished Graduate Teaching Award, and the Dean's Scholar Award for Outstanding Graduate Student in English.