Philanthropy touches every part of the University. Through the support of our engaged and generous donors, Penn is able to inspire impact locally and globally. Here is a small sample of recent gifts that are fueling the University’s drive to advance knowledge for good.
Giving Highlights
Spring/Summer 2022
A number of alumnae made gifts to support excellence in Women’s Basketball, including Loretta McNulty Kelly, C’76, who gave $50,000; Barbara Albom, W’84, who gave $50,000; Amy Tarr, C’97, and Haris Hadzic, who gave $40,000 to a combination of basketball and lacrosse; and Shelly Bowers Hayes, ENG’95, who gave $25,000.
Ihsuk Shin, PhD, GEE’61, GRE’66, made a generous gift and created a charitable remainder trust to establish a fellowship that provides ongoing support for graduate students in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
$250,000 from Aedas and Andrew T. Wen, GAr’90, created the Aedas Fellowship Fund for architecture students at the Weitzman School of Design. Fellowship recipients will be offered a summer internship at one of the firm’s five offices in the People’s Republic of China.
Two gifts to the China Education Initiative (CEI) will promote increased understanding and an ongoing exchange of ideas between the United States and China. Wang Chen, E’95, GEN’95, W’95, and Robin Yuxiang Ren, C’95, E’95, and Linda Ying Ye through the Linda Ye and Robin Ren Family Foundation provided generous funding to make CEI seminars accessible to all students.
Penn GSE received generous scholarship gifts from Allison Blitzer, C’91, David Blitzer, W’91, and the Blitzer Family Foundation, and Susan M. Cotton, GEd’69, and Douglas L. Cotton, WG’69.
Santosh Govindaraju, ENG’97, W’97, gave $250,000 to upgrade and name the South Asian Studies Seminar Room at Van Pelt-Dietrich Library, while Kenneth Robbins made a $400,000 bequest that includes his collection of books, ephemera, and artifacts from the Indian subcontinent.
Michael Sullivan gave $100,000 in honor of his dog, Fatty (pictured), to provide equipment and research support at the Ryan Small Animal Hospital and to bolster the Good Samaritan Fund, which helps treat pets whose families have financial need.
Paritosh Thakore, W’86, and Hemal Mirani, G’97, WG’97, made a gift to establish the Thakore Family Program in Global Justice and Human Rights at the Perry World House.
Vithala Rao, GR’70, made a $100,000 gift to create the Paul E. Green Marketing Camp Fund to welcome faculty and students to Wharton and honor the late Wharton faculty member Paul Green.
The Ibn Sina Foundation gave $950,000 to build a pipeline for more diversity at the Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, which includes summer program participation and scholarship support for underrepresented high school students.
Stephanie and Dan Zilberman, both WG’01, gave $500,000 to name the Director of the Lippincott Library at the Wharton School for a term of five years, a position held by Marcella Barnhart, pictured. The Zilbermans also gave $250,000 for a Huntsman Program Global Immersion Fund and $200,000 to support Jewish music at the Libraries.
Ronald J. Kramer, W’80, and Stephanie B. Kramer gave $250,000 to establish the Penn Live Arts Career Development Fund, which provides students with opportunities to gain real-world experience in the performing arts and entertainment fields.
Longtime volunteer fieldwork and collections photographer Elizabeth (Jean) Walker, SW’74, made a $100,000 gift to support the Egypt and Nubia Galleries at the Penn Museum and to name six seats in the newly renovated Harrison Auditorium.
Daphne King Yao, C’91, and Geoffrey King, W’93, gave $1.5 million to create the Alice C. King, CW’63, Artist-in-Residence Endowed Fund, which will bring visiting artists to campus to participate in teaching and other programs intended to foster cross-cultural understanding and goodwill between the United States and China.
Allison Hart, C’98, and Jed Hart, W’89, gave $2.5 million to Penn Medicine and $500,000 to the Psychology Department at Penn Arts & Sciences to foster greater understanding of the human brain.
Evan Michael Roth, C’92, W’92, and Lindsay B. Roth gave $500,000 to establish two new scholarships at the University: an endowed Undergraduate Scholarship and a Social Justice Scholars Program term scholarship at the School of Social Policy & Practice.
Alexandra Armour, C’12, gave $75,000 to establish a Young Alumni Scholarship in honor of her 10th reunion.
Penn Medicine’s 10th annual 5K for the Institute on Aging & the Memory Mile Walk raised $46,000 to support research and novel treatment for aging-related neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Benny Hu, WG’78, gave $50,000 to The Wharton Fund to support ongoing priorities and new opportunities at the School, and served as a challenge donor to inspire giving among members of the Class of 2022 as part of their Class Gift campaign.
