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
Impactful gifts are making a difference for schools and centers across Penn
Fall/Winter 2022
Kaikai Wang, ENG’11, and Jia Q. Pan, W’12, generously gave $50,000 to name a faculty office in Amy Gutmann Hall. The couple met at Penn, and this is their first leadership gift to Penn Engineering.
Alberto Peisach, ENG’86, PAR’11, PAR’13, PAR’15, and Gay Peisach, PAR’11, PAR’13, PAR’15, made a $1 million gift to establish the Alberto and Gay Peisach Mentoring Initiative at Venture Lab, which will connect Wharton and Penn students who are developing entrepreneurial ventures with experienced alumni founders for specialized advising.
Brian Wu, WG’05, GrW’07, gave $260,000 to create an endowed fund in honor of his Wharton PhD advisor Dan Levinthal. The fund provides financial support to PhD students in the Wharton School for the acquisition of data for student research and to fund student travel.
Alvaro, WG’04, and Jennifer Saenz, WG’05, made a $250,000 gift to establish the Saenz Family Summer Venture Award at Venture Lab, which enables student entrepreneurs to devote time to their start-up during the summer.
Joann Seow, WG’93, PAR’20, PAR’24, made a generous gift to establish the George and Mollie Seow Ornamental Plant Endowment Fund, which supports the annual purchase of herbaceous and woody plants at the Morris Arboretum. The gift was made in memory of Seow’s parents and was also meant to mark her daughter’s graduation from Penn in 2020.
William Shen, W’92, and Hong Jie Aileen Chang made a $500,000 gift to establish the Zheng Chong Da and Li Fang Penn Urology Residency Training Endowment Fund. This gift was made in memory of William’s uncle, Dr. Zheng, who was a distinguished urologist from Shanghai.
Catherine Leung, W’90, made a $430,000 gift to create the Stephen C. Cheung Fellowship in Surgical Oncology. This gift was made in memory of Stephen C. Cheung, WG’56, PAR’87, whose mentorship and support made it possible for Catherine to attend Wharton.
Sandy Beeber Samberg, Nu’94, GNu’95, and Joe Samberg, together with the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation (Steven Cohen, W’78), gave $1 million to help create a psychedelics education initiative at Penn Nursing and Columbia University’s School of Social Work.
Benjamin Z. Lin, W’05, made a $1.5 million gift to create an endowed professorship at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.
Janet S. Klein, Ed’51, and Ellen L. Klein, C’77, G’77, gave $50,000 to create a new, endowed fund to provide financial support to archaeology and anthropology undergraduate and graduate students who are conducting research in the field. The gift was inspired by Ellen Klein’s personal experiences as a Penn student and was intended to encourage more Penn students to pursue studies in archaeology and anthropology.
Joshua Sanger, W’01, gave $50,000 to support varsity basketball and the Men’s Basketball Endowment Fund.
The Class of 1972 made a $150,000 gift to Penn Live Arts to establish an endowed fund that will support students seeking annual summer internships in the arts & entertainment industry.
Evan, W’09, and Samantha Feinberg made a generous gift to Penn’s Graduate School of Education to support the next generation of teachers and education leaders and to support the School’s annual fund. Evan has also given of his volunteer time by joining the School’s Board of Advisors.
Lenel Srochi-Meyerhoff CW’71, GCP’73, and John Meyerhoff, M’75 made a $50,000 gift to support the Social Justice Scholars Program at the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2). This generous gift supports SP2’s inaugural Social Justice Scholar studying for a Master’s in Social Work.
Willow (Ryan T. Mahon), SW’01, SWP’02, made a $1,000 gift to create the SP2 LGBTQ Certificate Program Fund, with future support provided through beneficiary designations of retirement plans and life insurance to endow a fellowship at SP2 for Masters students pursuing LGBTQ+ studies.
Caroline Schimmel, CW’67, gave over $150,000 to support the processing and awareness of the Vilain-Wieck Collection and the Caroline Schimmel Collection of Women in the American Wilderness at the Penn Libraries—an ongoing gift of Schimmel’s extensive personal collection of books, printed material, and ephemera related to women in the Americas.
Paul Smith, C’56, made a $250,000 gift to name the Latin American Studies Seminar Room at the Penn Libraries’ forthcoming Center for Global Collections. It will be one of six global seminar rooms in the fully renovated Center, which will be on the west side of the fifth floor of Van Pelt Library.
Kelly Writers House Advisory Board member Leslie Dezer Salmon, W’92, and Ricardo Salmon, W’93, made a $250,000 gift to endow and name the Salmon Junior Fellows Prize at the Kelly Writers House, one of its longest-running student prizes. Developed specifically to foster a postgraduate relationship with the Writers House community, the prize is awarded to a recent graduate who plans to complete a project culminating in a public event at the House.
William Park, C’89, and Jung Choi made a generous gift to endow a lecture series for the Libraries’ forthcoming Center for Global Collections and to support the Penn Libraries Fund.
