Wharton | San Francisco Completes Its 10th Anniversary Year

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Retrospective of the past decade reveals key milestones and achievements of the institution and its graduates

SAN FRANCISCO–The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is today releasing some of the most significant developments of the School and its students over the past decade, as part of activities celebrating the 10th anniversary of its West Coast campus, Wharton | San Francisco. Since it opened its doors in 2001, Wharton | San Francisco has graduated nine classes and more than 700 students, many of whom have gone on to lead some of the most innovative companies in the Bay Area and around the world.

Businesses founded by Wharton | San Francisco grads have received well over $1 billion in venture capital or acquisition funds across the last ten years. A significant number of its alumni are currently employed in C-level positions at companies in a wide variety of locations and industries; while the San Francisco Bay Area still remains the most prominent home, alumni-led companies have also taken root in regions across the entire West coast.

To mark this occasion, Wharton | San Francisco hosted a roundtable event on December 7th featuring some of the school’s alumni and students actively engaged in entrepreneurial ventures and investment firms, which centered on the state of the business environment in Silicon Valley over the last decade and going forward. The panel, which included Rob Coneybeer of Shasta Ventures, Jon Soberg of Blumberg Capital, Joanne Medvitz of Pop Outerwear, Andrew Trader of Maveron, Professor Len Lodish and Vice Dean Doug Collom, spoke to recent trends and dynamics impacting entrepreneurship at an industry level. The roundtable was one of Wharton’s last official events to occur in its original location, the historic Folger Building in San Francisco’s SOMA district, before making the move to its new home on the top floor of Hills Plaza along the City’s Embarcadero, starting January 2.

“The past decade has seen tremendous achievements by Wharton | San Francisco graduates, and this impact has gone beyond the Bay Area to permeate the Western region and entire Pacific Rim,” said Doug Collom, vice dean of Wharton | San Francisco. “The success of our students is a testament to their hard work as well as the high standards of the Wharton School. We look forward to building on this success and growing our West Coast presence in the years to come.”

The region’s thriving entrepreneurial community and its proximity to major international markets were the initial drivers behind the original decision to open Wharton’s campus in San Francisco in 2001, making the Wharton MBA degree more accessible to working professionals. Students enrolled in Wharton’s world-class MBA for Executives Program in San Francisco experience the same rigorous curriculum, top faculty and high student caliber for which Wharton’s traditional full-time MBA and MBA for Executives programs in Philadelphia have become known.

Structured as a residential program while classes are in session, students attend classes on alternate weekends and forge close connections with one another while outside of the classroom. Wharton’s San Francisco campus hosts a range of other programs, including Wharton Executive Education, Wharton Leadership Ventures, Wharton Global Consulting Practicum, and Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs.

Over the course of ten years Wharton | San Francisco has witnessed a number of milestones:

•  Since its beginning in 2001, a total of nine classes and over 700 alumni have earned the Wharton MBA graduating from the MBA for Executives Program

•  Nearly 50 professors from the Wharton campus in Philadelphia, and other parts of the US, fly bi-weekly each year to San Francisco to teach classes

•  Students representing nearly every continent and many of the states in the western half of the United States have graduated from the program

•  Students attending the intensive annual international trip required as part of the core curriculum have visited countries including Brazil, China, India and Spain

•  Recent graduation speakers have included Larry Baer, President of the San Francisco Giants; Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel Capital; Paul Robertson, Vice Chairman of Chevron Oil Company; and David Pottruck, CEO of Schwab

Wharton | San Francisco will open the doors of its new space in the City’s historic Hills Plaza building in January of 2012. The new, state-of-the-art facility will house an expanded Executive Education program and serve as a hub for Wharton’s growing international activities. For images and details visit: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/news/Wharton-San-Francisco-Breaks-Ground-On-New-Expanded-Facility.cfm

About the Wharton School

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania— founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school — is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of 88,000 graduates. For more information: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/sanfrancisco/