PHILADELPHIA, October 2, 2018 — The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania today announced that it has increased its More Than Ever campaign goal to $1 billion, an opportunity made possible by record levels of support and engagement from the School’s alumni and friends to incubate ideas that transform business, power insights that reinvent decision-making, and create leaders who change the world.
Originally launched with an $850 million goal and part of the University of Pennsylvania’s $4.1 billion Power of Penn campaign announced last spring, Wharton’s campaign will provide resources for the students, faculty, research, and spaces that inspire great business ideas and bring them to global scale.
“The Wharton School has a remarkable history as our nation’s first business school with an increasingly global impact,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann, “It is truly inspiring to see our alumni and friends come together to invest in people and ideas that will create an even more inclusive environment to spark innovation and accelerate impact. The Power of Penn campaign sets forth bold ambitions for the University and, together with Wharton’s priorities for the More Than Ever campaign, will advance knowledge for the benefit of the world.”
“The More Than Ever campaign will transform Wharton,” said Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett. “This campaign will create a future in which Wharton will become as identified with innovation, analytical decision-making, entrepreneurship, and global leadership as we have been historically with finance. We were already aiming high, but the extraordinary generosity and enthusiasm of the entire Wharton community has emboldened us to aspire even higher.”
Wharton is uniquely positioned to meet the changing needs of students and the business world, and this campaign will enable Wharton to attract the very best students irrespective of their backgrounds through undergraduate and MBA financial aid, to recruit and retain renowned faculty, and to invest in world-leading research and education programs.
The More Than Ever campaign also includes several core capital projects. Construction is under way on a new building on the south side of Steinberg Hall-Dietrich Hall that will provide cutting-edge learning and teaching spaces, house the Wharton Statistics Department, and become a campus hub for analytics. At the corner of 40th and Sansom streets, a new building will serve as the “start here” button for budding Penn student entrepreneurs. The building will house a Venture Lab that will feature a state-of-the-art maker lab, a test kitchen, and a retail “pop-up” store, and provide coworking space for student startups across the University. Vance Hall will undergo a major renovation, returning the building to the academic core of the School, and housing two academic departments and student-facing activities. The re-named Lauder Institute building is being refurbished to accommodate Penn’s innovative MBA-International Studies and MA dual-degree to make use of the entirety of the building.
“Every day we are reminded that the world of business is about more than business,” said Marc J. Rowan, W’84, WG’85, chair of Wharton’s Board of Overseers, a Penn trustee, and co-chair of the campaign. “It’s also about how business interacts with government, technology, science, and education. More than ever, as we look to the future, Wharton will grow its strengths and leadership across these disciplines, powering solutions for the greater good around the world.”
Through the campaign, Wharton will leverage its legacy as the destination school for finance by focusing on innovations ranging from the disruptive impact of technology on business models to the ever-growing importance of alternative investment opportunities beyond the public markets. More Than Ever, which started in 2013 and culminates in 2021, will make all of this possible, harnessing the best of Wharton to revolutionize business thinking and drive the School into the future.
“Wharton is constantly changing and adapting, and Wharton’s campaign builds on this incredible dynamism,” said campaign co-chair, Wharton overseer, and Penn trustee James G. Dinan, W’81. “The School is already home to the most original thinkers and brightest students, and More Than Ever will support and propel these leaders to even greater heights of innovation and impact.”
About the Wharton School
Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates economic and social value around the world. The School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 participants in executive education programs annually; and a powerful alumni network of 98,000 graduates.
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