PHILADELPHIA, PA March 6, 2015 – PwC US today announced that it will donate a total of $50,000, for the establishment of a two-year PwC Scholars program. The gift, which will be administered through the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative (PPI), will be used to recognize the accomplishments of undergraduate students at the University of Pennsylvania who have contributed significantly to faculty-led public policy research.
The first three PwC Scholars are Steven Knauer, Biruk Bekele, and Shane Murphy. Knauer, a junior in Penn’s College of Arts & Sciences majoring in Economics, Mathematics, and Computer Science, has been assisting Professor Jonathan Kolstad, in the Health Care Management Department at the Wharton School, with research on consumer decision-making when selecting health insurance plans. Bekele is a senior completing his degree in Economics. He has been working with two Health Care Management faculty members, Ashley Swanson and Matthew Grennan, on a study of price variation across hospitals in purchasing medical supplies. Murphy, a College of Arts & Sciences sophomore, is assisting Professor Cary Coglianese of Penn Law with projects related to federal regulation and regulatory policymaking.
“PwC Philadelphia is proud to continue our support of the University of Pennsylvania and our focus on education through this program”, said Ed Lovelidge Managing Partner of PwC’s Philadelphia Metro Market. “I would like to congratulate Steven, Biruk, and Shane for being the first recipients of the PwC Scholarship Award. We at PwC firmly believe that the success of our youth today will determine the future success of our community and we are committed to helping provide the right resources for developing our future leaders.”
“We are delighted to be partnering with PwC on this,” said Andrew Coopersmith, Managing Director of Penn Wharton PPI. “The PwC Scholars program will help highlight the important work being done on Penn’s campus on policy issues that in some way affect us all.” In addition to the funding, PwC’s Greater Philadelphia metro market employees have also continued to show their support by volunteering their time and talent to help further their impact within the local community. PwC employees in the area have donated over 24,000 hours to local charitable organizations in the market during fiscal year 2014 alone.
About the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative
The Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative (Penn Wharton PPI), with offices in Philadelphia and Washington, DC, is a hub for public policy research and education with one overarching goal: to leverage the University’s resources to foster better-informed policymaking on issues related to business and the economy. The Initiative delivers independent, practical, data-driven, and nonpartisan research—authored and reviewed by our own Faculty Affiliates—to government decision-makers and their staffers, tackling policy questions of economic importance arising in DC. At the same time, Penn Wharton PPI creates new academic and co-curricular opportunities on Penn’s campus, for students to explore and understand the impact of public policy on business and the economy. Altogether, Penn Wharton PPI’s activities foster a public policy “community of interest” at the University while building vital new bridges between academia, business, and government in Washington.
About PwC US
PwC US helps organizations and individuals create the value they’re looking for. We’re a member of the PwC network of firms, which has firms in 157 countries with more than 195,000 people. We’re committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com/US.
© 2015 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Delaware limited liability partnership.All rights reserved. PwC refers to the US member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details.
