Campaign raises $4.3 billion, transforming Penn

After seven years of widespread support and alumni participation, Penn culminated its Making History Campaign in February, raising $4.3 billion.

“When the Penn community comes together for a common purpose, it generates remarkable transformative power,” says Penn President Amy Gutmann. “The impact of the Making History Campaign on increasing educational access, integrating knowledge across disciplines, and putting that knowledge to good work in the world has been nothing short of transformational.”

Launched in 2007, the Campaign hit its financial target of $3.5 billion 16 months ahead of the Dec. 31, 2012, conclusion. It was a broad-based campaign, attracting gifts from 326,952 donors.

Donors contributed $652 million toward financial aid for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, which has already resulted in a more socioeconomically diverse student body. Currently, 22 percent of the financial aid budget is financed through endowed scholarships, up from about 10 percent prior to the Campaign.

In addition, a total of $573 million was raised for faculty, director, coach, and curator positions. The Campaign added 161 newly endowed faculty positions to Penn.

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The Campaign has also changed the physical landscape of the campus. New facilities include the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, the Law School’s Golkin Hall; and the Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology, which will open later this year. The most visible addition is Penn Park, a 24-acre project that increased campus green space by 20 percent.

Notable renovations and additions to existing buildings include an expanded Music Building, the George A. Weiss Pavilion and Robert A. Fox Fitness Center in Franklin Field; and the ARCH, currently underway.

Fueled by Campaign contributions, Penn’s global prominence and visibility have increased, as well. International programs aided and created through the Campaign include the James Joo-Jin Kim Program in Korean Studies and the Penn/Wharton China Center, which will provide Penn with a presence in Beijing.

“Thanks to the hundreds of thousands of people who fervently believe in Penn’s vision, our University community is even more powerfully engaged, effectively united, and deeply dedicated to creating innovative knowledge and to addressing the most important challenges of our time,” Gutmann says.

Making History