Penn Receives $5 Million to Create the First-of-its-Kind Professorship in Philanthropy

The Wieler Family Professorship in the field of philanthropy will hold a primary appointment in Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice and a secondary appointment in the Wharton School

The University of Pennsylvania today announced a $5 million gift to create the Wieler Family Professorship, a position to be focused on philanthropy. The gift from Scott A. Wieler, WG’87, and his wife, Mary Baily Wieler, will combine the social innovation mission of the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) with the Wharton School’s capacity to inspire business leaders who have a passion for advancing social impact through philanthropy. It is the first-ever professorship in philanthropy for a faculty member with appointments in both a business school and a school focused on social innovation.

“The Wieler Family Professorship will strengthen Penn’s ability to equip business leaders with the interdisciplinary skills and understanding necessary to address our world’s problems,” said Interim President J. Larry Jameson. “We are grateful to Scott Wieler and Mary Baily Wieler for their generosity, which will advance the principles of Penn’s strategic framework, In Principle and Practice, to initiate new ways of cultivating service-minded leadership.”

The Wieler Family Professorship will hold appointments at SP2 and at Wharton. SP2 will lead the search for the inaugural professor, in conjunction with leaders from Wharton, to identify and recruit a top-tier faculty member whose research specializes in philanthropy.

READ MORE FROM PENN TODAY