Leadership Spotlight

The Wharton School held the graduation of its first West Coast class of MBA for Executives students on August 24, 2003, in the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center's Herbst Theater. The 59 graduating students began their MBA studies in August, 2001, when the School opened its West Coast facility — Wharton West — in San Francisco. They commuted to the residential program from all over the country, bringing an average of 10 years' experience in industries ranging from finance and manufacturing to telecommunications and entertainment.

The graduation key-note speaker was Jon M. Huntsman, W'59, H'96, founder and chairman of the Huntsman Corporation. Huntsman is the chair of the School's Board of Overseers and namesake of a new $139.9-million state-of-the-art facility on the School's Philadelphia campus.

"This graduating class represents the fulfillment of an important outreach goal of the School to reach new student populations and bring the highest quality of management education to the West Coast," stated Dean Patrick Harker. "I congratulate the students for completing a rigorous academic curriculum in an equally rigorous format."

Wharton West Vice Dean Leonard Lodish added his congratulations, stating that he is "particularly gratified to see how these students already have added significant value to their sponsoring companies using new knowledge they have obtained at Wharton."

Whether based in San Francisco or Wharton's home campus in Philadelphia, the MBA for Executives Program www.wharton.upenn.edu/wemba offers qualified candidates the same program, faculty and degree as Wharton's world-class MBA program. The two-year program is designed for the working professional and provides the value of a full-time Wharton MBA education to experienced managers with high growth potential.

The MBA for Executives Program was one of the School's first programs launched at Wharton West. Successive classes of students have come from California, the western U.S. and as far away as Asia. The incoming class size has grown to more than 80 students.

In addition to serving as the West Coast base for the School's MBA for Executives program, Wharton West also offers non-degree executive education programs. It is located in the historic Folger Building at Howard and Spear Streets, near the San Francisco business and financial district.