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The Most Extraordinary People
DEAR FELLOW ALUMNI:
I recently had the pleasure
of addressing and
welcoming new Wharton
students, both the undergraduate
and graduate
candidates. During my
talks with them, I asked
and then attempted to answer
the question: What is
Wharton?
Let's start with what
most people know.
We know that Joseph
Wharton founded the
school in 1881 as the very
first institution of business
education and that our
125th anniversary is approaching
next year with
plenty of celebration to
come. Of course, we know
that both the undergraduate
and MBA programs
are consistently cited as
the world's most prestigious
programs. It is also
well known that we just
completed a record-setting
$425-million capital campaign,
strengthening our
endowment and creating
a state-of-the-art center
of learning right in the
center of campus, Jon M.
Huntsman Hall.
I continued my discussion
with the new students
by addressing a topic that
is not as well publicized
and talked about when
Wharton is the subject:
Wharton, simply, is about
people.
Wharton is a combination
of the most extraordinary
people one can
imagine—incredible students,
world-class faculty
and staff, and the tightest
and most connected
alumni around—forming
an irreplaceable mosaic of
brilliance, talent, experience,
youthful enthusiasm,
30,000-foot, big-picture
thinking and practical
hands-on "in the trenches"
opportunities. It's also very
much about the connections
that each of these
groups of people make
within their groups and,
more importantly, among
the other groups.
What kinds of connections?
Let's examine just a
few:
- An alum in New York
who meets five new meaningful
business contacts
working in a "leads council"
set up for that very
purpose.
- A group of alumni who
attend an alumni conference
in Shanghai, then
hatch an idea for a new
private equity fund.
- A student, who benefits
from an externship visit to
a New York law firm run
by an alum, gets a summer
internship there, helps design
the firm's marketing
plan, and assists with the
planning and implementation
of a student conference
filled with alumni
speakers that the student
met as a result the externship.
- Jobs, jobs, jobs: An
alumnus scoured the private
equity community
and helped to create 75
previously unavailable
internships during the
depths of the recession.
- An alumni information
database, the Wharton
Alumni/Student Network,
that is available to all
MBA students and upper-
class undergraduates, with
the ability for each alumnus
to indicate that they
are willing to be contacted
by students and fellow
alumni.
What else are Wharton
people doing? More and
more, we are wearing
our pride visibly. Despite
Penn's background, which
values modesty, we have
not hesitated to mention
the Wharton name wherever
possible. Wharton
faculty are seen regularly
on news and cable channels,
writing books, conducting
ground-breaking
research, and touring the
world speaking about
today's most relevant topics.
More and more of our
biographical information
prominently mentions
the Wharton name. And,
of course, the School has
received an enormous
amount of free publicity
thanks to alumnus
Donald Trump's tremendous
success with "The
Apprentice."
I hope all of our alumni
will think about what
Wharton means to them
and how to extend these
feelings worldwide. Help
us all promote and protect
the Wharton brand.
Wear the Wharton name
(buy some shirts!).
Reconnect by coming
back to campus, whether
to speak, visit, or just
explore with the administration
how you can give
back, not just with your
money,
but with your
time, experience and talent
(as this issue's cover
story illustrates).
If you are not sure how
to get started, feel free to
email me directly (see below).
We as alumni have a
special obligation to make
sure that we continually
leverage our history with
Wharton. This will happen
if we all make the
effort to reach out and
benefit from our experience
with this great institution.
As always, if you are
currently an active member
of Wharton's alumni
network, thank you for
your dedication. If you
are interested in getting
involved and would like to
find out more information
about volunteer opportunities,
please contact the
Alumni Affairs office at
alumni.affairs@wharton.upenn.edu. There are
many ways in which
you can make a difference.
Start by going
to wave.wharton.upenn.edu to update
your information and find
a Wharton alumni club in
your region or your area of
interest.
I look forward to continuing
our dialogue with
you in this column this
year. Please feel free to call
or email me directly with
any questions.
Thank you for your
support of the Wharton
Alumni Association.
Sincerely,
David N. Feldman, Esq.,
W'82, L'85
Chairman, Wharton
Alumni Association dfeldman@feldmanweinstein.com
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