Wharton Then & Now
By Stephen J. Morgan
Alums on how Wharton has changed – or not – over
the last half-century.
If you want to get an idea of how different the
Wharton School is today from the way it was
nearly 50 years ago, just talk to people like Jack
Curley, W'54, and Nivee Amin, W'02.
In Curley's day, for example, the guys in his
classes – and they were nearly all men – could
take their evening meals at Houston Hall as
part of their tuition package. But unless you
showed up wearing a coat and tie, you would
go hungry.
Amin finds that amusing. "We can wear
pajamas to our meals!" she says in an interview
just a few days before graduating. Having to
get dressed for dinner, she says, "is definitely a
foreign concept."
If, on the other hand, you want to get an
idea of how much the School has remained the
same, all you have to do is talk to those very
same alumni.
"I was offered three jobs walking out
of Wharton because the School had a
great reputation then, and it's been
enhanced since then," says Curley, who
grew up in the Philadelphia suburb of
Bala Cynwyd, PA, and still lives there.
Amin, too, was attracted to
Wharton because of its reputation.
"I knew I wanted to study something
to do with the economy, but I wanted
a practical business background
because I eventually want to get into
the health care industry," says Amin,
who hails from Ellicott City, MD, and
has accepted a job in public finance
with Morgan Stanley in New York.
"Wharton is the best business school
for undergraduates."
To learn how Wharton has evolved
over the years, the magazine talked
with alumni and faculty members who
attended or taught at Wharton during
every decade since the 1950s. Some of
the individuals the magazine tracked
down still work in the Philadelphia
area; others are scattered around the
world. Some have stayed close to
Wharton by serving on boards and
committees; others are less actively
involved with the School, but still feel
affection for it. Some work in big cities;
others in small towns. Some are entrepreneurs.
All get excited when they talk
about their work and about their
school days.
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