Wharton School Appoints Kenneth Manotti as Head of External Affairs

Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 8, 2008 -- After an extensive search to appoint a new head of external affairs, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announced that Kenneth Manotti will join Wharton on Feb. 29 as associate dean of external affairs. Manotti had a previous tenure at Wharton and returns to campus with extensive domestic and international experience in campaign fundraising and alumni relations. He also brings a strong base of management experience.

Manotti left Penn in 1992 to join the development staff at Columbia University. During his very successful tenure at Columbia he was part of a team that developed and implemented fundraising strategies for a $1-billion campaign and undergraduate reunion effort, and was responsible for solicitation of principal gifts between $1million and $3 million. Most recently, Manotti served as vice president of institutional advancement at the American University in Cairo where he was responsible for leading a $100-million comprehensive capital campaign, targeting donors in the United States, the Middle East and Europe.

Manotti originally joined Penn in 1978 as a coordinator in the Middle East Center. He quickly assumed increasingly responsible roles, serving as assistant director of the Wharton Applied Research Center, manager of operations for on-campus recruiting, director of development operations in Wharton External Affairs, associate director of alumni giving, director of 25th reunion programs, and director of development and corporate relations for the Joseph H. Lauder Institute.

He holds a B.A. in English and Political Science with a concentration in Latin American Studies from Dickinson College. He completed graduate course work in International Relations, Latin American Relations and Middle Eastern History and Politics at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school -- is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 8,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 82,000 graduates.