In a sunny courtyard in the heart of Penn’s campus, President Amy Gutmann and Provost Wendell Pritchett joined alumni Ronald S. Lauder and Leonard A. Lauder Tuesday to dedicate the renovation of the building that houses the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management & International Studies, which the two brothers founded 35 years ago.
The building, now known as the Lauder Institute, is undergoing a major renovation that includes all four floors, as well as an expanded lobby and a new event and dining space designed to encourage students to collaborate. Work is expected to be completed by the fall of 2019.
“We’re going to keep working to make this space an incredible home for the best integrated, internationally focused joint-degree program in the entire world. We never stop until we are the best, and then we want to be even better,” Gutmann said to the nearly 100 people gathered outside the building on the crisp afternoon. “With the world more connected than ever, the mission of the Lauder Institute is especially resonant.”
The Lauder Institute’s joint-degree graduate program integrates arts and science coursework, regional and global academic programs, advanced language study, and cultural immersion experiences. Each student earns a combined master’s in international studies from the School of Arts and Sciences, with an M.B.A. from the Wharton School or a J.D. from the Law School.
The Institute was founded in 1983 in honor of their father, Joseph. The building was constructed in 1990. Their mother, Estée Lauder, founder of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., was present at that groundbreaking ceremony.
The renovation, which started earlier this year, is funded by Ronald Lauder, a 1965 graduate of Wharton and chairman of the Lauder Institute Board of Governors. The gift comes at the end of the Lauder Institute Challenge, which over five years has raised more than $30 million from more than 1,000 donors for the Lauder Institute through a $15 million, dollar-for-dollar match from the Lauder family…
This article originally appeared in Penn Today. Read full article here.
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