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University of Pennsylvania

 

The University of Pennsylvania (commonly referred to as Penn or UPenn) is a private university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and a member of the Ivy League. It was founded in 1749 (although classes began in 1755) by a group of wealthy philanthropists including Benjamin Franklin (though the University itself prefers the founding date of 1740, from a pre-existing charity high school). It is the fifth oldest college and the oldest university in the United States.

Table of contents
1 About Penn
2 Famous alumni
3 Notable professors
4 Majors
5 External links

About Penn

Penn is internationally known as one of the most prestigious research universities in the world. A faculty of about 4,500 professors serves about 10,000 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate students; the research community includes 1,000 faculty, 1,000 postdoctoral fellows, 3,000 graduate students, and 5,000 support staff, with a budget of more than half a billion dollars each year. Admissions are among the most selective in the country and Penn consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in surveys.

Penn's most notable programs are its Wharton School of Business, School of Medicine, College of Arts and Sciences, Law School, Nursing School, Annenberg School for Communication, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Education, School of Social Work. It also contains many well-known departments, including English, History, Economics, Philosophy, Computer Science, Biology, and Anthropology. It is also noted for its Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Penn is a national leader in interdisciplinary programs. In addition to numerous cross-disciplinary majors and joint-degree programs, Penn is home to interdisciplinary institutions such as the Institute for Medicine and Engineering, the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies, the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, the Executive Master's in Technology Management Program, the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, and the Management and Technology Program.

The first medical school in the United States was founded at Penn in 1765. In 1786 Penn was chartered by the state as the first "university" in America. Penn also established the first graduate school in the United States.

Located in downtown Philadelphia for over a century, the campus was moved across the Schuylkill River to West Philadelphia in 1872, where it has remained. The present campus covers over 260 urban acres.

The University of Pennsylvania should not be confused with the Pennsylvania State University (commonly referred to as "Penn State"), another research-oriented (but state-owned) university with the main campus located in the geographic center of Pennsylvania.

Penn's sports teams are called the Quakers. They participate in the Ivy League and the NCAA's Division I (Division I-AA for football).

Penn has been noted for its strong culture, particularly award winning a cappella groups, which range from traditional groups such as Counterparts to the highly respected Off the Beat to Penn Masala — the world's premier Hindi group, which has received global acclaim.

Famous alumni

Some famous University of Pennsylvania alumni:

There are numerous other past and present U.S. Ambassadors, members of congress, governors, and cabinet members, and corporate leaders.

Notable professors

  • Dr. Christian B. Anfinsen: Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry
  • Dr. Baruch Blumberg: Nobel Prize winner in Medicine
  • Dr. Raymond Davis, Jr.: Nobel Prize winner in Physics
  • Dr. Gerald Edelman: Nobel Prize winner in Medicine
  • Dr. Ragnar Granit: Nobel Prize winner in Medicine
  • Dr. Haldan K. Hartline: Nobel Prize winner in Medicine
  • Dr. Robert Hofstadter: Nobel Prize winner in Physics
  • Dr. Lawrence Klein: Nobel Prize winner in Economics
  • Dr. Simon Kuznets: Nobel Prize winner in Economics
  • Dr. J. Robert Schrieffer: Nobel Prize winner in Physics
  • William Labov - professor of linguistics
  • John Bowker (adjunct professor)
  • Jeremy McInerney (Associate Professor) - Classical Studies Department
  • Mitch Marcus - RCA Professor of Artificial Intelligence - Computer Science Department
  • Eugenio Calabi - Thomas A. Scott Professor of Mathematics Emeritus - Mathematics Department
  • Richard Kadison - Gustave C. Kuemmerle Professor of Mathematics - Mathematics Department
  • David Harbater - E. Otis Kendall Professor of Mathematics - Mathematics Department
  • Peter J. Freyd - Professor of Mathematics - Mathematics Department
  • David J. Farber - Distinguished Career Professor of Computer Science and Public Policy - Computer Science Department
  • Matt Blaze - Associate Professor - Computer Science Department
  • Fernando Pereira - Andrew and Debra Rachleff Professor of Computer Science - Computer Science Department
  • Francis X. Diebold - W.P. Carey Term Professor in Economics - Economics Department
  • Steven Hahn - Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of History - History Department
  • Peter Stallybrass - Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities - English Department
  • Bruce Kuklick - Roy F. and Jeannette P. Nichols Professor of American History - History Department
  • Rogers Smith - Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science - Political Science Department
  • Britton Chance
  • Michael Eric Dyson
  • Arthur Caplan
  • Kathleen Hall Jamieson
  • Tufuku Zuberi

Majors

Penn offers almost 90 majors across its four undergraduate schools:

College of Arts and Sciences:

School of Engineering and Applied Science:

Wharton School of Business:

  • Accounting
  • Actuarial Science
  • Business and Public Policy
  • Entrepreneurship (second concentration only)
  • Environmental Policy and Management
  • Finance
  • Global Analysis (second concentration only)
  • Healthcare Management and Policy
  • Insurance and Risk Management
  • Legal Studies (second concentration only)
  • Management
  • Managing Electronic Commerce (second concentration only)
  • Marketing
  • Marketing and Communication (dual concentration)
  • Operations and Information Management
  • Real Estate
  • Statistics
  • Transportation

Nursing School:

  • Nursing and Health Care Management
  • Nursing and Technology

External links


Ivy League: Brown University | Columbia University | Cornell University | Dartmouth College
Harvard University | Princeton University | University of Pennsylvania | Yale University		  
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