Alumnus Gives $1 Million to Penn Engineering and Law

PHILADELPHIA -- A $1 million gift from Harold and Renee Berger will benefit the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Law School at the University of Pennsylvania.

The gift will create the Harold and Renee Berger Auditorium and Lobby in Skirkanich Hall, the new bioengineering facility, and the Law School's Harold and Renee Berger Seminar Room.  It will also support annual giving at the Law School.

"I am thrilled that Harold Berger is supporting both his alma maters at Penn," President Amy Gutmann said.  "This gift not only reflects important priorities for Engineering and Law, it also reflects Harold's longstanding personal and professional interests. We are very grateful for Harold and Renee's support."

Longtime supporters of Penn, the Bergers previously endowed the Berger Annual Lecture Series and National Award at SEAS, the Honorable Harold Berger Award in Electrical Engineering and the Harold and Renee Berger Endowed Scholarship Fund.

"It is fitting," Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt said, "that the heart of Skirkanich Hall is named in honor of Harold, one of Engineering's most prominent alumni, and his wife, Renee.  Their generosity has been vital."

Harold Berger, senior partner and managing principal of Berger & Montague, P.C., a Philadelphia law firm, is a member of the SEAS Board of Overseers, chair of the Friends of Biddle Law Library and former judge in the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia.

"As chair of the Friends of Biddle and the Class of 1951 Reunion Committee," Law Dean Michael A. Fitts said,  "Judge Berger has been a consistent and enthusiastic supporter of Penn Law School for many years.  We are grateful for Harold and Renee's support."