Penn to Announce $2 Million Donation to Fund Institute for Urban Research Chair, Host Panel on Transforming Cities

WHO:   Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania

Judith Rodin, chair of the Penn Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board and president emeritus of the University

Penn Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board members

WHAT:   A $2 million donation from the Baltimore-based construction group Clark Enterprises Inc. will fund a professorship named in honor of 1968 Penn alumnus Lawrence C. Nussdorf.

A symposium, "Transforming Cities: Positive Outcomes of Public/Private Engagement," will feature a panel of experts on urban policy, public safety and educational initiatives.

WHEN:  4 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 22.

WHERE: 8th Floor Board Room, Jon M. Huntsman Hall, 3730 Walnut St., Philadelphia

Gutmann will announce a $2 million donation from Clark Enterprises Inc. to create the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Chair at the Penn Institute for Urban Research in honor of Nussdorf, president and chief operating officer at Clark Enterprises and a Penn trustee and Graduate School of Education overseer.

Chaired by Rodin, the panel discussion participants include Alice Rivlin, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; John Timoney, Miami police chief and former Philadelphia police commissioner; and James Nevels of the Swarthmore Group investment advisers and chair of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission.

The Penn Institute for Urban Research is a hub for urban research, education and practice at the University, integrating and coordinating the work of experts from its 12 schools, opening new learning opportunities for students and scholars interested in urban life, and disseminating its findings to policy makers at the local, state, regional, national and international levels.