Logan Hall to become Claudia Cohen Hall

Building receives new name as part of old 1995 alum donation

by Cecily Wu | Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 1:00 am

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Logan Hall will be renamed Claudia Cohen Hall this summer in memory of 1972 College of Women graduate Claudia Cohen, who died in June 2007.

Cohen, a journalist who also served as an overseer of the School of Arts and Sciences, died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56.

Her ex-husband, Ronald Perelman, a 1964 Wharton alumnus, University Trustee and Wharton School overseer, was given the option of renaming Logan Hall as part of the $20 million donation he made to improve campus life in 1995. Although he did not exercise the right at the time, he elected to rename the hall in Cohen's memory after she died last summer.

The donation - the largest in Penn's history - allowed the University to renovate the Perelman Quadrangle, including College Hall, Logan Hall and Houston Hall.

John Zeller, vice president for development and alumni relations, said the University does not expect any confusion as a result of the name change, but he added that "it might take a year or two for the name to catch on."

Logan Hall was originally named Medical Hall and housed the School of Medicine until 1904. In 1906, it was renamed in honor of James Logan, a founding trustee of the College of Philadelphia, Penn's predecessor institution.

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