Lauder gives $10 mil. to Wharton

University alumnus Leonard Lauder donated $10 million to the University in late July, to be earmarked for the Joseph H. Lauder Institute of Management & International Studies. University President Judith Rodin announced the gift from Lauder, who is president and chief executive officer of New York-based Estee Lauder Companies, Inc., during a June 27 meeting of the University trustees. The Lauder Institute, established in 1983, is an joint Master of Business Administration/Master of Arts program in management and international studies between the Wharton School and the School of Arts and Sciences. The gift will enable the Institute -- currently the only dual MBA/MA degree program of its kind at a major business school -- to set new standards in global management education by further developing the international studies, foreign language and cross-cultural aspects of the curriculum. The Institute was founded by brothers Leonard and Ronald Lauder -- 1954 and 1965 Wharton graduates, respectively -- and their sister Estee Lauder. The three siblings initially donated $10 million for the Institute in honor of their father, Joseph Lauder, co-founder of Estee Lauder Companies. The total gift of $20 million makes it the largest endowment of any international management program of its kind in the world. Lauder said he hopes his contribution will ensure the University's leadership in the future of the field. The new endowment will provide a sequence of new courses for the international studies area, fund new high-level language programs, and develop the program's language and cross-cultural studies area. In addition, the money will provide for endowment of the director's position at the Lauder Institute.

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