Ledwell to retire after 30 years at University

Edwin "Bud" Ledwell, the longest-serving University administrator, will step down November 1. Superblock was not yet built, and all campus housing was segregated by gender when the Athletic Department's Director of Administrative Affairs Edwin "Bud" Ledwell joined the University in 1967. Four major University positions and 30 years later, Ledwell -- one of Penn's longest-serving administrators -- will retire November 1 to spend more time with his family. "It's been a great 30 years, but it's time to take some of those trips we've been putting off," he said. In his most recent position with the Athletic Department, Ledwell has overseen all the department's budgeting and planning since 1980. His colleagues in the department said they will miss the "multi-faceted" administrator. "We've benefitted greatly from Bud's talents, not only from his immense financial knowledge, but also his understanding of how Penn works," said Senior Associate Director of Athletics Carolyn Schlie Femovich. Ledwell described his early days at the University -- which he spent in Residential Living, first as director of residence and later as director of residential life -- as "an exciting time and a time of great transition." The University's housing system was vastly different in 1967, as only approximately 40 percent of the student body lived on campus due to a shortage of University housing. "We could only guarantee housing for freshmen students, as well as all the women," Ledwell said. The Quadrangle was the primary residential facility for men, while female students lived in Hill House. The University also operated several apartment buildings on and off campus. "We had what I would call 'not-optimal' housing, and there was a conscious effort by the University to change that," he said. Penn's "conscious effort" resulted in the construction of Superblock in the early 1970s. Approximately 5,000 new residential spaces were created by building the three high rises, the low rises and Stouffer College House. After leaving the department, Ledwell moved to the Office of the Provost, where he presided over University-wide budgetary and personnel issues in his position as director of administrative affairs. The move "put me more in touch with the academic side of the University," he said, adding that it "was a fresh change from Residential Life." After moving to the Athletic Department in 1975, Ledwell said he made determining the "real cost" of the department's activities and then covering all of its necessary expenses his "primary" goals. "Getting the coaches and various [recreation] programs involved in finances was a big and crucial step," Ledwell said."With their understanding of the system, [the coaches] feel a sense of control -- that they can help plan ahead for any big expenses they might have." Ledwell stressed, however, that it "has been frustrating to not be able to provide the department with the level of support it needs," particularly in the area of continuous facility maintenance. And although the University has been addressing the problem recently, Ledwell said much of the work "could have been avoided with more upkeep before." Besides his many administrative roles at the University, Ledwell earned his MBA from the Wharton night school in 1974, and he taught the school's "Introduction to Management" course from 1982 to 1989.

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