Ford Motor gives $2m. grant to U.

The Ford Motor Co. will donate $1.5 million to Wharton and $500,000 to Engineering over the next five years. Ford Motor Co. last week gave a $2 million donation to the University that will be shared between the Wharton School and the Engineering School, officials announced Friday. Wharton will receive $1.5 million, while the remaining $500,000 will go to the School of Engineering and Applied Science, each over the next five years, University President Judith Rodin said. In a statement released last week, Rodin lauded Ford for continuing its "long-standing and productive relationship" with Wharton and for beginning a new connection with the Engineering School. "The programs and activities made possible through this generosity are not only important to these schools, but represent support for programs and activities that are essential components of the University's vision for the future," Rodin said. The donation to Wharton will support various minority programs and fellowships, the LEAD Program for minority high school students, the Forum on Electronic Commerce, the Global Consulting Practicum and the Environmental Management Program. The $1.5 million gift represents one of the largest single grants to the school from a publicly traded company. "This generous gift demonstrates Ford Motor Company's continuing support of Wharton's educational initiatives and the business leaders of tomorrow," Interim Wharton Dean Patrick Harker said Friday. "This contribution? enables Wharton to maintain excellence in management education," he added. The Engineering School will use its share of the donation for minority fellowships, the Student Leadership Fund, the Virtual Laboratory, the annual Solar Car project, Career Day activities and the Coaching to Success Program. Ford's donation comes a month after 1956 Wharton graduate Jay Baker donated $8 million to the business school toward construction of Huntsman Hall, the new Wharton building being built at 38th Street and Locust Walk, and an additional $3 million for undergraduate scholarships. Ford President and Chief Executive Officer Jacques Nasser has long involved himself with the University personally and financially. Last month, he came to Penn to see Independence, the student-built solar car which raced from Indianapolis to Colorado Springs, Colo., in Sunrayce 97, the largest solar electric vehicle race in North America. "These initiatives at [Penn] illustrate our continuing corporate commitment to higher education and our belief that academia and business should work more closely together to ensure that? students are prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly competitive business environment," Nasser said in a statement.

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