Wharton named Mary-Hunter McDonnell as the school's inaugural Bantwal Family Goldman Sachs Presidential Associate Professor this summer.
Interim Penn President Larry Jameson and Wharton Dean Erika James announced McDonnell's appointment in a June 4 press release. The professorship was endowed by 1999 Wharton graduate Vivek Bantwal and his wife, Sarika Bantwal.
McDonnell did not respond to a request for comment by The Daily Pennsylvanian.
The Bantwal family endowed the professorship to honor the memory of Vivek Bantwal's late father, Jayawant Bantwal, according to the press release.
Vivek Bantwal, who is currently a partner and global head of the Financing Group at Goldman Sachs, has served on Wharton's Undergraduate Executive Board since 2019 and served as the 2024 Wharton Undergraduate Graduation Speaker. He called education a “core value” for his family in an interview with the DP.
“My father was able to come to this country as an immigrant from India on a scholarship. And with that scholarship, he was able to get a master’s degree, a job, and build a life for himself,” he said.
He added that Wharton formed many of his current friendships and professional trajectory, stating that he “had a terrific experience at Wharton, both academically and personally.”
In the press release, James called Vivek Bantwal a committed alumnus, citing his donations to the school and membership on Wharton’s Undergraduate Executive Board.
“I am delighted the Bantwals have made it possible to further recognize Professor McDonnell’s impactful research and leadership,” James said.
McDonnell, a professor of Management, has been a faculty member at Wharton since 2015. She began her career at the school as an assistant professor of Management and later held the Clarence Nickman Assistant Professorship from 2019 to 2020.
McDonnell was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2020. She holds secondary appointments in Wharton’s Legal Studies & Business Ethics department and in the College of Arts and Sciences' Sociology department. She also became faculty co-director of the Zicklin Center for Governance and Business Ethics in 2023.
McDonnell's research is interdisciplinary, focusing on the complex relationships between politics, corporations, and their stakeholders, according to the press release. Her work applies organizational theory and sociology to issues such as organizational misconduct and interactions between governmental agents, social activists, and businesses.
“By drawing from a variety of fields and integrating them into her scholarship, she offers vital insights that explain a foundational aspect of our modern world,” Jameson wrote in the press release.
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