Chairman of the University Board of Trustees Jim Riepe will no longer manage the $245 billion enterprise to which he has devoted the last 24 years.
Instead, he will focus his energy on a $4 billion institution -- Penn.
Riepe will step down from his position as vice chairman of investment firm T. Rowe Price at the end of this year but plans to "remain active in business," company officials announced yesterday.
And according to Secretary of the University Leslie Kruhly, his decision to resign is "fabulous news for Penn."
"His retirement couldn't come at a better time for us," she said.
Riepe said that his retirement will allow him more time to devote to his family, travel and his alma mater.
Kruhly said Riepe has been "wonderfully effective as chairman" thus far, but that his retirement will allow him to meet with more Penn community members informally.
"This will give me a little more personal time, a little more time when I'm needed on campus," Riepe said. "I'm not suddenly going to start spending a day a week on campus or anything."
And with Penn administrators currently laying the groundwork for a large fundraising campaign, Riepe will now be able to lend a greater hand.
Kruhly said she anticipates Riepe speaking more frequently at various Penn alumni events around the world.
"Jim is a very effective spokesperson for Penn," Kruhly said. "He just brings a real dynamism to public events."
A 1965 Wharton graduate who then earned an MBA from the school's graduate division, Riepe has served as chairman of Penn's Board of Trustees since 1999.
Riepe College House in the Quadrangle was renamed for him last spring after he and his wife donated $10 million for renovations.
Having worked in the mutual-fund industry for the past 36 years, Riepe spent the last 24 at T. Rowe Price, during which time the company grew by over $232 billion.
-- Mara Gordon
