Perelman Quad gets $2 mil.

University alumni David and Lyn Silfen have donated $2 million to create a study pavilion in the Perelman Quadrangle in honor of David's 30th class reunion this May, University President Judith Rodin announced yesterday. The David and Lyn Silfen Study Study Center will be a "sculpted, light-filled, single-story addition" to Williams Hall, according to a press release issued by the University. "We look forward to a creatively designed setting where small to large groups of students will be able to congregate and interact at any hour of the day," David Silfen said. Earlier plans for the Perelman Quad called for a two-story, light-filled atrium that would connect Williams and Logan Halls and include a 24-hour study space. The Silfen study area will include computers, a lobby, a cafe and a meeting room, "helping to draw students into the Perelman Quadrangle," the release said. Rodin said the lounge will be an "exciting addition to campus." The University is still searching for donors to name the concert hall in Irvine Auditorium for $5 million, the new entrance to the Admissions Office for $3 million and the refurbished Houston Hall theater for $1 million. Other smaller Perelman Quad areas yet to be named include a Women's Studies library, an art gallery, smaller practice rooms in Irvine Auditorium and a number of student activity suites, said Joanne Hanna, director of development for the Perelman Quad. The Development Office has gathered roughly $34 million in pledges for the planned student activity area and intends to raise another $8-10 million in the next 3 years, Hanna said. University Trustees Ronald Perelman and Steve Wynn pledged $20 million and $7.5 million, respectively, to the Perelman Quad, and the classes of 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1970 gave their reunion gifts, totalling $5 million, to the project. Hanna explained that several classes had allocated their gifts to the scrapped Revlon Center and decided to reassign that money to the Perelman Quad. Silfen, a 1966 graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, has long been supportive of the University's endeavors. Since 1991, he has served on the College Board of Overseers. And in January of 1993, Silfen, who was a History major, and his wife pledged to support the newly-created Penn History Review with $10,000, given over a five-year period. The Silfens have also donated money for a term chair in American Art History as well as Art History Junior Travel Fellowships. David Silfen is a partner at the investment firm Goldman Sachs in New York, where he is co-head of the worldwide Equities Division. He is also a member of the company's Executive Committee, its senior governing body.