Wharton alum donates $11 mil. to Penn

Jay Baker, a 1956 Wharton School graduate, will use part of his fortune to fund a lecture hall and undergraduate scholarships. Jay Baker, a 1956 Wharton School alumnus and philanthropist, will donate $11 million to the University to fund undergraduate financial aid and a lecture hall in Huntsman Hall, Penn officials announced Friday. Eight million dollars of the gift will support construction of the Baker Forum, a 500 seat-capacity lecture hall inside the new $128 million Wharton building, slated for completion in 2002. The two-story classroom will be the only Wharton facility large enough to accommodate an entire undergraduate class. It will be located at the center of the facility, near undergraduate computer labs and study spaces. The remaining $3 million -- among the largest financial aid donations ever to the University -- will endow the Baker Leadership Scholars Program, a scholarship initiative that will provide financial support to 12 undergraduates throughout the University each academic year. The first three Baker Scholars will be chosen from the Class of 2004. "In making this generous gift, the Bakers will greatly enhance the student experience at Penn and provide essential scholarship support," University President Judith Rodin said in a statement, adding that the scholarships are entirely need-based. Baker -- the president of Kohl's Corporation, a Wisconsin-based specialty department store -- said he has regularly donated money to the University, but his $11 million gift is by far his largest contribution. "I think [Wharton's] a great school and I've always been proud that I went there," Baker said. "It's been very beneficial to my career and I wanted to give back." Baker and his wife traveled to Penn about six months ago to meet with Rodin and then-Wharton Dean Thomas Gerrity to discuss possible uses of the donation. "We just wanted to hear what the different opportunities were," Baker said. Rodin said Baker had "really involved himself" in the University and it recently became "very clear to them that they wanted to do more." As a Wharton alumnus, Baker said he had wanted to give money to the business school and decided on the financial aid aspect of the gift after speaking to Rodin. "In her mind, that is one of the biggest things that Penn needs," Baker said of increased financial aid. Rodin's Agenda for Excellence, Penn's overall strategic plan that was released in 1995, identified undergraduate financial aid and improved academic facilities as two of the University's top priorities in the coming years. The Admissions Office will select the scholarship recipients each year but Baker said he plans to meet with all of the scholars. "I have great faith that the University is going to pick the right people," Baker said. Together, the Bakers -- Wisconsin philanthropists who have long supported performing arts in Milwaukee -- created The Patty and Jay Baker Foundation, which supports charities in both Milwaukee and Naples, Fla. The couple raised more than $10 million for the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, which has since been named in their honor. Baker will resign from his role as president of Kohl's later this year but will stay on as a member of the store's board of directors. He said he does not yet know whether he will make future large contributions to the University. Huntsman Hall, which is currently under construction at 38th and Walnut streets, is named for 1959 Wharton graduate Jon Huntsman, whose unrestricted 1998 donation of $40 million was applied toward the building's construction. The six-story, 320,000 square-foot building will house classrooms for Wharton undergraduate and MBA students, as well as administrative offices and four academic departments.