When it comes to political donations, America's professors are schooling other industries.
Penn, too, is taking the lead - and it's mostly Democrats who are benefiting.
According to data released last month by the Center for Responsive Politics, the education industry has grown to be a major player in campaign finance.
For the 2008 election cycle, the higher-education institutions ranked 14th among all industries in donations, ahead of typical big-givers like the oil and pharmaceutical industries.
For their part, Penn employees made the University the ninth-ranked educational institution in total donations in the 2008 presidential race, donating $80,990 to federal candidates, parties and committees.
Ninety percent of those donations have gone to Democrats.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) was Penn employees' favorite candidate, with $11,700, followed by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) with $6,050 in donations, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Former Gov. Mitt Romney was the top Republican for Penn employees, with $2,300 in donations.
Overall, Obama was the top recipient in the education industry, with $1.5 million in donations, followed by Clinton, with almost $940,000, according to the CRP.
CRP spokesman Massie Ritsch said the amount of donations coming from the education industry shows how important professors have become in campaign fundraising.
"What's interesting to us is not so much that professors are politically progressive," he said, "but that they have become such a force in federal campaign finance."
Republican control of the White House has played a large role in driving an increase in political contributions from professors, Ritsch added.
"Professors have told us they have this unified and fervent desire to see a Democrat in the White House, especially someone other than Bush," he said.
That has also been the motivation for Bayard Storey, Emeritus professor of Reproductive Biology and Physiology, who has been one of the leading Penn employees who has donated to Democratic causes, with $34,640 given to mostly non-presidential candidates and committees, according to the FEC.
"I feel this country has been going to hell in a hand-basket, and it's really in trouble under the current president," he said. "I want the country to be in good shape before I die."
Storey said he has tried hard to separate his political views from his teaching.
"When you're having discussion groups with students, you don't want to trample on students' opinions," he said. "We just ask students to defend their opinions and teach them basic critical thinking."
Top prof donations
? Bayard Storey, professor emeritus, $34,640 to various
? James Galbally, Dental School, $9,200 to Hillary Clinton
? Peter Kuriloff, GSE, $4,600 to Patrick Murphy
