Raymond G. Perelman, namesake and major donor of Medical School, dies at 101

Longtime Penn donor Raymond G. Perelman died on Monday at his home in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. He was 101.

Perelman, a 1940 Wharton graduate, was one of Penn’s largest donors. In 2011, he gave $225 million to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine along with his wife Ruth, the largest gift to a U.S. medical school in history and Penn’s largest individual donation.

The school was renamed the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine in their honor. The Perelmans also donated $25 million to develop the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and established an endowed professorship in the medical school.

Perelman was active in philanthropy throughout the Philadelphia region, with recipients including Drexel University, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Kimmel Center. He also donated to political causes, including the 2012 Mitt Romney presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee.  

The son of Lithuanian immigrants, Perelman made his fortune in mining and manufacturing. He established two companies, RGP Holdings and Belmont Holdings, and continued to be involved in the businesses into his 90s, the Inquirer reported. 

Perelman’s two sons, Ronald and Jeffrey, both attended Wharton and became major donors to Penn. Ronald Perelman, a former trustee and 1964 Wharton graduate, received his MBA in 1966 and gave his name to the Perelman Quadrangle and the Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics. Jeffrey Perelman, a 1971 Wharton graduate and 1973 MBA recipient, has also donated to the School of Medicine, the School of Design, and the Institute for Contemporary Art.