The Wharton School launched its first new degree in 50 years after receiving a $60 million gift from Bruce Jacobs, a 1979 School of Arts and Sciences graduate, 1986 Wharton Ph.D. graduate, and former Wharton faculty member.
Jacobs’ gift — the largest single contribution in school history — will support the new Dr. Bruce I. Jacobs Master of Science in Quantitative Finance program. The program is open to Penn undergraduates, and its inaugural cohort will begin their studies in fall 2026.
“Wharton is the world’s top business school because it consistently leads at the forefront of fields like quantitative finance,” Penn President Larry Jameson said in a press release announcing the gift. “Dr. Jacobs has long been a champion for Wharton’s preeminence in this essential area, and we are deeply grateful for his historic gift.”
In a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian, Jacobs stated that he was motivated to create the program to support “the next generation of leaders in the asset management industry.” He emphasized that the program would offer students a strong foundation in financial economics while also providing technical skills in areas like machine learning and artificial intelligence.
The donation follows a 2023 email from Jacobs to the DP discussing his concerns with “antisemitic incidences” at Penn. In the email, Jacobs wrote that his future donations to the University “would be dependent upon the administration ensuring a safe, inclusive, and respectful academic environment for its students.”
The donation brings Jacobs’ total contribution to Wharton to over $80 million.
He previously donated $12 million to create the Jacobs Levy Equity Management Center and another $8 million to support a quantitative finance MBA major at Wharton. The 2025 donation surpasses 1984 Wharton graduate Marc Rowan’s $50 million gift in 2018, which was previously the largest gift Wharton had ever received.
In an interview with the DP, Wharton Dean Erika James emphasized that the new program was “a perfect representation of [Wharton’s] innovation in both what and how we teach.”
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“We’re very interested in trying to keep our pulse on where the needs are in the economic landscape,” James said. “And right now, quantitative finance and quantitative asset management are growing fields, and we want to be the supplier of choice for those going into that domain.”
James added that the program will also allow students across Penn to access Wharton’s resources.
“One of the things that I’ve recognized during my time is there’s great desire by Penn students to have access and exposure to some Wharton content,” James said. “And the way we’ve structured this degree, at least initially, will allow Penn students who are not undergraduates within Wharton to be exposed to and get a degree from the school.”
The program will initially be open to Penn students in all four undergraduate schools who have completed the necessary prerequisite courses. Students would then stay for an additional fifth year at Penn to complete the program, engaging in a curriculum that includes a range of foundational quantitative finance courses, required core courses, and electives.
“The Jacobs MSQF is designed for quantitatively minded students who want to apply their skills in finance,” Wharton professor and MSQF faculty director David Musto wrote in a statement to the DP. “We’re looking for students who are majoring in quantitatively demanding fields and enjoy that kind of work, and who are intrigued by the challenges encountered in the financial industry.”
Musto added that MSQF would include several student support resources, including a class manager, internship programs, and work placement programs. According to him, the program would be supported by an advisory board representing a wide range of practitioners and perspectives.
“When I was at the Wharton School, quantitative finance was in its infancy,” Jacobs wrote to the DP. “Now, it is an essential discipline in this data-driven world.”
