For Penn Institute for Urban Research:
Clark Enterprises' $2 Million Chair Honoring
Lawrence Nussdorf

President Amy Gutmann will announce the creation and endowment of a new professorship at a public interest symposium on Wednesday. Clark Enterprises Inc., the Maryland-based parent of The Clark Construction Group—one of the nation's largest general contractors—has given $2 million to Penn to create and endow the Lawrence C. Nussdorf Chair at the newly created Penn Institute for Urban Research (Almanac March 2, 2004). The gift honors Penn Trustee and GSE Overseer Lawrence Nussdorf (W'68), who is president and chief operating officer at Clark Enterprises. .

"With this generous gift," said President Amy Gutmann, "Penn is better positioned than ever to become an extraordinary leader in urban research and teaching. I am deeply grateful to Clark Enterprises for endowing the Nusdorff chair, which will enable Penn to attract preeminent faculty members to the Institute. James Clark and his colleagues have found a truly  wonderful way to honor one of Penn's most loyal alumni."

In making the gift, A. James Clark, chairman and CEO of Clark Enterprises, said, "Larry Nussdorf has played a large role in the growth and success of Clark Enterprises. We hold him in very high esteem for both his ethics and ability and could think of nothing that would honor and please him more than a chair at his beloved alma mater."     

President Emerita Judith Rodin, who serves as chair of the Institute's Advisory Board, said the gift reflected a "generous concern for the welfare of our urban communities in the best traditions of American philanthropy." "The Nussdorf chair will pump-prime the work of the Institute," she added.

The Penn Urban Research Institute is  co-directed by Dr. Eugenie L. Birch, chair and professor of city and regional planning at the School of Design, and Dr. Susan Wachter, Richard B. Worley Professor of Financial Management  at the Wharton School.

In honor of the new chair, the Institute is hosting tomorrow's symposium, Transforming Cities: Positive Outcomes of Public/Private Engagement, to discuss the impact of recent urban policy changes on cities across the country. President Gutmann and Dr. Rodin will join panelists Alice Rivlin, senior fellow of The Brookings Institution; John Timoney, Miami's chief of police; and James Nevels, founder of the Swarthmore Group and chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, to discuss public safety, fiscal responsibility and school reform.

Tomorrow's symposium will be at 3:30 p.m. in the 8th floor Small Colloquium Room, Jon M. Huntsman Hall. Panel introductions will be given by Interim Provost Peter Conn.

The Penn Institute for Urban Research serves as a hub for urban research, education and practice at the University, integrating and coordinating the work of experts from all 12 schools. In addition to opening new learning opportunities for students and scholars interested in urban life, the Institute is committed to disseminating its findings to policy makers at the local, state, regional, national, and international levels.

The search for the first Nussdorf Professor will begin in 2005. Drs. Birch and Wachter will work with the Provost's Office to conduct the search.

Penn Institute for Urban Research Advisory Board

The Penn Institute for Urban Research's Advisory Board will have its first meeting tomorrow, preceding the symposium. The board is comprised of the following members who will serve for three-year terms.

Judith Rodin, Chair, C'66, president emerita of the University of Pennsylvania

Susan Block Casdin, C'93, former senior director of business development for Bertelsmann, Inc., the German media company

Paul Farmer, executive director and CEO of the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Certified Planners

Harold Ford, Jr., congressman from the Ninth District of Tennessee, in his 4th term in the House

John T. Livingston, C'75, president and COO of Tishman Urban Development Corporation, and the president of Tishman Construction Corporation headquartered in New York City

Marc H. Morial, Esq., C'80, president and CEO of the National Urban League

Lawrence C. Nussdorf, Esq., W'68, president and COO of Clark Enterprises, Inc., a holding company based in Bethesda, MD

Philip Pilevsky, president, CEO and sole owner of Philips International, a real estate development company with headquarters in New York City

Richard P. Richman, president and founder of the Richman Group, Inc., a privately owned real estate company based in Greenwich, CT

Alice M. Rivlin,  visiting professor at the Public Policy Institute of Georgetown University and a senior fellow in the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution

John Timoney,  chief of police for the City of Miami; he served as Philadelphia's police commissioner from 1998 to 2002

  Almanac, Vol. 51, No. 4, September 21, 2004

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