Herbert Moelis, W’53, a past member of both the Penn Vet Board of Advisors and Penn Libraries Board of Advisors, died October 6, 2022 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 91.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from the Wharton School at Penn in 1953 and went on to earn a law degree from New York University in 1956, along with his LLM degree specializing in tax law. He was also a certified public accountant.

Mr. Moelis started his business career on Wall Street and became an entrepreneur and CEO of several companies, one of which was Equity Leasing Corp., which he took public. He embarked upon a second career with his wife, Ellen, in 1986 when they purchased a farm in Delaware and started a thoroughbred horse breeding and racing operation, calling it Candyland Farm.

In 1990, Mr. Moelis founded the Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA), with his wife and with American sportswoman, Allaire du Pont. It was one of the first and most successful fundraising charities supporting non-profit thoroughbred horse rescue groups throughout the country, working towards ending the slaughter of thoroughbreds in the United States and supporting backstretch employees who work with horses. 

At Penn, Mr. Moelis served six years on the Penn Libraries Board of Advisors, as well as ten years on the Penn Vet Board of Advisors. He was awarded the Alumni Award of Merit in 2010. He sponsored Penn scholarships for four students in perpetuity.

In 2017, in honor of his 85th birthday, his family created the Moelis Family Grand Reading Room in the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center, named for both Ellen and Herbert Moelis (Almanac October 17, 2017).

Mr. Moelis was vice president of the board at Delaware Park Racing and president of the Board of Directors of TCA for over twenty years. He also founded and served as chair of the board of trustees of Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF), supporting medical research for horses and providing scholarships to veterinary students.

He is survived by his wife, Ellen; sons, Ron, C’78, W’78 (Kerry), Ken, W’80, WG’81, a Penn Trustee (Julie, W’81); daughter, Cindy, W’82 (Bob); grandchildren, Jordan, W’09, WG’10 (Jordan); Andrew, C’10 (Rosa), Cory, W’11, WG’18, Maddy, W’12 (Kevin), Stephanie (Joel), Adam, W’14, Kate, C’16, Claire, Paige, W’19, and Alexander; great-grandchildren, Milo and Henry; brother, Jay (Barbara); and sisters-in-law Marilyn Moelis, Ann Mac Dougall, and Ida Farriella (Nick); and many nieces and nephews.

Donations may be made in his memory to his favorite charities: Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) www.tca.org, or Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) www.terfusa.org.

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