The celebration of the naming of the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and the Stuart Weitzman Plaza took place last Thursday. There were panel discussions, a keynote address and a naming ceremony, at which President Amy Gutmann said, “Design is the alchemy that refashions our world into something better. It is nothing less than the science, the art and the magic of transformation.”

President Gutmann announced that the central plaza, located adjacent to College Green between Meyerson Hall and Fisher Fine Arts Library, is now named the Stuart Weitzman Plaza. The area will undergo significant redesign and renovation by renowned landscape architect Laurie Olin, practice professor emeritus of landscape architecture at the Weitzman School, and colleagues at his firm OLIN. 

“This shared space will be a true homage to the transformative power of design. It will embody Stuart’s connection with the Weitzman School while enriching our campus for the entire Penn community,” President Gutmann said. 

Mr. Weitzman, the designer and footwear industry icon, graduated from the Wharton School in 1963 (Almanac March 12, 2019). He has had a “lifetime of engagement with Penn,” and “believes in the power of design to immeasurably improve the human experience,” said President Gutmann.