Penn Engineering receives $11M from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation to expand Clark Scholars Program
The funds will strengthen scholarships, create an annual Philanthropy Challenge, establish an entrepreneurship concentration, and support summer internships for future engineering leaders.
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Penn Clark Scholars and peer mentors: (bottom row, left to right) Tina Lee, Amehja Williams, and Hubery Pai; (second row) Amaris Chen and Ross Richard; (third row) Darren Lin, Minghui Zhang, Emily Jiang, and Frankie Lin; (fourth row) Shawn Edbert, Henry Westfall, and Noah Hidalgo; (fifth row) Matas Bujanauskas and Elias Chavez.
(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)
The University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering) has received an $11 million investment from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation to expand the institution’s Clark Scholars Program, a holistic initiative that combines financial aid, mentorship, service, and entrepreneurship to prepare future engineers to lead, innovate, and give back.
Of that total, $10 million will bolster the scholarship endowment of the Clark Scholars Program, building on the Clark Foundation’s 2017, $15 million commitment to establish the program, then the largest single investment in undergraduate education in Penn’s history. The other $1 million will launch an annual Philanthropy Challenge, giving Clark Scholars the opportunity to invest in Philadelphia themselves. The new investment will also establish an entrepreneurship concentration, support summer internships, enhance experiential learning and increase staff support for the program.
“This investment strengthens the Clarks’ vision that engineers should serve, not just build, preparing generations of Clark Scholars to lead with technical excellence and a spirit of service,” says Penn President J. Larry Jameson. “We are deeply grateful to the Clark Foundation for their continued generosity, which is driving meaningful change and creating a lasting impact across many areas of society.”
The Philanthropy Challenge will give Penn Engineering’s Clark Scholars the opportunity to collectively invest $20,000 annually in local philanthropic organizations as part of a four-year curriculum that teaches Scholars about philanthropy, including how to evaluate grant proposals and track the impact of their giving. The new entrepreneurship concentration will combine academic study with internships, preparing students to launch new ventures and bring fresh ideas to established organizations.
“The Clark Scholars Program embodies Penn Engineering’s values of innovation, leadership and service,” adds Vijay Kumar, Nemirovsky Family Dean. “This extraordinary new investment equips our students to invent transformative technologies and give back to their communities.”
For Clark Scholars, the program already provides career guidance, financial support, peer mentorship, and service opportunities. “The Clark Scholars Program has pushed me to better myself, not just to improve my life, but to support those around me,” says Andy Huynh, a second-year student in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics.
“My father’s own life was shaped by the chance to study engineering on a scholarship,” says Courtney Clark Pastrick, daughter of A. James and Alice B. Clark and Board Chair of the Clark Foundation. “Through the Clark Scholars Program, we carry forward his legacy by giving the next generation of engineers the same opportunity.”
The A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation has partnered with organizations like Penn Engineering to strengthen their ability to meet the needs of the individuals, families, and communities they serve. In keeping with Clark’s desire to spend down within a decade and maximize the impact of this funding, the Clark Foundation established its current philanthropic model in 2016. The Foundation has focused its philanthropy in three strategic areas: educating future engineering leaders, improving the lives of veterans and their families, and providing members of the community the best opportunity to thrive.
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