The gift to Penn’s Institute for Urban Research will support a co-director position and a postdoctoral fellowship, enhancing the Institute’s ability to address timely urban opportunities and challenges.
The University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Urban Research (Penn IUR) has received a $10 million anonymous gift to advance research, education, and policy solutions for the cities of today and tomorrow.
The endowed funds will support one of Penn IUR’s co-director positions and a postdoctoral fellowship, enhancing the Institute’s ability to address timely urban opportunities and challenges. Among these issues today are housing affordability, anchor institutions, regional and municipal fiscal stability, and financing urban climate resilience.
“This gift advances the University’s commitment to creating knowledge that benefits communities locally and around the world. It also ensures that Penn IUR can continue developing urban leaders and practical solutions for rapidly growing cities worldwide,” says Penn President J. Larry Jameson. “Providing support for leaders whose expertise connects finance, policy, and planning strengthens Penn IUR’s impact on a global scale.”
Since its founding in 2004, Penn IUR has shaped policies and strategies that impact cities locally and globally. Eugénie Birch, Lawrence C. Nussdorf Professor of Urban Research and Education at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and Susan Wachter, Albert Sussman Professor of Real Estate and professor of finance at The Wharton School, co-direct the Institute, blending expertise in urban planning, finance, and governance.
The gift arrives at a pivotal moment for urban research. “How we plan, manage, and inhabit cities will shape the quality of life for billions of people,” says Birch. “Tomorrow’s leaders need both technical skills and social insight. They must understand the spatial and economic dimensions of cities and be prepared to manage complex urban systems—especially in the Global South, where professional capacity is critically needed.”
“With 2.5 billion more people projected to live in urban areas by 2050, the stakes have never been higher,” says Wachter. “This extraordinary gift underscores the urgency and global relevance of our work, enabling us to deepen research that informs practical, equitable, and sustainable urban development at multiple levels.”
The gift marks a milestone in Penn IUR’s mission to produce rigorous research and actionable insights for cities, reinforcing its role as a global hub for urban scholarship and leadership.
Griffin Pitt, right, works with two other student researchers to test the conductivity, total dissolved solids, salinity, and temperature of water below a sand dam in Kenya.
Griffin Pitt’s upbringing made her passionate about water access and pollution, and Penn has given her the opportunity to explore these issues back home in North Carolina and abroad.
Rashi Sabherwal, a doctoral student in political science, explores how women engage politically in society in informal roles through her research in India.
Helping robots work together to explore the Moon and Mars
Penn Engineers, NASA, and five other universities tested robotic systems designed to help unmanned explorers cooperate in the dunes of White Sands, New Mexico, paving the way for Moon and Mars exploration.
