PHILADELPHIA -- University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann will present prominent Philadelphia philanthropist Raymond G. Perelman with the University of Pennsylvania Medal for Distinguished Achievement, one of the University’s highest honors, at an Oct. 26 reception celebrating the naming of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

In May, Perelman and his late wife, Ruth Perelman, donated $225 million to Penn –- the largest single gift in the University’s history – to benefit its School of Medicine. The gift represents the largest single gift to name a school of medicine in the United States.

“Raymond Perelman and his beloved late wife, Ruth, embody the principle that with personal success comes the responsibility to help others improve their lives,” Gutmann said.  “Through their unceasing generosity and visionary philanthropy, they have ensured that many great Philadelphia institutions will continue to grow and prosper.

“As a member of the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees for many years,” she said, “Ray has championed the importance of advances in health-care education and innovation.  The Perelmans’ transformative gift to Penn Medicine will enable the Perelman School of Medicine to ease the burden of debt on our future physicians, continue to recruit the most eminent faculty and clinical educators and speed the pace of progress toward realizing life-saving and life-enhancing medical breakthroughs.”

Penn’s Medal for Distinguished Achievement is awarded periodically “to those individuals whose performance is in keeping with the highest goals of the University and who have contributed to the world through innovative acts of scholarship, scientific discovery, artistic creativity or societal leadership.”

Since its inception in 1993, 21 people have received the Medal, including four Nobel laureates, former U.S. Sen. Arlen Spector and former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS:  Media are invited to cover the presentation, scheduled for 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Translational Research Center, 3400 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia.   Additional information is available from Jill DiSanto-Haines at 215-898-4820 or jdisanto@upenn.edu.