The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation
Open Menu

News

PennDesign Renamed After Fashion Icon Stuart Weitzman

February 27, 2019

In addition to naming the School of Design the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, the School’s central plaza will be named The Stuart Weitzman Plaza. It will undergo significant redesign and renovation by renowned landscape architect, Laurie Olin, Practice Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at the School of Design.

In addition to naming the School of Design the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, the School’s central plaza will be named The Stuart Weitzman Plaza. It will undergo significant redesign and renovation by renowned landscape architect, Laurie Olin, Practice Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at the School of Design.

from The Daily Pennsylvanian

Penn’s School of Design will be renamed for fashion icon and 1963 Wharton alumnus Stuart Weitzman, whose donation to the school will free it from its years-long struggle to sustain its high costs given limited research funding and gifts.

Stuart Weitzman, a 1963 Wharton School graduate, is one of the most recognizable names in luxury designer footwear. (Photo: PennDesign)
Stuart Weitzman, a 1963 Wharton School graduate, is one of the most recognizable names in luxury designer footwear. (Photo: PennDesign)

PennDesign will be renamed “the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design,” Penn President Amy Gutmann announced in an email to the Penn community Feb. 26. The sum of Weitzman’s contribution to the school will remain confidential, but “his incomparable support of the School of Design aligns his own lifetime body of work in design with his ongoing commitment to the University in a meaningful and impactful way,” Gutmann wrote.

The funds will go toward financial aid and academic programming, as well as toward PennDesign’s central plaza, which will undergo “significant redesign and renovation in the upcoming months,” Gutmann wrote. The plaza is located between Meyerson Hall and Fisher Fine Arts Library, next to College Green.

The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation

John McInerney (he/him)
Executive Director
215-573-0874
mcinernj@upenn.edu

Chloe Reison (she/her)
Associate Director
215-573-2159
reison@upenn.edu

Elizabeth Shaw (she/her)
Administrative Assistant
215-898-5930
elizshaw@upenn.edu

The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation offices are located at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Pennsylvania.

3680 Walnut Street
Philadelphia PA

Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Follow Us on Social Media

 Instagram

Browse the Website
  • Grants
  • Happenings
  • News
  • Resources
  • Spaces & Places
  • About
Report accessibility issues and get help
Copyright © 2025 The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation
  • Grants
  • Happenings
  • News
  • Resources
  • Spaces & Places
  • About
Close Menu.