Campus History
Founded in 1740, the University of Pennsylvania is America’s first university and a member of the Ivy League. Penn has a legacy of educational innovation that includes America’s first medical school, first collegiate business school, first university teaching hospital, first journalism program, and first modern liberal arts curriculum. The current campus was established on the western edge of the city of Philadelphia in the 1870s and covers over 300 acres of city landscaping.
The Wharton campus in Philadelphia is right on Locust Walk, the brick-lined pedestrian thoroughfare at the heart of the University of Pennsylvania. Jon M. Huntsman Hall is the latest addition to the Wharton campus, a network of buildings located along Locust Walk and around the Wharton quad. The Wharton campus builds close interactions across its many centers and is large enough to offer world-class resources.
In addition, through Wharton | San Francisco, our alliance with INSEAD, the leading business school in Europe, and the Penn Wharton China Center, we extend our reach from Philadelphia toward the West Coast, and as far as Asia and Europe.
How Wharton Connects with Penn
Wharton’s central location on campus gives PhD students easy access to top-notch University-wide resources for research and encourages collaboration with Penn’s 11 other schools.
The campus’ resources extend from a state-of-the-art fitness center, donated by Wharton alum David Pottruck, to a library system with almost 6 million books and a campus that’s more than 300 acres with countless educational, recreational, and cultural opportunities. Our many buildings are clustered at the center of the campus and form a community within Penn.
All of Penn’s 12 schools are located within walking distance of one another. This geographical unity, unique among Ivy League schools, supports and fosters Penn’s interdisciplinary approach to education, scholarship, and research.
Jon M. Huntsman Hall
Jon M. Huntsman Hall is home to both the Undergraduate and Graduate Divisions of Wharton. The single largest addition of academic space on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus in more than half a century, this 320,000-square-foot building is designed around Wharton’s cohort learning model and integrates innovative learning technologies throughout the School. Huntsman Hall has 48 flexible, technologically equipped classrooms, four computer labs, 57 group study rooms, four floors of faculty offices, common spaces, and pedestrian walkways. Other notable features include an 8th floor conference space, 300-seat auditorium, student cafés, and study lounges.
Steinberg Conference Center
The Steinberg Conference Center is home to the Aresty Institute of Executive Education. A learning-living environment, the center includes four amphitheaters, three large classrooms, 12 conference rooms, 103 guest rooms and suites equipped with networked personal computers, aerobic exercise room, executive dining facilities, evening lounge, and case rooms with video and computer technology.
Steinberg Hall – Dietrich Hall
Dietrich Hall, opened in 1952, was one of the first buildings erected on campus after World War II and the first built exclusively for the Wharton School. In 1983, the adjacent Steinberg Hall was added. The center for the School administration, it also houses several academic department offices, classrooms, and conference rooms.
Lauder Institute
The home of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies, this building contains offices, common spaces, and classrooms used by students in the Wharton/Lauder joint MBA/MA program for international business.
Vance Hall
Built in 1972 to house Wharton graduate programs, this building holds administrative offices, classrooms, and meeting spaces. Built of concrete, steel, and glass, it is an example of the Philadelphia school of architecture.