Penn law-business program gets big gift, new name

A $10 million gift from the W.P. Carey Foundation to endow a joint law and M.B.A. degree program was announced Thursday by the University of Pennsylvania.

Students in the program graduate with law and master of business administration degrees, attending both the university's law school and Wharton, its business school. The foundation was established by William Polk Carey, a Penn graduate and founder of W.P. Carey Inc., a real estate investment trust with global operations valued at more than $11 billion.

The university said that the endowment money would go toward funding scholarships and other purposes.

The law school and Wharton are regularly ranked among the top graduate schools in the United States, and the program is the most popular joint degree at the law school. About 45 students are enrolled in the program, which began in the 1970s as a four-year course of study. In 2009, the university added an accelerated track in which graduates complete their work in three years.

Program director Colleen France said students typically bring a broad range of work experience to the program and often have worked in banks or government, or served in the military. Graduates typically go to work for investment banks, private equity firms, and law firms, among other employers.

"They are really able to use both sides of their brain," France said. "They have the analytical skills, which a law degree brings, and they are able to solve problems quantitatively, which the M.B.A. brings."

The joint degree program will be renamed the Francis J. and William Polk Carey J.D./M.B.A. Program. Francis Carey, William's brother, was a chairman and director of W.P. Carey. He earned several degrees at Penn, including a law degree. Both Careys are deceased.