Overseer Christopher H. Browne’s $15 Million for Five Endowed SAS Professorships at Penn	Print Issue
February 12, 2008, Volume 54, No. 21

University of Pennsylvania alumnus Christopher H. Browne has given the School of Arts and Sciences $15 million to establish five endowed professorships across the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences.

Mr. Browne, a graduate of the College at Penn, is chair of the SAS Board of Overseers, a University trustee and a co-chair of the University’s Making History fund-raising campaign (Almanac Supplement October 23, 2007).

This is Mr. Browne’s second gift supporting endowed professorships, a key priority for the School and the University in the Making History campaign. In 2000, he gave $10 million to endow five chairs in SAS known as the Browne Distinguished Professorships (Almanac February 1, 2000). He previously made a gift to establish the Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics, which promotes interdisciplinary research and teaching across the Penn community on issues of international relations, international security and international political economy.

“We are thrilled,” President Amy Gutmann said, “that Chris has again chosen to support a core University priority: our great faculty. By creating five more endowed professorships, Chris is helping us recruit and retain the most eminent professors in the world. These are scholars who are as dedicated to teaching and mentoring as they are to their research. We continue to be grateful for Chris’ philanthropy and his leadership, which is an inspiration for others in the Making History campaign.”

“Through his generosity and his commitment to academic distinction in research, teaching and open dialogue,” SAS Dean Rebecca Bushnell said, “Chris has had a remarkable impact on furthering scholarship and education in the School of Arts and Sciences and at the University.” 

Mr. Browne, who is managing director of the securities brokerage and investment advisory firm Tweedy, Browne Company LLC, received his bachelor’s degree in history from Penn in 1969. He joined the SAS Board of Overseers in 1982 and became its chair in 1999. A Penn trustee since 1991, he was named a Charter Trustee in 2001.

“My long involvement with the University has been motivated by my desire to see that the University that I leave behind is even better than the one that helped to shape me as an undergraduate,” Mr. Browne said. “That can’t happen without a strong School of Arts and Sciences. I am convinced that supporting SAS is critical to the future of the University.”