Joshua J. Harris W’86, cofounder and director of the alternative investment manager Apollo Global Management, and his wife Marjorie Harris donated $10 million to Wharton in February to establish the Joshua J. Harris Alternative Investments Program.
The innovative program seeks to boost Wharton students’ knowledge of alternative investments—assets that are not stocks, bonds, or other conventional investments—while bringing together alumni and industry experts through events and public forums. The landmark gift—part of Wharton’s More Than Ever fundraising campaign—will “significantly expand student opportunities, advance new knowledge, and meaningfully engage the University community,” said President Amy Gutmann. Wharton dean Geoffrey Garrett added that the program will help the school’s “ability to shape the future of finance,” calling Harris “an alternative investments trailblazer.”
Harris—who owns multiple professional sports franchises, including the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers [“Can Some Quakers Save the Sixers?” Mar|Apr 2012]—is a member of Wharton’s board of overseers and has made several contributions to Penn in the past, including the Wharton Private Equity Professorship, the Joshua J. Harris Professorship, and the Harris Family Endowed Scholarship to support undergraduate Wharton students from the Washington, DC, area. A former Penn wrestler, Harris also recently gave $1 million through his family’s charitable foundation to bolster the Quakers wrestling program.
“I know firsthand that Wharton students are creative, entrepreneurial, and eager for new challenges—attributes that the great leaders of the industry possess,” Harris said. “I look forward to the Harris Program inspiring our students to pursue transformative opportunities and develop into future leaders of the industry.”
