PENN TO RENAME BENNETT HALL IN HONOR OF FORMER TRUSTEE RICHARD L. FISHER

October 2004

University of Pennsylvania’s School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) will rename Bennett Hall, home of its world-renowned English Department, as Fisher-Bennett Hall in recognition of a leadership gift from alumnus Richard L. Fisher (C’63, G’67).

SAS is engaged in a $21 million plan to renovate the 80-year-old building, once home to Penn’s College for Women. In addition to the English Department, Bennett Hall has housed several humanities programs and provided teaching space for courses across the university. The work is part of a five-year plan to address SAS’s most pressing facilities needs.

In announcing the gift, Penn President Amy Gutmann stated: “By renovating Bennett Hall, we will strengthen the liberal arts at Penn. We will also help to maintain Penn’s overall excellence and enhance the learning experience for students across the university. I am enormously grateful to Richard Fisher for making this possible.”

Bennett Hall has been a campus landmark since 1924 when it was built as a home for the education of female students. For 50 years, generations of Penn women passed through its marble corridors in their pursuit of knowledge. Since the English department, one of Penn’s most popular disciplines, moved into the building in 1974, Bennett Hall has become one of the most widely used spaces on campus. It has served not only 500 English majors a year, but also Penn’s nearly 10,000 undergraduates, who must take English and writing courses as part of their degree requirements.

The renovation will increase the number of seminar rooms from four to 11, create a new lecture hall and undergraduate study center, and refurbish 13 classrooms of varying size. Soundproofing will diminish the intrusion of street noise on class discussions, while comfortable seating and better heating, lighting, and cooling will further enhance the learning experience.

When work is completed, the building will also be home to Penn’s new Cinema Studies program and offer classrooms, practice rooms, and performance space for the Music Department. While the building will be outfitted for the latest methods of teaching and learning, many of its distinctive architectural features, such as the main lobby, grand staircase, and marble hallways, will be preserved.

“Bennett Hall was my home at Penn,” said Richard L. Fisher. “As an English major and graduate student, it was in this building that I learned about myself and the world. Later, when I taught in Bennett Hall, I was able to share this knowledge with my students and continue to learn from them. Today’s faculty and students deserve the best environment for their own work. I believe this project will provide just that. I am very pleased to be able to contribute toward its success.”

Mr. Fisher, a senior partner of the New York real estate development firm Fisher Brothers, has enjoyed a long relationship with Penn’s English Department. He earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in English in 1963 and completed the coursework for a doctorate in 1967. Before turning to real estate, he was a teaching fellow in the department and wrote for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin and Philadelphia Magazine. He is a former University Trustee and SAS Overseer, as well as a generous supporter whose other gifts include the Richard L. Fisher Professorship in English.

“Richard was among the first to recognize the need for this renovation, and he has been a driving force behind this project ever since. I am delighted that the renovated building will bear his name,” said Samuel H. Preston, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.