The Wharton School, The University of Pennsylvania

Degrees offered

The Wharton School offers undergraduate (BS in Economics), MBA, Executive MBA, and Ph.D. programs in business, plus non-degree executive education. It has no journalism major, concentration, or minor of any kind.

Journalism-adjacent programs

• Knowledge at Wharton: Wharton's free online business-analysis journal, launched in 1999. It publishes articles, podcasts, and videos on Wharton faculty research and current business trends, interviews authors published by Wharton School Press, and maintains a searchable archive of more than 10,000 articles.

• Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists: A non-degree training program founded in 1968 by the Wharton Communications Office to help working journalists understand business and economic issues. More than 2,000 journalists in print, broadcast, and digital media have attended since its founding. The flagship program runs each fall in Philadelphia, with additional one-day sessions held in other U.S. cities and internationally (recent locations include San Francisco, London, and Hong Kong); participants receive a Wharton School Certificate of Completion. The National Press Foundation has funded fellowships covering tuition and travel for selected U.S. journalists since 1986. The next flagship program is scheduled for October 19-21, 2026, in Philadelphia.

Media executives among Wharton alumni

• Ravi Ahuja (Wharton BS and MBA): Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment since January 2025, previously President of Business Operations and CFO of Walt Disney Television and CFO of Fox Networks Group.

• Alfred C. Liggins III (Wharton MBA, 1995): President and CEO of Urban One (formerly Radio One), which he took public in 1999 and grew into the largest Black-owned broadcasting company in the United States; also chairman and CEO of the cable network TV One.

• Jay Penske (Wharton BS in Finance and Management Information Systems, 2001): Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Penske Media Corporation (PMC), which he founded in 2003 and built into the owner of Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline Hollywood, ARTnews, and Robb Report, among other titles.

• Jim Bankoff (Wharton MBA, 1996): Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Vox Media, formed from SB Nation in 2011 and now the parent of Vox, New York Magazine, The Verge, Eater, Polygon, and SB Nation, among other brands. Jim Bankoff serves as the CEO of a newly restructured Vox Media, which operates as a subsidiary of James Murdoch's Lupa Systems.

History

The Wharton School was founded in 1881 through a gift from industrialist Joseph Wharton, making it the first collegiate business school in the United States. Wharton has had 17 deans since its first director, Edmund J. James, in 1883. Erika H. James became dean on July 1, 2020, the first woman and first person of color to lead the school.

Key faculty and leadership

Erika H. James: Dean, Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise, and Professor of Management, The Wharton School.

Location and contact info

Address
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Jon M. Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Wharton Media Relations
Phone: 215-898-8036
Email: communications@wharton.upenn.edu

Website
https://www.wharton.upenn.edu