(JTA) — The University of Pennsylvania will rename its School of Design for shoe designer Stuart Weitzman.
The name change to the Stuart Weitzman School of Design follows the contribution of an undisclosed sum to the school by Weitzman. The funds will go toward financial aid and academic programming, as well as the redesign of the school’s central plaza, which will be named The Stuart Weitzman Plaza.
Weitzman graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. He founded his eponymous luxury footwear company in 1986. He sold the company to Coach in 2015 and stayed on as creative director for the company through May 2017 and is currently chairman emeritus.
His wife, Jane, is a board member of 70 Faces Media, which includes the Jewish Telegraphic Agency among its brands.
The Penn School of Design enrolls more than 700 students and is consistently ranked among the country’s top design schools.
Weitzman is supporting the development of a museum in Madrid dedicated to Spanish-Jewish history. He has represented the United States in table tennis at the Maccabiah Games.
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