Portal:Philadelphia/Selected picture archive/12

The Quadrangle Dormitory at the University of Pennsylvania, 2003

University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university located in the University City section of Philadelphia. Penn is one of 14 founding members of the Association of American Universities and one of nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Benjamin Franklin, Penn's founder, advocated an educational program that focused as much on practical education for commerce and public service as on the classics and theology. Penn is the home of many educational innovations: the first school of medicine in North America (Perelman School of Medicine, 1765), the first collegiate business school (Wharton School, 1881) and the first student union building and organization (Houston Hall, 1896).