Three years after Drexel University celebrated a $45 million gift from alumnus and benefactor Bennett S. LeBow, which supported the demolition of Matheson Hall to make way for a new state-of-the-art building, the future of business education
has arrived.
The 12-story, 177,500-square-foot Gerri C. LeBow Hall — the new home of the University’s LeBow College
of Business — officially opened its doors with a two-day celebration for the Drexel community
on Oct. 2 and 3.
“Every business person expects a return on investment, and the return here will likely be the best investment I’ve ever made.”
— Bennett S. LeBow
The opening of the $92-million building named for Bennett LeBow’s late wife also marked the announcement of LeBow College’s new School of Economics. The elevated status for economics at Drexel will include growth of the doctoral program, the launch of a master’s degree, recruitment of additional high-quality research faculty and deeper collaborative research efforts with other schools and colleges at Drexel and around the world.
LeBow, a native of West Philadelphia, described his gift of $45 million to Drexel in 2010 — the 12th-largest single gift ever awarded to a U.S. business school — as a ringing endorsement of the business school and its accomplishments. He made his first gift of $10 million in 1999; since then LeBow College’s stature has risen steadily nationally and internationally.
The new building is designed by Philadelphia architects Voith & Mactavish Architects and New York’s Robert A. M. Stern Architects. It features undergraduate and graduate classrooms organized around a dramatic central atrium that is accessible from entrances at the building’s three corners. An open stair within this atrium leads to a 300-seat auditorium, a 100-seat lecture hall and a conference center. On the building’s upper floors, faculty offices are interspersed with seminar rooms and group study rooms. The building also includes a green roof and is Green Globe certifiable.