The University of Pennsylvania is pleased to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth. Penn is proud to be a founding member of the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Consortium, an organization created in 2000 by the American Philosophical Society, The Franklin Institute, the Library Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the University. The Tercentenary consortium’s projects form the official national celebration for America’s first founding father to reach 300. Mark Lloyd, Director of the University Archives and Records Center, notes Penn has five great reasons to celebrate Benjamin Franklin:

1) No other colonial college in America can claim a founder even remotely as significant or as famous as Franklin.

2) Franklin’s “Idea of an English School” was a profoundly original and innovative break from the norms of European collegiate education – the idea that a liberal arts education could be obtained entirely in English – one that was eventually accepted in American colleges & universities.

3) Franklin saw the purpose of higher education as leading to effective public service, certainly a theme we celebrate.

4) Franklin embraced the modern ideas that empirical study and application of the inductive method can lead to a better and more accurate understanding of humankind and its environment AND that energetic, creative pursuit of these intellectual activities can improve the lives of all. In combining these ideas, Franklin effectively defined the modern university and its core mission, the advancement of knowledge.

5) Franklin embodied the American ideal, that by hard work and personal talent any person can achieve great and appropriate fame and recognition.

Return often to this page to see what exciting programs Penn is offering for this celebration.

Links:
Penn Events
On and off campus events

Penn in the Age of Franklin
A documentary history of Penn's origins and its early years from 1740 to 1791.

Ben Franklin 300
Official site of Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary.

Alumni Relations celebration
Ben, Penn and the World