Because we all need another distraction from finals and all things worse, check out this cute collab/cover! It features one of our favorite rap-star Penn alums, Hoodie Allen W’10, and the adorable Kina Grannis. Together, they’re basically a gangsta baby sloth. And the song they’re covering? It’s by Walk The Moon, who’ll be playing at Made In America this year. Too bad Hoodie and Kina didn’t replicate this dance (skip to 1:50, it’s totes, worth it).
John Sculley was a high achiever from the very beginning: at 5 days old, he was one of the first infants to fly the Atlantic Ocean. In the years since, he graduated with an MBA from Wharton (’63) and began working at Pepsi-Cola Company, quickly rising to the top as the company’s youngest president and CEO.
The journey didn’t end there, as Apple was eager to hire Sculley away. As Steve Jobs made the legendary pitch to Sculley, “Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?” When you put it that way, being in charge of a multibillion dollar corporation does seem kind of mundane. Sculley chose the latter and became the CEO of Apple, with things going smoothly except for the infamous power struggle that led to Jobs’ ousting (oops).
Nowadays Sculley has been investing in US health care while advocating for more opportunities to consumerize the industry. Talk about high-achievers…
Do you enjoy watching NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, or 60 Minutes? These shows all owe their existence to William S. Paley, the founder of CBS.
This ’22 Wharton grad transformed a small collection of unsuccessful radio stations into one of the most powerful radio and television networks in America. Looks like he learned something in MGMT100. Paley built up the entertainment and news divisions of CBS using his uncanny ability to predict the popularity of various programs and his recognition of the importance of advertising.
In addition to changing the face of broadcasting, Paley was listed as one of Cosmopolitan‘s top ten most eligible bachelors at the age of 84. Not bad for an octogenarian.
You Spring Breakers still readjusting to Philly temperatures are probably wondering the whereabouts of the sun, but UTB is here to hold your hand and to tell you to let it be, girl!
If you’re sensing a theme, it’s thanks to Wharton C’40 grad Alan Livingston, who spent his college years playing in his own orchestra at frat parties while pursuing a degree in Economics.
What do you call those non-Jewish residents of the Main Line again? You know, with the yachts and the non-Kosher diets? Thanks to this guy on the right, E. Digby Baltzell (Class of 1940), we call ‘em WASPs.
Besides having an esoteric name and a bangin’ sense of style (can tweed make a comeback, please?), this St. A’s alum popularized the acronym with his 1964 book, The Protestant Establishment: Aristocracy and Caste in America, written during his years as a sociology professor at Penn.
It seems Baltzell’s specialty was studying the social caste system in America. You know, how “old money” was still running everything in town. (Those gosh-darned Tom Buchanans get everything!) No word yet on if he ever realized he actually WAS one of the people he hated studied so much.
Seriously. The disturbingly viral Harlem Shake videos currently dominating campus and the internet would not exist without Dear Old Penn. The dance has been around for decades, but the song “Harlem Shake” is by Brooklyn-based DJ Baauer, who was born Harry Rodrigues in West Philadelphia. Holla. But wait, there’s more! AND IT’S HUGE NEWS. The dude who actually says “Harlem Shake” in those 30-second clips is artist Jayson Musson, whose 2001 song “Miller Time” is sampled…and JayMuss EARNED HIS M.F.A. FROM PENN, after graduating from UArts.
Check out the latest (read: last we’ll post) “official” Penn shake above. (Fine, and this rowdy one in Fisher Fine Arts. And scene on this fad.) They probably didn’t realize all the double meanings when punnily naming it “Harlem Quake(r).” Con los terroristas!
Every so often there comes along a man who makes a real impact on the world, and we are lucky enough to count this one, Mark Pincus. After graduation from Wharton in ’88, Pincus began a career on in venture capital and finance (obviously) before deciding to screw it all and start a company of his own, and thank god he did.
That company, Zynga, brought us such inspiring fleeting fads classics as Words with Friends, Draw Something, FarmVille, as well as whole host of games you are too embarrassed to invite friends to on Facebook (Mafia Wars anyone?). However, he somehow managed, through the selling of virtual goods in his games to people who care just a little too much, to raise $15 million dollars for non-profits around the world.
Married with two kids, Mark currently resides in San Fransisco and continues to think up even more games with “Ville” at the end (CityVille, ChefVille, CastleVille, FarmVille 2). Where would our generation be without a Facebook version of Scrabble, Pictionary, and agricultural labor? Thanks to Mark we don’t have to find out.
Who knew that ditzy sex-retary on Ugly Betty boasted a BA in European History from our beloved university? That’s right, folks: Becki Newton, who played the oft-misunderstood Amanda Tanen on the ABC comedy, is a College alum.
While at Penn, Newton was a member of AXO, which we’re sure Amanda would’ve approved of. Betty totally wouldn’t have rushed, though. Newton also spent several semesters studying abroad, which is like, so fashion-forward of her. We just hope she didn’t spend any time in Spain.
After graduation, Newton moved to New York City, where she got involved in acting and met her husband, actor Chris Diamontopoulos. And there ain’t nothin’ ugly about him.
Newton has recently landed roles on How I Met Your Mother and Love Bites, though the latter was cancelled after only eight episodes. She is now slated to appear in the new Fox mini-series The Goodwin Games, proof that you can, in fact, get a job with a College degree.
Trying to sort out your baby mama drama? A certain Penn alum and talk show legend might be able to help. That’s right, Maury Povich, longtime host of Maury, is a 1962 College graduate.
As a journalism devotee and lifetime Quaker, Maury donated $1 million to the Kelly Writers House back in 2011 to start the Povich Fund for Journalism Programs.
In addition to administering countless paternity tests and helping mothers get their rebellious teens under control (since 1991!) Maury founded a newspaper, the Flathead Beacon, serving his region of Montana.
You’ll be happy to know that this Penn grad is getting plenty of use out of his Penn degree. And even happier to know that you are not the father.
Ask any self-respecting Penn student for their worst fear and they’ll all have the same reply: potential employers seeing their unedited Facebook profile. One look at your tagged photo from last weekend and you’ll never get a job. Luckily, Wharton grad Jeff Weiner is at the helm of a little website that allows you to separate your perfect GPA from the fact that you attended an event that toed the punny-pornographic line.
In all seriousness, Linkedin is a place “for serious business people to do serious business.”
Before rising to CEO of one of Silicon Valley’s most profitable websites, Weiner lived the life doing M&A, but he now runs LinkedIn, which is currently valued at over $1 billion. Weiner is still not satisfied. In his words, “We want to be everywhere the general professional is. We would like to be ubiquitous.” If ubiquity can be measured by the number of spam emails Linkedin sends every day, mission accomplished. Just saying.