Our vibrant San Francisco campus embodies the innovative, entrepreneurial spirit of the Wharton School. We took a chance building a new campus on the West Coast in 2001, and Wharton San Francisco has continued to scale ever since. Here are a few of the highlights and a little bit of our history.
Wharton on the West Coast
Campus History
Established in 2001, Wharton San Francisco is part of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Founded in 1740, Penn is America’s first university and a member of the Ivy League. The main campus in Philadelphia was established on the western edge of the city in the 1870s and covers over 300 acres of city landscaping.
In 1881, American entrepreneur and industrialist Joseph Wharton established the world’s first collegiate school of business at Penn. Wharton’s pioneering vision was to produce graduates who would become “pillars of the state, whether in private or in public life.” The Wharton School maintains a long tradition of educating visionary business leaders in academia, business, government, and not-for-profit organizations.
In 2001, the Wharton School expanded its reach to the West Coast, establishing a presence for the Wharton School in the Bay Area. Initially located in the historic Folgers Building, the Wharton San Francisco campus welcomed its first cohort of students in the MBA for Executives program that fall.
Originally nicknamed Wharton West, the campus soon became known as Wharton San Francisco. Over the next decade academic programming expanded considerably, and the campus became a hub for entrepreneurial activity and alumni life. In 2011, Wharton San Francisco relocated to a larger space in the Hills Brothers Plaza in the SoMa district to accommodate its growing needs.
Wharton San Francisco Timeline
1996
Wharton opens a San Francisco-based office to conduct a variety of activities, including corporate outreach, interviews with potential students, and the creation of a stronger alumni network.
2001
Wharton officially establishes its presence on the West Coast with a new San Francisco campus at the heart of the city’s business and financial district in the historic Folgers Coffee building.
Wharton West welcomes its first class of 65 Wharton Executive MBA Program students in San Francisco.
2010
Wharton Entrepreneurship launches the first in a series of Wharton Entrepreneurs Workshops at Wharton San Francisco with “Starting Up: Is it a Product or is it a Company?” featuring Rob Coneybeer, WG’96, co-founder and general partner of Shasta Ventures.
2011
In addition to celebrating a decade on the West Coast, Wharton hosts the 40th Global Forum in San Francisco — the first ever to be held in the United States.
2012
Wharton San Francisco moves to its new 37,000-square foot home in the 1920s-era Hills Brothers Plaza to expand its presence on the West Coast.
65 full-time MBA students spend a semester studying at Wharton’s West Coast campus to pilot Wharton’s MBA Semester in San Francisco program.
Wharton Entrepreneurship expands its Venture Initiation Program (VIP) to Wharton San Francisco, hosting its first Spring Startup Pitch.
2015
40 undergraduate students spend a week in San Francisco for a unique on-site look at the Silicon Valley ecosystem in Vice Dean Lori Rosenkopf’s pilot course WH 297x: Wharton Industry Exploration Program: The San Francisco Bay Area Tech Sector.
After three successful years in pilot mode, the MBA Semester in San Francisco officially becomes a core offering in Wharton’s MBA Program.
2016
Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship launches Wharton Scale School Workshop to help guide entrepreneurs who are making the transition from a successful startup to a large enterprise.
Wharton San Francisco pilots a new Open Space initiative to open up the campus as a physical resource for coworking space to aid our students and alumni in launching their business ventures.
Wharton San Francisco hosts an Anniversary Gala to celebrate 15 years on the West Coast and the MBA Program for Executives welcomed alumni from the first, fifth, and 10th Reunion classes back to campus.
2017
Wharton Scale School expands its programming at Wharton San Francisco, bringing Wharton faculty together with entrepreneurs and business leaders to explore the challenges of scaling high-growth companies.
Wharton’s Venture Initiation Program in San Francisco continues to grow as an accelerator supporting Penn student and alumni ventures in the Bay Area.
2021
Wharton San Francisco celebrates 20 years on the West Coast. Since welcoming its first Executive MBA class in 2001, the campus has grown into a hub for academic programs, entrepreneurship, alumni engagement, and connections to the Bay Area business and technology community.
2022
Wharton Global Youth launches Innovation and Startup Culture at Wharton San Francisco, its first location-based summer program. High school students from around the world come to San Francisco for an immersive exploration of entrepreneurship, innovation, and the Bay Area startup ecosystem.
Wharton announces a new Global cohort of the MBA Program for Executives, expanding the program beyond its established Philadelphia and San Francisco cohorts. The Global cohort incorporates residential learning experiences at both Wharton campuses.
Venture Lab’s San Francisco accelerator evolves into VIP-X/San Francisco, continuing its support of Penn student and alumni founders building companies in the Bay Area.
2023
The first Global cohort of the Wharton MBA Program for Executives begins, incorporating residential academic experiences at Wharton San Francisco.
Wharton hosts the inaugural Business & Generative AI Workshop at Wharton San Francisco, bringing together faculty, researchers, and industry leaders to examine the emerging impact of generative artificial intelligence on business.
2024
Wharton Executive Education launches Generative AI and Business Transformation, with the program’s inaugural cohort convening at Wharton San Francisco.
Wharton San Francisco hosts the second annual Business & Generative AI gathering, expanding the inaugural workshop into a two-day conference focused on emerging research and applications of generative AI.
2025
The Wharton Global Forum returns to San Francisco for the first time since 2011. More than 600 alumni and friends join Wharton faculty and business leaders for programming focused on artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, biotechnology, health care innovation, and the future of business.
Wharton Global Youth expands its San Francisco programming with the launch of AI Leadership and Moneyball Experience, joining Innovation and Startup Culture to offer three summer programs at Wharton San Francisco.
Wharton Human-AI Research hosts the third annual Business & Generative AI Conference at Wharton San Francisco, convening academic and industry researchers to examine how generative AI is transforming business and society.
2026
Wharton Global Youth continues its expanded presence at Wharton San Francisco with three immersive summer programs: AI Leadership, Innovation and Startup Culture, and Moneyball Experience.
Venture Lab continues VIP-X/San Francisco, its accelerator for Penn student and alumni founders in the Bay Area, providing advising, workshops, community, funding opportunities, and access to Wharton San Francisco.
Wharton Scale School continues its evolution with programming focused on scaling businesses in the age of artificial intelligence, connecting Wharton faculty with Bay Area entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Wharton Human-AI Research returns to Wharton San Francisco for the fourth annual Business & Generative AI Conference, continuing a series launched at the campus in 2023.