The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania today confirmed the closing of its previously announced merger with the Tuck School at Dartmouth.
The surviving entity, Whatontuckedyou, will be headquartered in New Hampshire and continue to train business leaders under the symbol TUCK, at least until Wharton has time to repaint all of the signs. An application for a new academic logo will be filed imminently.
In accordance with the terms of the merger agreement, each Tuck degree will be converted into a Wharton one. Tuck alumni may consider themselves Penn graduates, receive the Penn alumni magazine, etc. It is, however, probably best to avoid putting Wharton on your resume since it is, well, not really the same school yet, explained Wharton admissions director Carolyn Wong.
“It’s a great day for our shareholders, or whatever” stated Dartmouth President Peter Hanlan. “The new direction our business school has taken is very unique and exciting. Whatontuckedyou is poised for significant growth in the coming months and years now that we are officially part of Penn,” continued Hanlan.
Dartmouth’s business school, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, has suffered financially in recent years and was facing a cash shortage.
Dartmouth warned on Friday that it would be dangerous for Tuck to take on a lot of debt and remain a private business school given its worsening profit outlook, in a sign that it viewed retaining independence as fraught with risk.
The No. 5 maker of American business leaders published a 274-page preliminary proxy statement to inform Tuck alumni of how the $24.4 billion buyout proposal from Wharton was put together, and why it is the best of all the alternatives the school’s board explored. [Image via]
