The estate of Philadelphia public defender-turned-investment-executive William J. Levy gifted $42 million to the University of Pennsylvania, writes Ryan Mulligan for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The gift is on top of the $8 million the late Levy donated to Penn during his lifetime. The estate gift will go toward the William J. Levy Endowed Scholarship Fund, which will be used to fund a scholarship for 40 undergraduate students each year in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Levy graduated from Penn twice, first as an undergraduate from the Wharton School in 1957 and after that from Penn Law in 1964.

After graduating from Wharton, the Pittsburgh native served in the U.S. Navy for two years before working for the Warren Grocery Company chain of stores owned by his family. He later returned to Philadelphia to continue his education at law school.

Levy worked in the Philadelphia Public Defenders Office before transitioning to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., as part of the Justice Department.

He later founded the private investment firm Warren-Potomac.

He was also an avid art collector and philanthropist.

Like Levy, the scholarship recipients will be “undergraduates with a proven commitment to their communities,” said Penn Interim President J. Larry Jameson.

Read more about the William J. Levy’s lasting legacy and newest donation in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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