General | April 30, 2019

PHILADELPHIA – Penn Athletics is proud to announce a significant endowment gift from Mr. and Mrs. T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W'69 to establish the Penn Coaches Fund. This endowment fund is focused on rewarding elite on-field performance and will contribute to championship expenses incurred by the athletics department such as incentives earned by head coaches and assistant coaches as well as championship rings awarded to student-athletes—a long standing tradition promised by Penn Athletics to each student-athlete that wins a regular season Ivy League championship at Penn. 

"I am incredibly grateful to Tory and Gibb for this gift as it supports not only a focus of our campaign in helping grow our endowment, but it's also centered on enhancing the student-athlete experience," Dr. M. Grace Calhoun,  the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W'69 Director of Athletics and Recreation, said. "Our Divisional philosophy is that no other group of people has a larger impact on the student-athlete experience than our coaches. Investing in them is investing in our student-athletes."

An important byproduct of establishing this fund is that Penn will be able to offer incentives to its coaching staffs that win championships. History has proven that Penn is an attractive coaching recruiting ground for other colleges and universities, so this fund will attract great coaches, and also allow Penn Athletics to retain their services.

"I believe deeply that our coaches are our most important assets for success," Gibb Kane said. "The good ones have both a tactical and cultural vision for how they want their programs to operate. The great ones can execute against that vision, which leads to championships.  Understanding the hard work and commitment that goes into winning and being successful is something that Penn's student-athletes will be able to take with them the rest of their lives.  Creating special environments where winning becomes a reality should be rewarded."

This gift is part of the Game Onward Campaign for the Future of Penn Athletics and brings the total dollar commitments raised to more than $118M toward the $150M goal. Their generosity also contributes to a core priority for the campaign by raising the total athletics endowment during the campaign to over $40M. With the Game Onward Campaign scheduled to end in 2021, Penn Athletics is tracking positively towards its goals. 

As an undergraduate, Kane was a four-year member of the Penn squash team and his 1969 team was the last Penn men's squash team to win the Ivy League Championship. He is a 1969 graduate of the Wharton School and co-founded Sound Shore Management, Inc., an Investment Advisory firm, eight years later. He serves as an Overseer for Athletics, a co-chair for the Game Onward Campaign, and a member of the Campaign Steering Committee for the Power of Penn.