| Philanthropy
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Witkin Scholarship Will Benefit Wide Range of Students
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| Morton Witkin
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Once, students turned to Morton Witkin L’17 for tutoring. Now
the late Mr. Witkin will help students again, with a scholarship
endowment in his name to Penn Law.
The endowment will be established by his widow, Gale B. Witkin,
who plans to make a bequest to the law school that will provide
financial assistance to exceptional students from all socioeconomic
backgrounds. Mrs. Witkin’s decision to devote a portion of her
estate to Penn Law reflects her late husband’s esteem for the
institution and its contributions to his life.
Education was important to Mr. Witkin. A prototypical self-made
man, Witkin learned the habit of hard work as a child, when he
sold newspapers and operated a pushcart for a dollar a day. He
put his intelligence and enterprise to good use at Philadelphia’s
Central High School, where he tutored classmates in Latin and
mathematics, won a gold medal for oratory, and graduated with
top honors.
A self-made teacher as well, Witkin paid his way through college
by continuing to instruct students. After one year at The Wharton
School, Witkin attended and graduated from Penn Law.
Using his speaking ability, legal skills, and resourcefulness, Witkin,
a longtime partner at Witkin & Egan in Philadelphia, became a
force in Pennsylvania politics. He served as chairman of the county
commissioners of Philadelphia for 16 years and was a member of
the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for 12 years, two of
them as minority leader. An early proponent of gun control, he
sponsored the Witkin Firearms Act, which aimed to make it more
difficult to obtain a permit to carry a pistol.
As both an attorney and politician, Mr. Witkin enjoyed great success.
The endowment in honor of Mr. Witkin and his wife, Gale, will give future
students the opportunity to receive a quality education and achieve similar
success, and will help ensure a well-balanced and diverse student population
at Penn Law. 
For more information about how to make a bequest or planned gift,
please contact Eleanor Brown Davis at (215) 898-1516 or ebdavis@law.upenn.edu
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