“I think of it as another step in the evolution of the Law School,” Perry Golkin said. “Penn Law is an unbelievably exciting place and it’s only going to get better.” Brooklyn native dabbled in theater as a child, appearing in Broadway productions of Luther and Here’s Love. He and other members of his performing arts school were invited to appear on a well-known local television show in New York. The host asked Golkin, then nine, what he wanted to do when he grew up. Golkin answered that he wanted to be a lawyer. In high school several years later, he also decided that he wanted to attend business school, in what was the first of several turning points in his life. His father, Louis, who became a sole practitioner, was stationed in Philadelphia during World War II and took advantage of his location by studying accounting at Wharton. He convinced his son to follow his lead and develop a specialty in business. Golkin had little knowledge of Wharton, but he took his father’s advice – and he thrived, earning dual degrees in accounting and economics, which became, along with his law degree, the foundation for his career. Wharton did more than burnish his academic credentials. Golkin met his future wife, Donna O’ Hara WG’77, on Penn’s campus. Donna, an undergraduate at Colgate University decided to take a semester at Penn. They got married between his second and third years of law school and went on to raise three children: Gregory, a 2006 graduate of Wharton who started a technology company in the educational field called ThinkBinder; Dorie, a Princeton graduate who is pursuing an MBA at Wharton; and David, who is teaching at a charter school in Harlem after earning his degree at Williams College. Perry Golkin set the template for achievement by distinguishing himself in law school. His team won the Keedy Cup moot court competition. He also taught an accounting class to Wharton students while still in law school. This was his first taste of teaching. He had such command of the material that he ran Wharton’s sophomore accounting program and supervised 15 other instructors of the introductory accounting class when the professor charged with such duties went on sabbatical. “I really liked it,” Golkin said. “I took that job very seriously, so it worked out well.” As did his career. Golkin started as a certified public accoun-
tant at Price Waterhouse, became a corporate lawyer at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett after law school, and finally settled in at KKR, where he was only the twelfth named partner at the legendary investment firm. He has been responsible for running the financial services practice and overseeing companies engaged in a number of other industries including manufacturing, coal mining, home building, chemical, and media.
The company went public in the summer of 2010 and quadru-
pled in size. The growth of both the company and his children, Golkin said, freed him to devote more time to Penn. It allowed him to serve as a trustee for both the University and Penn Medicine; as an overseer at the Law School, and as a board member of the Law School’s Institute for Law and Economics. But equally important, it provided Golkin the opportunity to teach again. “I wanted to teach because I actually know something to teach,” Golkin said. “I’ve got a lot of experience and I think there are a lot of lessons I picked up along the way.” Golkin incorporates those lessons — gleaned from years of service on corporate boards — into his class. Employing his showmanship, Golkin carefully choreographs his class, but does so in a way that feels spontaneous. At the start of the spring semester, Golkin fills boards with stock quotes, invites students to contribute their thoughts on a column questioning the ethics of carried interest, and leads a discussion on mark-to-market accounting and the irrationality of markets. Josh Abramson L’12, who was among the first students to earn a three-year joint JD/MBA degree, jumped at the chance to take Golkin’s class, which he described as a conversation rather than a lecture. Calling Golkin “incredibly approachable,” Abramson praised him for thoroughly exploring corporate issues and teaching students how to think through the ramifications of their decisions. He also was grateful for his spot in the class, which typically draws great interest and always has a waiting list. Golkin teaches the class in Gittis Hall, one of the renovated spaces that are part of the grand remaking of Penn Law School. The centerpiece of that endeavor is Golkin Hall, a 40,000-squarefoot building that completes a decade-plus renovation project and gives the Law School an open, light-filled space to support its educational program and its culture. Golkin believes the building speaks to the renaissance occurring at the Law School. “I think of it as another step in the evolution of the Law School,” Golkin said. “Penn Law is an unbelievably exciting place and it’s only going to get better.”
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