(Philadelphia, PA) – University of Pennsylvania alumnus Raymond G. Perelman and his wife, Ruth, have pledged $25 million to name PENN Medicine’s Center for Advanced Medicine as The Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. This state-of-the-art facility – part of the University of Pennsylvania Health System – will set a new standard for outpatient care in the specialty areas of cancer, cardiovascular medicine, and surgery.

This beneficent gift, which continues a tradition of gracious giving to PENN Medicine by the Perelmans, will help finance the construction and completion of The Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, which is expected to open its doors in 2008. The Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine will be located on the corner of 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, in Philadelphia, PA.

Since 1992, Raymond Perelman has been President and Chairman of the Board of RGP Holdings, Inc., a privately held holding company comprised of a vast array of manufacturing, mining, and financial interests. Mr. Perelman serves as a PENN Medicine Trustee, and is a 1940 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Mr. and Mrs. Perelman are Trustees of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman Education Foundation, Inc. – which supports Jewish cultural and welfare organizations, as well as arts and history museums, and other cultural institutions.

The Perelmans are parents to Jeffrey E. and Ronald O. Perelman -- who also have distinguished careers in both business and philanthropy, and close ties to the city and University.

Ronald O. Perelman is Chairman of the Board of Directors of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings and of the company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Revlon Consumer Products Corporation. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and has an MBA from the Wharton School. Ronald Perelman is a Trustee of the University of Pennsylvania, a member of the Wharton Board of Overseers, and a former member of Wharton's Graduate Executive Board. His philanthropy at Penn includes establishing the Ronald O. Perelman Professorship in Finance in 1985, and the Perelman Quadrangle -- which, since its establishment in 1995, has become central to student life on campus.

Jeffrey E. Perelman is Chairman and CEO of JEP Management, Inc. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Penn’s Wharton School. His philanthropic activities include support of the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Design, and the Institute for Contemporary Art. He is also Secretary of the Board of Trustees of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His wife Marsha Perelman also has a graduate degree from Penn.

“Ruth and I are pleased to advance the mission and vision of PENN Medicine with this commitment,” said Raymond Perelman. “We believe that world-class patient-care requires a world-class setting, so we have dedicated these resources to provide a first-rate facility that will set the stage for the creation of a new paradigm of health care.”

“I am thrilled that Ruth and Raymond Perelman have hit a grand slam home run for Penn,” said Amy Gutmann, PhD, President of the University of Pennsylvania. “Thanks to their marvelous gift, Penn will be able to provide Philadelphia and the Northeast corridor with state-of-the-art cancer, cardiovascular, and ambulatory surgical care. The Perelmans’ abundant generosity will translate into new hope for cancer and heart patients and their families, some 1,700 new jobs for Philadelphians, and tens of millions of dollars for the regional economy.”

“We are extraordinarily grateful to the Perelmans for their most magnificent gift – which will transform the way medicine is practiced at Penn … and world-wide,” said Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Executive Vice President of the University of Pennsylvania for the Health System and Dean of the School of Medicine. “This extraordinarily altruistic gift will create an environment that enhances the doctor/patient relationship and sets the stage for the development of the most advanced therapies that can be achieved through collaborative research initiatives.”

The Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine represents the largest capital project undertaken in the history of PENN Medicine (which includes the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania Health System). Its 300,000 square feet of clinical space will house Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, radiation oncology, cardiovascular medicine, and an outpatient surgical pavilion. A unique architectural feature of the building will be a glass atrium – which will top off the structure and permit sunlight to stream into all corners of the gleaming facility. The architect for the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine is Rafael Vinoly, of Rafael Vinoly Architects PC.

“The Raymond and Ruth Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine will be a spectacular statement of where PENN Medicine is going in the 21st century,” said Ralph W. Muller, Chief Executive Officer for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. “It will provide a place where our superb health-care professionals will practice the most advanced medicine available in a setting that is as patient-focused as it can possibly be.”

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PENN Medicine is a $2.7 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn’s School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #4 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report’s most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System comprises: its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, consistently rated one of the nation’s “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home health care and hospice.