Beard, Miller named vice chairs for the Campaign for Penn State Students

Campaign Vice Chairs E. Lee Beard and Bruce Miller

University Park, Pa.-Two distinguished business executives have accepted appointments as vice chairs for Penn State's new capital campaign.

E. Lee Beard of Hazleton, consultant and banking-industry executive, and Bruce Miller of Naples, Fla., founder of one of the mid-Atlantic region's largest insurance marketing firms, have accepted the positions, according to University President Graham B./Spanier.

As vice chairs, Beard and Miller will assist Chair Peter Tombros in providing top volunteer leadership for the fundraising effort, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, which began Jan. 1.

Beard and Miller will assist in the identification of major gift prospects, serve as volunteer spokespersons on campaign fundraising priorities, and help recruit additional campaign volunteers at the executive leadership level. In addition, Beard will work closely with volunteer chairs who oversee the campaign at their respective Penn State campuses, while Miller will work with those chairing the campaigns for the University's academic colleges.

"Lee Beard and Bruce Miller bring to the campaign a dedication to Penn State and a depth of experience that is truly exceptional," Spanier said. "Their philanthropic support has set an example that has inspired alumni and friends across the University. As volunteer leaders, they have demonstrated a deep commitment to making sure Penn State reaches its full potential as a center for teaching and learning."

Tombros noted that each of the vice chairs has already led successful fundraising efforts for Penn State.

"Lee did an outstanding job as chair of the Hazleton campus component of the Grand Destiny campaign, the University's previous capital campaign," said Tombros, "and Bruce has had great success as head of the development council in the College of the Liberal Arts. They also have earned high marks in their respective professions for their executive abilities. I'm delighted to be working with two very accomplished and talented volunteers."

Lee Beard is president and owner of The Henlee Group, a Drums, Pa.-based financial advisory company. Previously, she held a number of senior executive posts with banking and auditing firms. She has been involved with Penn State since 1993, when she moved to Hazleton as president and CEO of First Federal Bank.

She has served as a member of the Penn State Hazleton campus advisory board and the National Council on Penn State Philanthropy. Along with her husband, William W. Beard, she has established scholarships for Hazleton campus students and endowed the Symposium on Contemporary Women's Issues at the campus.

Beard also has taken a leadership role in a number of civic and community groups, and recently was elected chair of the first board of directors of Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania.

A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Beard was named a honorary Penn State alumna in 1999 in recognition of her educational and philanthropic leadership on behalf of Hazleton campus.

Bruce Miller is founder and retired president of Employee Benefits Corp. of America, a group health insurance brokerage firm headquartered in McLean, Va. He earned his bachelor's degree from Penn State in political science in 1971.

He was named the University's Fundraising Volunteer of the Year in 2005 in recognition of his efforts to increase private support in such varied areas as the liberal arts, athletics, and the performing arts. In addition to chairing the College of the Liberal Arts development council, he has served as a member of the National Council on Penn State Philanthropy.

His personal philanthropy to the University includes the endowment of scholarships and graduate fellowships, and, with partner Dean D. LaVigne, the Miller and LaVigne Professorship in Political Science.

For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students gives its highest priorities to ensuring that a Penn State education remains accessible to students regardless of their financial means, and to strengthening the qualities that make Penn State a student-centered university.

The University has not yet determined a dollar goal for the campaign, which is still in its leadership gifts phase.

Learn more about Penn State's need for private support, and the campaign's themes and priorities, by reading the full case for support at http://www.psu.edu/ur/prospectus.html online.