Still Life

With four guide ropes attached to it, the east-side clock face is raised into position. While it didn't seem that windy on the ground on Saturday, Jan. 28, winds higher up were strong, requiring extra guidance to bring the clock face safely to the Old Main bell tower.

Old Main clock faces installed

Ben White of New Vibrations Audio and Video works on a ledge of the Old Main bell tower, to remove the speakers from the old chime system. The company installed a new carillon system today (Jan. 27) that will play a digital recording made of the original Old Main bell that now sits adjacent to Old Main and other bells of comparable sizes.

New carillon, restored clocks being installed

The funeral procession for Joe Paterno made its way past Beaver Stadium and down Porter Road as crowds applauded on Jan. 25. Thousands lined the procession route through the University Park campus and downtown State College to bid a last farewell to Joe Paterno.

Joe Paterno's funeral procession

Coach Joe Paterno was on the field for the first half of the Nittany Lions' football game. Penn State beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 13-3 on Oct. 8, 2011, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Beaver Stadium.

Joe Paterno through the years

Katie Knobloch and Andrew Adamietz, members of the a capella group Blue in the Face, shared a candle at the vigil held Sunday, Jan. 22, to mourn the death of Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who passed away earlier in the day. Several thousand members of the Penn State and State College community came out to the Old Main lawn on Penn State's University Park campus for the vigil.

Thousands mourn Paterno's passing

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Dinner raises more than $84,000 for Renaissance Scholarships

Thursday, November 5, 2009

University Park, Pa. -- Penn State's 33rd annual Renaissance Fund dinner has raised $84,085 to endow scholarships in honor of former State College superintendent Patricia L. Best, the 2009 Renaissance Honoree. More than 275 guests attended the Nov. 4 dinner at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel on the University Park campus. 

The annual event raises money for Renaissance Fund scholarships, which are awarded to academically talented Penn State students who have great financial need. The dinners honor community leaders, and contributions are used to endow scholarships in their names.

The Renaissance Fund announced Best as this year’s honoree in early October.

Patricia Best’s three decades of service to the school district and the community began in 1977 with a year at the State College Area High School as a substitute English teacher and culminated in her appointment as superintendent of schools in 1999. As superintendent, Best was responsible for the annual education of more than 7,200 students and leadership of 1,400 faculty and staff. She retired from the school district in June 2009.

She has been involved with and held leadership positions in many community and educational organizations, including Leadership Centre County and the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, where she served as board chair from 2006-08. In 2006, she was elected state president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.

Best has been a key supporter of partnerships between the school district and Penn State’s College of Education, and serves on several University boards, including the College of Education Alumni Society and Penn State Outreach. She holds a doctorate from the University in counselor education.

Since the Renaissance Fund's inception in 1969, the total endowment has grown to more than $8 million. So far 419 scholarships have been awarded for the 2009-10 academic year.

For more information about this year's Renaissance Fund honoree, visit http://live.psu.edu/story/42012 online. To learn more about the Renaissance Fund program, contact Kathy Kurtz in the Office of Annual Giving at (814) 863-2052.

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