Penn State President Rodney Erickson announced that 280 alumni, friends, administrators, faculty, and staff have made commitments totaling over $3 million to honor Susan Welch, dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, for her 20 years of leadership in the college. More than 80 percent of the commitments are targeted to graduate education, one of the dean's top fundraising priorities in the current University-wide fundraising effort, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students.
Penn State's Board of Trustees Friday (March 16) approved a recommended name change and reorganization for the Department of African and African American Studies (AAAS) in the College of the Liberal Arts. The renamed Department of African American Studies will more accurately reflect a focus on African American topics, while the African Studies Program will be created as a separate, budgeted unit. (more)
Penn State alumnus David Grow and his wife, Carolyn, have made a leadership gift with a commitment of $2 million from their estate to the Department of Economics in the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State. Their gift will endow the position of director of undergraduate studies, the first endowment of its kind at the University. Susan Welch, the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, said, "Thanks to David and Carolyn's generosity, their gift will greatly enrich the educational experience of so many of our students in the future. We're very grateful for their vision in seeding new teaching initiatives and innovative learning opportunities through extended internships, study abroad, and undergraduate research projects." (more)
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Survivors Benefit Fund has established an undergraduate award for crime, law and justice majors in Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts in memory of Michael Weston, a DEA special agent and Marine officer who was killed on a joint counter-narcotics mission in Afghanistan.
The Michael E. Weston Memorial Award will recognize outstanding achievement by a crime, law and justice undergraduate major who is either on military active duty or a military veteran enrolled at Penn State. The award was created by a $25,000 gift from the DEA Survivors Benefit Fund to the Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice in the College of the Liberal Arts. "We are honored that the DEA has chosen our crime, law, and justice program to establish this tribute to Mike Weston," said Susan Welch, the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts. (more)
Penn State alumnus Richard "Rick" Barry and his wife, Sue, have made a leadership gift to the College of the Liberal Arts to endow the position of director of the Paterno Liberal Arts Undergraduate Fellows Program, the college's honors and leadership initiative. Named for the University's longtime head football coach, Joe Paterno, and his wife, Sue, the Paterno Fellows Program is a landmark collaboration between the College of the Liberal Arts and the Schreyer Honors College, offering "an education for leadership" to students who accept the "Paterno challenge." (more)
In recognition of strong innovative leadership in Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts and the Rock Ethics Institute (REI), Doug and Julie Rock of The Woodlands, Texas, have made two gifts totaling $10 million in honor of the current dean of the College, Susan Welch, and the current and founding REI director, Nancy Tuana. The first $5 million gift will create an endowed dean's chair in the college and a second $5 million gift supports an endowed directorship in the Institute, which was created by the Rocks with an earlier $5 million gift a decade ago. (more)
Bethlehem, Pa., residents Tom and Karen Flad have made a $4 million estate commitment to support future talented and ambitious students in the College of the Liberal Arts and in Intercollegiate Athletics at Penn State. Of the overall total, $2 million will go to the Italian language and literature program and $1 million to a director's fund in the Paterno Liberal Arts Undergraduate Fellows Program, both in the college. Finally, $1 million will be divided equally between the football and rugby programs, in honor of Karen's father, Charles Meyers, and their son, Stephen, respectively. (more)
Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts and the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center have exceeded an ambitious fundraising goal of $3 million, after securing a $1 million challenge grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH). With the support of one of the NEH's largest We the People Challenge Grants and alumni philanthropy, the Richards Civil War Era Center has become a national leader in the study of not only the Civil War era, but also the larger struggle for American freedom ranging from slavery to civil rights. (more)
To celebrate its centennial this year, Penn State's College of the Liberal Arts has announced the selection of 22 Liberal Arts Centennial Fellows and seven Sparks Centennial Medalists whose significant accomplishments have made their communities and their professions better and whose lives have "swelled the fame" of Penn State and the College of the Liberal Arts. They represent the achievements of more than 100,000 graduates of the college over 100 years and exemplify the life-long value of a liberal arts education. (more)
