As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 15 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.
On Oct. 12, Penn State Global hosted a multi-campus synchronous Day of Service aimed at getting students involved in sustainability work in their communities. More than 80 students from five campuses – Abington, Berks, Brandywine, Great Valley and University Park – participated in four service experiences, which conclude with the Global Sustainable Action Conference on Nov. 16-17.
Current charging stations for electric vehicles, or EVs, can be expensive to install, and limited in the number of parking spaces they reach. Penn State engineering student Jonathan Smith and his team have spent the last three years creating a possible solution: smaller, mounted charging stations, which can move to cover as many as five parking spaces. As CEO of Streamline Charging, he’s used his Penn State education and customized coursework to get the team’s ideas to market.
Barnes and Noble College — a Barnes and Noble Education company that operates the Penn State Bookstore — has continued its longtime partnership with the University and the Penn State Corporate Engagement Center to award a 2024-25 round of grants supporting a range of programs and initiatives across the commonwealth.
Student innovation competitions, exhibitions and training programs are a crucial part of the university environment because they provide students with valuable experience that isn’t always achieved in the classroom. Researchers from Penn State Berks and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University recently received a $400,000 grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation for a project focused on advancing equity among underrepresented students in STEM-related innovation competitions and programs.
The Penn State Alumni Association (PSAA) has announced a $20,000 matching commitment that will grow the scholarship endowment recently established in honor of 2024 Renaissance Fund honorees Roger Williams, retired PSAA executive director, and his wife, Karen Magnuson, retired assistant director of University marketing. In recognition of the Renaissance Fund’s 55th anniversary, the PSAA will match gifts of $550 or more to any named Renaissance Fund with an equal contribution to the Roger L. Williams and Karen L. Magnuson Renaissance Fund.
The 2024 awardees of Penn State’s Inter-Institutional Partnerships for Diversifying Research initiative comprise five collaborative projects that connect Penn State researchers with colleagues from Morgan State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the University of Texas Health Brownsville Campus, all minority-serving institutions
When Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president, two questions were at the forefront of social media memes: Who would she select for her running mate, and had Maya Rudolph cleared her schedule to reprise her Harris impression for Saturday Night Live? Politics permeates pop culture, and vice versa, especially during presidential elections. Penn State News spoke with three faculty experts to learn more about how people can best parse politics in pop culture, as well as how to take care in a saturated media landscape.
Penn State announced the recipients of the inaugural Commonwealth Campus Undergraduate Community-Engaged Research Awards, a new program designed for faculty who specifically support undergraduate student participation in research that aims to improve community well-being.
As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 12 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.
