Recent Gifts
Sandy Wolfinger knows without a doubt his career achievements were made possible by his Penn State education, and he wants to ensure that hard-working students receive the same opportunities. To accomplish this goal, he and his wife, Connie Wolfinger, are giving $50,000 to the University to establish the Harold H. "Sandy" Wolfinger Trustee Scholarship. The award will assist undergraduates with financial need, giving first preference to students majoring in forest science in the School of Forest Resources.
The Morgan Family Foundation, of Los Altos, Cal., has committed $270,000 over the next two years to fund research at the Biomass Energy Center in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. The Biomass Energy Center coordinates and facilitates bioenergy research and outreach across the University, building teams to address the complete value chain of biomass energy systems. Biomass energy or "bioenergy" refers to the use of organic materials to generate electricity, produce biofuel, or create products normally made through nonorganic methods. The foundation's gift supports a project that will partner Penn State with Dartmouth College, Iowa State University, and the environmental stewardship organization, Sustainable Conservation.
Penn State has received $50,000 from the Marjorie Grant Whiting Center for Humanity, Arts and the Environment to support indigenous knowledge studies and activities. The gift will create the Marjorie Grant Whiting Endowment for the Advancement of Indigenous Knowledge. The University is part of a global network of more than 20 indigenous knowledge resource centers and is the only center currently active in the United States.
Plans long in the making for a children's garden at the Arboretum at Penn State may be realized sooner than anticipated, thanks to a $1 million endowed gift from State College native Marcia Udine Day and her late husband, Robert J. Day, to support Arboretum programs related to the special interests of children and youth.
Through their longtime personal and professional involvement with Penn State, C. Channa and Usharani Reddy have seen firsthand the need for student financial support. Most recently, the Penn State distinguished professor and head of the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and his wife have given $50,000 to the College of Agricultural Sciences to endow a scholarship to assist undergraduates who have financial need. The award, named for the donors in honor of their generosity, gives first preference to students majoring in toxicology in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.
