Philanthropy Awards
Philanthropists of the Year
This award recognizes an individual or family who has demonstrated exceptional generosity in the promotion and support of The Pennsylvania State University. The recipients of this award, through their philanthropy and service, have helped shape the University’s future and improve the quality of life for the student body, faculty, and staff.
Peter ’64 ’68g and Ann Tombros
As passionate volunteers and advocates for the University, and as generous supporters whose giving places them among the top five donors in the institution’s history, Peter and Ann Tombros have long offered a powerful model of leadership for the Penn State community. Their support has benefited programs across the University, and their most recent commitments have created funds to fuel innovative leadership and promote philanthropy, endow the top positions in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the men’s basketball program, and support the University’s medical enterprise and Musical Theatre program. The couple, who divide their time between homes in Connecticut and State College, have also had long volunteer careers with the University. Peter served as chair of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, and he has donated his time as a distinguished executive-in-residence with the Eberly College of Science and as a vice chair of A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence. Ann is a longtime volunteer leader for the University Libraries and the Palmer Museum of Art. Together, the Tombroses have led by example with gifts to scholarships, faculty endowments, athletic teams, facilities, THON, and the Tombros McWhirter Knowledge Commons in the University Libraries. The Tombroses’ relationship with Penn State dates to their childhoods in the State College area. Peter earned an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania and built a career in the pharmaceutical industry, first at Pfizer and later as CEO of biotech pioneer Enzon. Ann Tombros taught in public and private elementary schools before creating her own property management and design consulting firm. The Tombroses have served with great humility and quiet dedication, and the University welcomes the opportunity to honor them now with this year’s Philanthropists of the Year award.
Fundraising Volunteers of the Year
The award recognizes an individual, couple, or group who has served as fundraising volunteers, teachers, or mentors while demonstrating exceptional commitment and leadership in building philanthropic support for The Pennsylvania State University. The University celebrates honorees who represent both University Park and the Commonwealth campuses.
Ed Beckwith ’71
Fifty years ago, Ed was an undergraduate in the Eberly College of Science and a student leader. He helped bring boxing legend Muhammad Ali to campus and spearheaded the launch of Penn State’s “Earth Week,” but his lifelong commitment to strengthening the University was just beginning. After graduating in 1971, Beckwith earned his Juris Doctorate and Master of Laws in Taxation from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1974 and 1983. He went on to become a partner in the national law firm BakerHostetler LLP. Utilizing his experience as a private wealth attorney and counselor to high-net-worth families and their charitable interests, Beckwith became instrumental in helping the University expand and advance its philanthropic objectives. After founding the University’s Gift Planning Advisory Council, he served as its chair for 15 years, hosting programs, facilitating solicitations, and training staff and volunteers. He also served on the executive committees of the Grand Destiny campaign and For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. In undertaking these efforts, he has worked with nearly every University president since the 1970s. Ed’s spouse of 49 years, Iris, was named an honorary alumna in 2021. The couple has pursued a lifelong commitment to education and advancing the safety and protection of children, including supporting the work of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network. They have made gifts to create numerous scholarships across the University, including Ed’s work with the Penn State Law Advisory and Development Boards to create funds to honor the late Congressman John Lewis and the late Congresswoman Barbara Jordan. Beckwith’s unique combination of dedication and philanthropic expertise has inspired countless staff and volunteers and has generated resources that will be impacting the University and its students for generations to come.
Joe Henry ’77
When Joe Henry experienced financial insecurity firsthand as a health policy administration major at Penn State in the mid-1970s, an emergency student loan was the lifeline that enabled him to stay on track to graduate. Henry went on to earn his master of business administration degree from Temple University and build a thirty-year career at Independence Blue Cross, but he never forgot that feeling of financial precarity. He reconnected with his alma mater at the Penn State Great Valley Commonwealth campus in 2008 and joined the Great Valley Advisory Board, later ascending to chair of the Great Valley Campaign Committee during the Greater Penn State campaign. Across these years, Henry proved himself to be a dynamic volunteer leader. He was the visionary behind transforming the existing library into the Penn State Great Valley Knowledge Commons, a shared and flexible workspace that now fosters innovation and collaboration. For over a decade, he has also co-chaired, together with Dallas Krapf, the Penn State Great Valley Golf Outing, raising significant funds supporting student scholarships and the Great Valley LaunchBox. Meanwhile, Henry and his wife, Marilyn, led by example by stepping forward with gifts to establish an endowed student scholarship, the Henry Art Gallery, and a variety of other initiatives. Through his volunteerism and philanthropy, Henry continues to build momentum for equipping the Commonwealth campuses with the support and infrastructure they will need to advance educational excellence.
Corporate Partner of the Year
This award celebrates corporate partners that have demonstrated exceptional commitment in promotion and support of Penn State, excellent track records of philanthropy and research, and active engagement of students and alumni in the workplace and the classroom.
Corning Incorporated
For more than seventy-five years, Corning Incorporated has partnered with Penn State to advance materials science education and research. Corning strives to be a catalyst for positive change and to help move the world forward. The company combines its unparalleled expertise in glass science, ceramics science, and optical physics with pioneering manufacturing and engineering capabilities to develop life-changing innovations in markets such as optical communications, mobile consumer electronics, display, automotive, solar, semiconductors, and life sciences. Corning is known for such innovations as the encasement for Thomas Edison’s electric light bulb, low-loss optical fiber, the cellular substrates that enable catalytic converters, and Corning® Gorilla® Glass, a damage-resistant cover glass for mobile devices. Corning’s relationship with Penn State began in 1943, when the company became a member of Glass Science, Inc., an early industry-university cooperative. Over the years, that relationship has grown to encompass research support, philanthropic giving, and student recruitment. In the past five years, Corning has sponsored twenty-three research projects worth over $2.27 million, helped build state-of-the-art shared-use facilities, supported three full-time graduate student fellowships in glass science, and joined two Penn State research centers. The company has also supported multiple departments across the sciences and engineering. For the past ten years, Corning has maintained a master research agreement with Penn State, which streamlines the research sponsorship process and allows projects to come to fruition more quickly. Corning regularly recruits at Penn State, and as many as 240 alumni are currently employed with the company. The company has also pioneered a new element in corporate relationships by becoming the first participant in the Penn State Visiting Industry Representative program, through which a Corning scientist regularly engages with students and faculty on campus. We are proud to recognize Corning’s partnership, which helps to keep Penn State at the cutting edge in developing advanced materials and preparing students for leadership in materials science and engineering.
Foundation Partner of the Year
This award recognizes a foundation that has demonstrated extraordinary generosity in promotion and support of The Pennsylvania State University. Recipients are chosen on the basis of consistency of giving, support to areas of greatest need, and impact across Penn State.
The Richard King Mellon Foundation
Over its nearly 75-year history, the Richard King Mellon Foundation has built a vibrant philanthropic partnership with Penn State, giving generously to a wide range of programs across the University. The foundation was created in 1947 by financier, conservationist, and philanthropist Richard King Mellon, and it is currently the largest foundation in southwestern Pennsylvania, investing in the competitive future and quality of life in that region, and investing nationally in the protection and restoration of America’s environmental heritage. It has given consistently to Penn State since the early 1980s, enhancing programs across the University Park campus and the Commonwealth campuses. The foundation’s most recent giving to the University has focused on economic development initiatives at Penn State New Kensington, in particular the recently opened Digital Foundry at New Kensington, which is a partnership between Penn State New Kensington, the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland County, and the City of New Kensington. This 15,000-square-foot innovation and manufacturing lab space will provide a technological boost for manufacturing and job creation in New Kensington. Designed to help businesses, students, and workers make the transition to the digital age, the Digital Foundry is already providing training and access to modern software tools by fusing digital data and equipment into new product development, manufacturing, operations, and business management. The foundation has given nearly $10 million to bring this major project to fruition. We are proud to honor the foundation’s generosity and vision as we work together to provide better economic opportunities for the communities of southwestern Pennsylvania.
