Private
Giving
Penn State Intercom......March
14, 2002
Leading the WayThe Faculty and Staff Campaign 2002 |
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"I
contribute to Penn State's Mont Alto campus because of the very
positive impact that the campus had on my life. I also donate to
Penn State because I look at it as an important investment in our
future. The most valuable lessons that I learned while a student
were the power of friendship and the importance of a Penn State
education. My contribution can help students realize their potential
by making their education improved through teaching, research and
service. Today's Penn State student will appreciate later in life
that their University experience made them a better person."
Annual Faculty and Staff
Campaign gets under way 
Spring is just around the corner, and with it comes the annual Faculty and Staff Campaign. University-wide participation in the fund drive -- a key component of the University's seven-year Grand Destiny campaign -- has increased to 49 percent, with eight units having participation rates above 80 percent (see table). With only 16 months left in the capital campaign, keeping momentum is crucial. Many units are focusing on innovative ways to boost enthusiasm and increase participation in their campaigns.
For example, after several years of conducting their faculty and staff solicitation in the spring, the Penn State Shenango campaign committee, headed by Kathleen Mastrian, associate professor of nursing, decided to try to renew interest and increase involvement by doing something different. They moved their solicitation to the fall and held a lunch for all faculty and staff at which the new time-frame, waysto give, gift designations, promotions and recent faculty- and staff-established endowments were discussed. The campaign committee teamed up with a local market, Magnetto's Shop 'n Save, to offer an incentive for all donors above a certain giving level, and those donors also were eligible for a prize drawing. Following this event, Penn State Shenango reports that nearly two out of three faculty and staff members are now participating in the campaign.
The campaign committee at Penn State Mont Alto, led by the Office of University Relations, held a beach party and ice cream social in late February to introduce faculty and staff to the annual fund. Guests enjoyed Creamery ice cream and relaxed amid beach chairs, umbrellas, towels and coolers while Margaret Taylor, director of institutional advancement, explained the annual fund, how it helps people throughout the year, how they can give to the area of their choice and why to give through the faculty and staff campaign. Everyone who attended the event -- about 80 faculty and staff members -- received a chance to win a free weekend in Cape May, N.J., donated by alumnus Mark Hahn.
Each campus conducts its faculty and staff campaign according to its own timetable. At University Park, faculty and staff soon will receive information packets in campus mail. For information, call Elizabeth Wilson, Office of Annual Giving, at (814) 863-2052 or e-mail ekw2@psu.edu.
Couple's endowment funds
music and science faculty
The University will add endowed professorships in music and science, thanks to a $750,000 gift from of Harold and Nancy O'Connor.
The O'Connors have designated their gift to be divided equally to create two endowments, which will support faculty in the early stages of their academic careers. The gift is part of their estate plans.
The Barbara O'Connor Hawman Career Development Professorship in Music is named in honor of the O'Connors' daughter, a 1981 University graduate in music performance. It is the first professorship to be endowed in the College of Arts and Architecture.
The Harold and Nancy O'Connor Career Development Professorship in Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics may be awarded to a faculty member in any of those fields in the Eberly College of Science.
Harold O'Connor graduated from Penn State in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in physics. He joined the State College-based Chemcut Corp. in 1958 as secretary-treasurer, became its president in 1966 and led it through public stock offerings and sale to Schering AG in 1980. He retired from Chemcut Corp./ Schering AG in 1987. He was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1991. O'Connor has been a trustee of Susquehanna University for more than 20 years, including 11 years as chairman of the board.
Nancy O'Connor has served as an advisory board member at the Palmer Museum of Art and as a volunteer for Schlow Memorial Library and the Centre Community Hospital. She is an avid booster of Lady Lion basketball.