UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—The President and CEO of Mount Nittany Health, Steven E. Brown, has been named Penn State’s 2015 Renaissance Fund honoree. Brown will be recognized in November at the 39th annual Renaissance Fund dinner.
Each year, the Renaissance Fund honors an individual or couple who, through a lifetime of service, has contributed greatly to the Penn State and State College communities. In its selection process, the fund’s board of directors seeks to recognize individuals who have deep roots in the Centre Region, close relationships with civic and University leaders, and a commitment to philanthropy.
"Steve’s investment in patient care, community service, and medical education in the region is outstanding,” said George Henning Jr., president of the Renaissance Fund’s board of directors. “He has united local and University communities in a way that is enhancing the quality of life for many. Steve exemplifies thoughtful leadership, and is a great choice for this year’s award."
The recognition dinner for Brown will be held Thursday, Nov. 19, at The Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel on the University Park campus. A reception will be held at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and the program at 7 p.m.
The Renaissance Fund is a highly visible example of Penn State’s efforts to ensure student opportunity through scholarship support funded by private philanthropy. The annual dinner raises money in the name of the honoree. Those contributions are used to endow Renaissance Fund scholarships, which are awarded to academically talented Penn State students who have great financial need. Since the fund’s inception in 1969, the Renaissance Fund endowment has grown to more than $11.3 million. During the 2014-15 academic year, 475 students received Renaissance scholarships totaling $687,460.
The first in his family to go to college, Brown studied biology and natural science at Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania. At the suggestion of a close friend, he decided to pursue a graduate degree in health care administration, and in 1977, he earned a master of public administration degree in health services administration from Penn State.
After working as the director of ambulatory services at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Brown continued his career through senior leadership positions at Akron General Medical Center in Ohio and Inova Health System in Northern Virginia. Prior to joining the team at Mount Nittany Health, he served eight years as CEO at Evergreen Healthcare in Kirkland, Washington.
Thrilled to relocate to State College in 2010, Brown arrived at Mount Nittany Health with a clear vision for the health system’s future. “Health care is a complex business. But it isn’t all that complicated,” he explained. “It’s about the patients and the people who care for them. We’re here for everyone in our community who depends on us to keep them healthy. Simply put, we’re here to help people.”
Under Brown’s leadership, Mount Nittany Health has focused on increasing access to care by expanding to fifteen sites in five counties and growing Mount Nittany Physician Group to more than 130 providers across twenty specialties. In terms of building strategic partnerships—another priority Steve has championed—the organization has developed meaningful relationships with partners like Penn State Hershey Medical Center. Their most recent collaboration expanded services to bring the region its first full-time family and community medicine residency program, which welcomed its inaugural cohort of physicians on July 1. Significant physical transformations continue to take place under Brown’s leadership as well, such as the expansion of the Emergency Department, the establishment of the Lance and Ellen Shaner Cancer Pavilion, the family medicine practice that opened in Mifflin County in 2014, and the relocation and expansion of the Penns Valley family medicine practice set to open later this year. The health system now employs more than 2,300 staff and providers, and is the second largest employer in Centre County.
Mount Nittany Health continually sponsors a long roster of local nonprofit and community outreach efforts such as the Pennsylvania Pink Zone, Coaches for Cancer, and the Penn State Arboretum’s Music at the Gardens to name only a few. Brown personally serves on the Penn State Master of Health Administration Program’s Board of Visitors, the Board of the Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County, Centre Care Board of Directors, and the State College Downtown Rotary Club Board of Directors. He is a lifetime member of the Penn State Alumni Association, and with his wife, Mary, is a dedicated Nittany Lion Club member and annual supporter of the Penn State College of Health and Human Development, the Pink Zone, THON, and the Palmer Museum of Art.
Reflecting on his selection as this year’s Renaissance Fund honoree, Brown says, “I’m humbled to be in such great company. Penn State gave me my career. If I can be a part of helping someone else, and inspiring others to do the same, I don’t think there is a better way to pay it forward.”
For Renaissance Fund dinner information or to make a contribution, contact Kathy Kurtz in the Office of Annual Giving at 814-863-2052 or klk13@psu.edu.