$2.5 million gift to solidify vibrant future at Penn State Hillel

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As Penn State Hillel advances its mission to enrich the lives of the roughly 5,000 Jewish students at the University, longtime philanthropist Inge Marcus has stepped forward with a new gift to name the executive director position and advance Penn State Hillel’s efforts to serve Jewish students with meaningful support and programs. The Penn State Hillel Enrichment Fund, originally established in 2004 by Inge and her late husband, Harold J. Marcus, will receive $2.5 million to affirm the presence of Jewish life on campus and beyond.

“Over the decades, Hal and Inge Marcus have left an indelible legacy in the Penn State community through their passionate volunteerism, inspiring leadership and extraordinary generosity. I am truly grateful that Inge has chosen to expand their legacy through helping Hillel continue to support the Jewish community at Penn State,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “Hillel is an important resource that fosters inclusivity across campus and creates opportunities for Penn Staters to grow as Jews and as allies to the Jewish community. This new gift is a reflection of Penn State’s ‘We Are’ spirit, our support for the Jewish community, and the importance of leaders like Inge and her late husband Hal in fostering a welcoming environment for every member of the University community.”

Penn State Hillel is dedicated to fostering the intellectual, spiritual and social growth of Jewish students at the University. Grounded in Jewish values, the organization helps students find a balance between commitments that are distinctively Jewish and universally human by encouraging them to pursue tzedek (meaning “social justice”), tikkun olam (meaning “repair the world”) and Jewish learning, and by building connections to the state of Israel and the global Jewish community.

Aaron Kaufman, who joined Penn State Hillel in 2007 as its executive director, will now be the inaugural leader to hold the post of the Marcus Family Executive Director.

“I feel profound gratitude for the transformative influence Inge has had on Penn State Hillel and the lives of Jewish students at Penn State,” Kaufman said. “Over the years, she and Hal championed our organization in countless ways, and this latest gift will allow us to launch new initiatives, extend our outreach and build new relationships. It comes on the heels of opening our new facility, and will accelerate our positive momentum. I’m honored and excited to be the first director to be entrusted to carry forward this new era and build upon our previous successes.”

Until his death in 2017, Hal, along with Inge, was among Penn State’s most generous donors, with philanthropy spanning numerous academic and research initiatives over the years. Their giving had its greatest impact on the College of Engineering, from which Hal graduated in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. Their leadership commitments include an endowed fund in 1995 to create the Marcus International Exchange in Industrial Engineering between Penn State and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, followed three years later with a gift to name what became the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. In 2003, an additional gift established the Harold and Inge Marcus Dean’s Chair in Engineering, and they also directed support to the Center for Service Enterprise Engineering in industrial and manufacturing engineering. In a further effort to drive forward innovation, they created a $10 million endowment to promote interdisciplinary research that spans the realms of engineering, science and medicine. More recently, in 2020, Inge Marcus designated a significant portion of Hal’s bequest to name the Marcus Family Maker Space in the new Engineering Design and Innovation Building, which consists of 26 uniquely equipped working spaces. In recognition of their generosity, the Marcuses were named Penn State’s Philanthropists of the Year in 2003.

Beyond their support for academic endeavors related to engineering, the couple also gave generously to Penn State Hillel over the years, and Inge Marcus has continued to lead with new gifts since her husband’s passing.

Her philanthropic commitments, she explained, have always been guided by Jewish values, and her belief that a more just and equitable future is possible.

“I am proud to invest in the strength of Jewish life on campus,” Marcus said. “Hal and I have been privileged to watch Penn State Hillel grow under Aaron's leadership, and I know that the Marcus Family Executive Director will continue that trajectory for years to come. I've seen how a leader sets the course for a program, and I can’t imagine a better organization to support in this way. Penn State Hillel is the heart of the Jewish community for thousands of Penn Staters, and together we will ensure that Jewish life on campus will flourish long into the future.”

Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, Inge Marcus met and married Hal while he was on a three-year engineering assignment in Denmark in the early 1960s. Inge earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Martin's University, and a master’s degree in health sciences from Chapman University. The couple had one son, Matthew, who passed away in 2018.

In recent years, Inge Marcus served as a trustee of Saint Martin’s, and, with her husband, named the Hal and Inge Marcus School of Engineering. She also taught biology at Pacific Lutheran University. One of her grandchildren, Kyle Rizzieri, graduated from Penn State in 2014 with a degree in hotel, restaurant and institutional management.

Now an international movement, Hillel was founded by Rabbi Benjamin Frankel in 1923. The term “Hillel,” meaning “praise” in Hebrew, pays homage to first-century Talmudic scholar Hillel the Elder, whose name came to signify the pursuit of higher learning. When Penn State Hillel was established in 1936, there were only 400 Jewish students at the University. Jewish enrollment has increased twelvefold since then, and today, the organization, now housed in the newly constructed Gutterman Family Center for Jewish Life on South Garner Street in downtown State College, brings Jewish life to every corner of campus and throughout State College.

“Inge Marcus has been an inspiring leader in the Jewish community, and now, Penn State Hillel will also have the benefit of her philanthropic support as it ramps up programming to engage and empower future generations of Jewish students,” said Adam Lehman, president and CEO of Hillel International. “At a time when antisemitic incidents in the U.S. have reached an alarming historic high, it has never been more important for college students to have the institutional support necessary to explore and live out their Jewish identities as part of a safe and welcoming Jewish community on campus.”

Donors like Inge Marcus advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.