UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Inspired by his own educational journey and his sense of belonging in the Penn State community, alumnus Jerry Katz and his wife, Debbie Katz, have stepped forward with two gifts, together totaling $100,000. The first will help ease the financial burden on accounting undergraduates in the Penn State Smeal College of Business through an endowed scholarship. The second will help incentivize participation and volunteerism in the Penn State Alumni Association, with the intent of accelerating the pace and volume of philanthropic giving.
“Debbie and I owe so much to Penn State, so we wanted to do something to lift up the next generation of students, and our hope is that by doing so we might motivate others to do the same,” Jerry said.
They designated $50,000 to establish the Jerry Miles Katz and Debra Katz Scholarship in the Smeal College of Business, where Jerry earned his undergraduate accounting degree in 1970. The scholarship will be awarded annually to an undergraduate student who is majoring in accounting and who has demonstrated both financial need and strong academic achievement.
“We are grateful to Jerry and Debbie for their support for our undergraduate accounting students,” said Henock Louis, KPMG Professor of Accounting and chair of the Department of Accounting. “They know that the Smeal College of Business is committed to fostering academic excellence, but they also understand that financial pressures can derail the progress of promising students. Because of their generosity, our students will have the resources to complete their accounting degrees and maybe even follow in Jerry’s footsteps as certified public accountants.”
The Katzs’ second $50,000 gift, the first of its kind, will create the Jerry Miles Katz and Debra Katz Endowment for Philanthropic Inspiration, which will make available resources to enrich the Penn State Alumni Association (PSAA). Designed for maximum flexibility, the fund will support activities that can include training and special programming, leadership development, internship opportunities and other initiatives that inspire volunteerism or charitable giving.
“This gift opens up a frontier of possibilities for fostering connections and engaging alumni, empowering us to be nimble and creative in finding ways to grow together and inspire each other,” said Paul Clifford, associate vice president and chief executive officer of the Penn State Alumni Association. “Jerry and Debbie have been indelibly touched by Penn State, and now their generosity will touch the lives of future Penn Staters for generations to come.”
For the inaugural use of the endowment’s income, the Katz Endowment for Philanthropic Inspiration provided a 1:1 match of donations to the Alumni Association’s 2022 GivingTuesday campaign, helping to incentivize a total of 223 gifts to support Blue & White Society memberships, the second highest number of gifts to a cause across the 150 participating campaigns.
“We chose to give back to Penn State after thinking about some of the obstacles we had faced as young people,” Jerry said. “We knew it was within our power to clear a path for others.”
Growing up in a South Philadelphia rowhouse in the 1950s, Jerry faced the early losses of a brother and a father. His mother, Anna, who had been forced to leave school in sixth grade, supported the family by selling shoes at a local department store. By high school, Jerry said, he worked two part-time jobs to supplement the family income.
“Looking back, it was a difficult period, and I witnessed firsthand how personal and financial struggles can affect your prospects of succeeding in college,” Jerry said.
Jerry and Debbie met as he pursued his education despite those challenges, first at Temple University and then the Community College of Philadelphia. Thanks in part to a PricewaterhouseCoopers scholarship, Jerry relocated to State College to finish his accounting degree at Penn State.
“As soon as I stepped off the bus and onto campus, I felt a sense of belonging,” Jerry recalled. “The admissions office genuinely worked to understand my circumstances and then set me on track to finish my degree in just five semesters. Penn State really cared, and that changed my life forever.”
After earning his bachelor’s degree, Jerry spent more than half a century as a CPA, including operating his own firm, Simonian, Katz & Co. LLP, where he continues today to advise clients on matters of taxes, accounting and auditing related to real estate and construction.
Jerry and Debbie raised two sons, Jon and Andrew, and in her late 30s Debbie enrolled at Camden County Community College before completing her bachelor’s degree in education and history at Rutgers University. She taught elementary-age children until her retirement in 2016.
“We both know we’ve been very fortunate, and we wanted to do our part to make sure the next generation of young people can afford to get a high-quality education, if that’s the path they choose,” Debbie said.
The Katzes have expressed their gratitude to the University not only through their two recent gifts but also through their previous giving to the Smeal College of Business’ Future Fund and to the Alumni Association’s Sustaining Pride Member Fund.
“Penn State was a really positive force in our lives, and our hope is that our giving will inspire other alumni and supporters of Penn State to step forward to make a difference,” Jerry said.
With the record-breaking success of “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” which raised $2.2 billion from 2016 to 2022, philanthropy is helping to sustain the University’s tradition of education, research and service to communities across the commonwealth and around the globe. Scholarships enable our institution to open doors and welcome students from every background, support for transformative experiences allows our students and faculty to fulfill their vast potential for leadership, and gifts toward discovery and excellence help us to serve and impact the world we share. To learn more about the impact of giving and the continuing need for support, please visit raise.psu.edu.