UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Pearl Gluck, award-winning filmmaker, educator and community arts advocate, has been named the 2025–26 Penn State Laureate.
Gluck, associate professor in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, joined Penn State in 2014. Her teaching focuses on screenwriting, directing, and producing, helping students discover their unique storytelling voices while balancing creative exploration with technical discipline.
Through her work with Palinka Pictures, Gluck has explored themes of gender, class, faith and autobiographical storytelling. Her films have earned numerous honors, including three Fulbright grants, a Sundance Producer’s Lab fellowship, and support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her feature film "The Turn Out" (2018), which blends documentary and fiction to address domestic sex trafficking, won several awards including Best Debut Feature at the Female Eye Film Festival.
Gluck’s other notable works include "Castles in the Sky" (2024), "Write Me" (2020), "Summer" (2018), "Junior" (2016), "Where Is Joel Baum" (2012), and "Divan" (2004), her debut documentary film that opened theatrically at New York’s Film Forum and premiered on the Sundance Channel. Her films have screened at festivals such as Cannes and Sundance and have been featured by NPR, PBS and other major outlets.
Beyond filmmaking and teaching, Gluck has made a significant impact on the arts community through the Centre Film Festival, which she co-founded in 2019. Hosted across historic theaters in Philipsburg, State College and Altoona, the festival showcases multigenerational storytelling and regional voices, providing masterclasses and hands-on workshops with visiting filmmakers. Now entering its seventh season, the festival was recently named “Best Festival/Event of the Year” by the Happy Valley Tourism Board.
As Penn State Laureate, Gluck will expand the Centre Film Festival’s programming across the University’s Commonwealth Campuses. She plans to bring traveling workshops and screenings to inspire regional storytelling, foster student connections across campuses, and create pathways for future collaborations, residencies, and artistic engagement. Through this initiative, she aims to promote inclusive access to the arts and celebrate Pennsylvania’s rich legacy of historic theaters and emerging cinematic voices.
The Penn State Laureate is a full-year position awarded to a full-time faculty member in the humanities or arts, designed to bring greater visibility to the arts, humanities, and broader university mission. Each laureate brings a unique scholarly or artistic perspective to a wide variety of audiences across Pennsylvania.