Alumni couple pays Penn State experience forward through endowed IST scholarship

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jason Streeter (class of 2007) and Amanda Brown (class of 2008) have been inspired by their individual Penn State experiences in their motivation to jointly support students at the University. The couple has made a commitment to establish the Jason Streeter and Amanda Brown Dean's Advisory Board Matching Scholarship in the College of Information Sciences and Technology.

The endowment has been built on the generosity of the couple, a 1:1 corporate match for their gift from Streeter’s employer, Lockheed Martin, and a match of both commitments from the IST Dean’s Advisory Board Matching Scholarship Program — a fund financially supported by members of the IST Dean’s Advisory Board that enables donors to double the impact of their gifts. With those combined matches, the total initial value of the endowment is $50,000.

“Through this scholarship, more students will have the opportunity to create meaningful change at the intersection of information, technology and society,” said Andrew Sears, dean of the College of IST. “I am grateful to Jason and Amanda for their leadership and generosity, as well as to the matching donors who will help to expand the impact of this gift and benefit more students over time.”

The scholarship will be awarded to IST students who contribute to the diversity of the student body, who are first-generation college students, or who have a demonstrated financial need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses.

“We wanted to pay forward the experience we had to help more students be able to be part of the Penn State culture,” said Brown, who earned a bachelor’s degree in science in 2008 and is now a licensed orthotist and prosthetist.

Brown, who played for the Nittany Lion women’s basketball team as a student-athlete and played professionally in the WNBA on the Canadian national team and in Italy after graduation, received scholarships at Penn State. This financial assistance enabled Brown to focus on her athletic and academic career and graduate with no tuition debt. The couple, who are now married, hope that their scholarship will make a similar impact for IST students.

“It really means a lot to us to be able to offset financial burden for students, in perpetuity,” said Streeter. “I want to see this investment go a long way.”

Streeter, who first met Brown on the Penn State basketball court when he was a practice player who helped the Lady Lions team prep for upcoming games, earned his bachelor’s degree from the College of IST in 2007 and went on to pursue a technical master’s degree. Now the director of global logistics at Lockheed Martin, Streeter credits IST as the launchpad for his successful career.

“IST prepared me so well for the professional world,” he said. “I was able to start my career and really contribute from day one due to my experience with professional projects and mentoring I received at IST. I really owe a lot of thanks to that program.”

In his role at Lockheed Martin, Streeter directly sees the high demand for skilled professionals to protect against increasing cybersecurity threats — a demand that the College of IST is helping to fill through its cybersecurity analytics and operations programs. For Streeter, this scholarship could help more individuals from diverse backgrounds to be trained for rewarding — and critically needed — positions.

“I see the gap in being able to communicate in a technical format and in more general business discussions,” said Streeter. “We need more people who are able to bridge that gap between technical and business in the defense industry, especially with very real cyber threats out there now and as we prepare for those that will undoubtedly come in the future.”

Streeter looks forward to continuing to share insight from his industry experience to help guide and shape the future of the college.

“When I first came to IST, it was a new school that had solid job placement with impressive salaries; it tied the business end with technology and was a great fit,” said Streeter. “IST was — and continues to be — on the cutting edge of making sure students are well-prepared for industry.”

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 mission of education, research and service to communities across the commonwealth and around the globe. Scholarships enable Penn State to open doors and welcome students from every background, support for transformative experiences allows students and faculty to fulfill their vast potential for leadership, and gifts toward discovery and excellence help serve and impact the world. To learn more about the impact of giving and the continuing need for support, please visit raise.psu.edu.