UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Smeal College of Business graduate and finance leader Lori Koch and her husband, telecommunications consultant Greg Koch, have made a $250,000 commitment to Smeal that will be split between two funds.
The first, the Gregory and Lori Koch Scholarship in Finance, will be endowed with a commitment of $150,000. The scholarship will be awarded to full-time undergraduate students who are majoring in or planning to major in finance who have a demonstrated need for funds to meet their college expenses.
The second, the Koch Finance Career Exploration Fund, will receive $100,000. The endowment will be used to help students explore non-Wall Street careers in finance by offering financial support for cocurricular experiences such as lectures, job interview preparation, site visits, career fairs or other related job search or career opportunity expenses.
Charles H. Whiteman, John and Karen Arnold Dean, called the Kochs’ desire to make a difference in the lives of current and future students inspiring.
“I am grateful for Lori and Greg’s commitment to our students and to creating an environment that prepares them for successful careers in finance without the financial burdens that sometimes come with earning a college degree. Their support will help prepare the next generation of finance professionals for the challenges and opportunities that are available to them as Penn State Smeal graduates,” Whiteman said.
Lori Koch graduated from Penn State with a degree in finance and international business in 1997 and earned a master’s degree in accounting in 2000 from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson.
Early in her career, she served in key finance roles at Comcast Business Communications and Lucent Technologies. She joined Dupont in 2003 and has held finance leadership roles spanning business units, the science and technology organization, and corporate functions. Prior to being named chief financial officer in 2020, a post she continues to hold, she was the head of investor relations and corporate financial planning analysis.
Greg Koch graduated from Ithaca College in 1998 with a degree in marketing and has spent his career in the telecommunications industry. He is currently the principal at Greg Koch Consulting, a telecommunications and technology consulting firm he founded in 2018. Previously, he spent 20 years at telecommunications firms in escalating product management and product strategy roles.
Mindful of the rising cost of college, the Kochs said it was important to help ease the financial burden for today’s undergraduate students.
“Education is expensive. If we can make it more accessible for students, that’s what we want to do,” Greg Koch said.
Last fall, Lori Koch participated in Executive Insights, Smeal's signature speaker series. The series brings high-profile business leaders to the college to connect with students, faculty and administrators.
She said it was wonderful to return to campus and learn more about what today’s students are looking for from both their education and their future careers.
“While some of the students I met already have a clearly defined career plan, I was surprised to learn that a number of them — especially female students — did not have a clear picture of choices available to them following graduation,” she said.
That realization helped inspire the couple’s gift to create the Koch Finance Career Exploration Fund.
“Greg and I want our philanthropy to put students in a position to make the best possible decisions when they are leaving Penn State,” Lori Koch said. “By starting with a strong understanding of what interests them, they’ll be able to make better career decisions and position themselves as better job candidates.”
Lori Koch said that being back on campus and engaging with Penn State Smeal students reminded her how proud she was to be a part of one of the strongest and largest alumni networks in the world.
"Giving back just makes this network even stronger for those of us who are lucky enough to be a part of it and further opens the door for the students who will follow us,” she 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, visit raise.psu.edu.