Behrend Talks: A Penn State Podcast

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Cora MacBeth, a 1996 Behrend graduate, about her first year as director of the School of Science. Originally recorded on June 15, 2026.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Bibiana Mayer Steckel, a Fulbright Scholar from Brazil, about her work with the Virtual/Augmented Reality Lab, where she is studying the use of VR technology to connect with children who have autism. Originally recorded on April 30, 2026.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Tiffany Beers, vice president of enterprise innovation at VF Corporation, about her work designing products for Nike, Tesla, Logitech and The North Face. Originally recorded on May 8, 2026.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Julia Cecchetti, a 2020 graduate and recipient of the Alumni Achievement Award, about her work at SpaceX and at Impulse Space, where she is a senior propulsion engineer. Originally recorded on March 19, 2026.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Brandon Mendoza, president and CEO of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership, about the Erie 300 strategy and the role of local universities in economic-development work. Originally recorded on January 12, 2026.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Will Walker, director of the college's Women's Health Innovation and Science Translational Lab, about how Behrend's role in the MWRI-Erie initiative is helping to benefit medical research, undergraduate learning experiences, and the broader Erie community. Originally recorded on November 14, 2025.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon and Alumni Fellow, about her work with the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she served as a regional director. Originally recorded on October 9, 2025. 

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Christopher Harben, the Toudy Chair of Entrepreneurship and Family Business, about the Center for Family Business and the annual Family Business Conference. Originally recorded on September 15, 2025.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Tiffany Petricini, associate teaching professor of communication, and Kyle Chalupczynski, assistant teaching professor of management information systems, about their work with Behrend's Ad Hoc AI Task Force. Originally recorded on June 26, 2025.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Sophia DiPlacido, a 2025 graduate of the college, about her student experience, including a semester abroad in France. Originally recorded on May 7, 2025.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Joseph Beilein Jr., professor of history, about his new book about Behrend in the years 1980-2010. Originally recorded on May 1, 2025.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Connor Sattely, a 2025 recipient of the Penn State Alumni Achievement Award, about his work in venture capital in the Netherlands. Originally recorded on March 27, 2025.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Vincent Intrieri, founder and CEO of VDA Capital Management and an Alumni Fellow, about the Intrieri Family Student-Managed Fund. Originally recorded on November 7, 2024.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Robert Speel, associate professor of political science, about Pennsylvania’s significance as a swing state in the 2024 presidential election. Originally recorded on October 14, 2024.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Melissa Sulkowski, director of Student Wellness Services, about the Healthy Campus Initiative, which includes new programming at the Counseling Center and Health Center. Originally recorded on September 12, 2024.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Paul C. Lynch, associate professor of industrial engineering, about a three-year, $4.4 million partnership with the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation. Originally recorded on July 26, 2024.

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Ken Louie, associate professor of economics and director of the Economic Research Institute of Erie, about inflation, interest rates and economic growth. 

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Darren Williams, professor of astronomy and astrophysics, and Dr. Mike Rutter, associate professor of statistics, about the April 8 total solar eclipse, which will be visible in totality in Erie. 

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Andrea Konkol, director of enrollment management, about the FAFSA and other steps in the college admissions process. 

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with alumnus Marcus Jacobs about his work as the borough manager of Wesleyville. 

 | Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with alumnus Jeremy O’Mard, senior managing consultant at IBM, about how artificial intelligence is changing the cybersecurity landscape. 

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Sherri “Sam” Mason, director of sustainability at Behrend, about the college’s new STARS rating for sustainability. 

 Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Dr. Elisa Beshero-Bondar, professor of digital humanities, about the Frankenstein Variorum and the Mary Russell Mitford Archive. 

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Emily Dobry, a graduate student who discovered a tree fungus that had not previously been seen in North America. 

Dr. Ralph Ford, chancellor of Penn State Behrend, talks with Yingxin “Cindy” Wu, winner of the 2023 Ralph Dorn Hetzel Memorial Award, about her experience as an international student at Behrend.