The People of Penn State

As a certified energy leadership coach, Lillian Liang Emlet '95 helps healthcare professionals find their unique path to finding fulfillment at work, achieving their goals, and finding clarity on their journey in life. Coaches at Lillian's company, Transforming Healthcare Coaching, help frontline healthcare professionals and executive leaders find their own unique path less traveled. In...

We have a Penn State football legend on today's episode of The People of Penn State, just in time for the Nittany Lions' College Football Playoff matchup with SMU this weekend! Tom "Scrap" Bradley '78 played for Penn State as a standout defensive back from 1975-1978 before transitioning to coaching. Over the next thirty seven years, Tom dedicated himself to the program as...

The College Football Playoff is here and so is another episode of The Football Letter Podcast! This week on the podcast, we're joined by Alumni Association CEO Paul Clifford '20g and Asheville (NC) Chapter President Mandi Duggan '99. Paul stopped by the show (0:51) to talk about his lifelong connection to Penn State, recap the Big Ten Championship experience, highlight how the Alumn...

Caroline Fitzgerald '12 is a leading expert on the business side of women’s sports and a thought leader around gender equity in sports. In 2020, Caroline founded the women’s sports business media outlet & consultancy, GOALS, and created The Business Case for Women's Sports Podcast , which is presented by Ally and was named the 2024 Best Women’s Sports Podcast by Hashtag Sports. In ad...

Gabrielle Chappel has risen to culinary fame as the Season 3 winner of FOX's hit TV show "Next Level Chef," earning a coveted mentorship with Chef Gordon Ramsay through 2025! Based in Los Angeles, Gabrielle graduated from Penn State in 2016 with degrees in Spanish and broadcast journalism. She is also graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education’s Health Supportive Culinary Arts...

We're heading out west for this week's Football Letter Podcast as we talk with Oregon Chapter President, Zach Schroeder '04! Oregon is now Big Ten country and Zach joined the show to discuss how he played a part in reigniting the Oregon chapter in 2015, the atmosphere of the chapter's game day watch parties, and the value of staying connected to Penn State through an alumni gro...

This week’s episode of The Football Letter Podcast features Michigan Chapter President, Brodie Schultz '15, '17g! Brodie joined the show to discuss a variety of topics, including staying engaged with Penn State as a volunteer leader, making the Michigan Chapter watch parties feel like a Beaver Stadium game day, how the Michigan Chapter is supporting NIL and Penn State student-athletes, a...

Emily Turner '17 is the co-founder and current board member of the Patrick’s Purpose Foundation, a southern California based nonprofit focused on improving mental health and wellness of teens and young adults. The organization is named in honor of Emily's youngest brother, Patrick, who died by suicide in 2018. Emily joined The People of Penn State to discuss the founding of Patrick'...

This week's episode of The Football Letter Podcast features a great conversation with longtime volunteer leader, Chuck Wall.  Chuck is the President of our Suncoast Chapter in Florida and much of his life has been connected to Penn State, from meeting his wife Cindy while a student at University Park to graduating in 1978 to his many years as a chapter volunteer leader. We talked with Chuck a...

This week on The Football Letter Podcast we're talking about the Penn State Blue Band with Associate Director of Athletic Bands, Micki Potlunas Ferguson '07, '21g! In addition to her duties with the Blue Band, Micki is also a Penn State faculty member for the School of Music in the College of Arts & Architecture.  If you love the Blue Band (who doesn't?!), this is the episo...

It's Ohio State week for Penn State Football, so who better to have on the podcast than Nittany Lion letterman Grant Haley, whose iconic scoop and score on a blocked field goal helped the Nittany Lions capture their memorable upset win over the Buckeyes in 2016. Grant joined our Football Letter Podcast to talk about his memories of that iconic 2016 Big Ten Championship team, how Penn State pr...

We have liftoff on Season 4 of The People of Penn State 🛫 Erin Hogge ‘21 is a certified flight instructor at United Aviate Academy based in Phoenix, AZ. Erin started her pilot training in 2023, earning her commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates earlier this year. A former news editor of The Daily Collegian, she switched career paths after reading articles about the pilot shortage bef...

This week's episode of The Football Letter podcast features two standout volunteer leaders. Alumni Council member and President of the African American Alumni Organization (AAAO) of Washington, D.C., Jeremy O'Mard '13 Behrend, talks about the mission our AAAOs, previews this weekend's Black Alumni Reunion, and discusses the importance of representation at Penn State. We also ch...

This week's episode of The Football Letter Podcast features our Los Angeles Chapter President, Heather Maggi '13! Heather joined the podcast to talk about a variety of topics, including: Penn State's trip to USC this weekend; What Penn Staters can expect for their visit to LA; How she got involved with the Los Angeles Chapter and became the chapter's president; How the chapter...

In this episode of The People of Penn State, we're joined by Dr. Lori Johnson-Vegas '83, '22 PhD. In 2023, Lori was awarded "National Mother of the Year" honors from American Mothers, Inc.  She has also previously been recognized as the 2014 Armed Forces Insurance Tinker AFB Military Spouse of the Year. Having grown up, served, and married into the military, Lori has dedic...

There's a young alumni theme to this week's episode of The Football Letter Podcast! We're joined by Immediate-Past President of the Central Texas Chapter, Derek Turner '17 and Communications Chair of the Greater Boston Chapter, Andrew Flatley '19. Both Derek and Andrew have made a tremendous impact as volunteers in such a short time since graduating from Penn State. We tal...

Join us as we dive into the creative journey of emerging actor, composer and lyricist, Maria Wirries '18 ! Best known for roles in the Off-Broadway revival of Kinky Boots , Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway and its national tour, and Penelope or How The Odyssey Was Really Written , Maria takes us behind stage for an inside look at her career so far. Currently part of the prestigious BMI Writers Wo...

This week’s episode of The Football Letter Podcast features Penn Stater magazine editor, Ryan Jones ’95, and volunteer leader Kelly Gibson Caplan ’91. With Penn State honoring the 1994 team during Saturday’s Homecoming game against Illinois, Jones discusses the comprehensive oral history he authored in 2014, “The Legends of ’94,” the definitive story of the 1994 Penn State football team that finis...

The Football Letter Podcast is back from the bye week with a new episode! Long Island Chapter Board Member Lucille Mankowich ’90 shares an overview of the chapter and how it unites Penn Staters on game days, additional chapter activities, and her role as a Penn State parent. We also chat with letterman Miles Dieffenbach ’15 . Miles discusses playing for Joe Paterno, Bill O'Brien, and James Fr...

This week on The Football Letter Podcast, we're joined by letterman and Arizona Cardinals linebacker Jesse Luketa '20 to preview his third season in the NFL. We also talked with Jesse about his nonprofit organization, the 40 Reasons Foundation, which cultivates a healthy and safe environment for children to be able to enhance their sense of creativity and promote their independence (0:50...

Gary Brandeis '88 is the Founder and CEO of Scholar Hotels LLC. Gary started his real estate career in 1990 and has been the principal partner in four real estate investment funds, investing over $350 million in all property types and investment strategies since 2010.   He acquired his first hotel in 2006 and since then, Scholar has developed, redeveloped, and currently operates six hotels in...

A new Penn State Football season means it's also time for a new season of The Football Letter Podcast! 🏈 We kick things off with Broadcast Journalist Destiny Sanchez '24 (0:50) to talk about her passion for sharing compelling and accurate stories of sport with the public, spending game days at Beaver Stadium reporting from the sidelines, and earning the Lisa Byington Award from the Big...

Join us on this inspiring episode of The People of Penn State as we talk with Tom Morris ('03, Kinesiology), the Assistant Athletic Director For High Performance at Penn State.  Renowned for his expertise in optimizing athletic performance across professional, Olympic, and collegiate levels, Tom shares his journey of fostering an athlete-centric model that integrates strength, conditioning, s...

The 2024 Paris Olympics are well underway and on today's episode of The People of Penn State we talked with two-time Olympian and Olympic coach, Kerry McCoy '97!  Kerry competed at the Olympic Games of Atalanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. A three-time All-American and two-time NCAA Champion, Kerry is one of the greatest wrestlers in Penn State's illustrious history, collecting the Hodge T...

Alumni Taylor and Danielle Sekelsky are among the more impressive Penn State duos around! Taylor (2015, Smeal College of Business) and Danielle (2023, Smeal College of Business) were both varsity cheerleaders during their time at Penn State and had the unique opportunity to dance together at THON 2024. Professionally, Taylor works in capital markets for a private commercial mortgage Real Estate In...