The People of Penn State

Today's episode of The People of Penn State is for all of you history buffs out there as we're joined by accomplished American Civil War author and professor, Jonathan W. White! Jonathan is professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and the author or editor of 17 books that cover a variety of topics about the Civil War, including " Emancipation, the Union Army,...

To infinity and beyond! 🚀🌌 Alumna Maria Demaree '90 has been a part of Lockheed Martin for over 30 years and is currently the Vice President and General Manager of the National Security Space line of business at Lockheed Martin Space. Maria leads a workforce of over 7,500 team members while managing a $6B+ customer portfolio.  Within Lockheed Martin Space, Maria is a proven thought leader i...

Fancy a swim? How about a swim across the entire English Channel? 🤯🏊 On today's podcast, we chat with Jeannie Zappe '87, Speaker and Coach at Eternal Optimist LLC, and open water distance swimmer! Jeannie's personal feats include swimming around Manhattan at 53, crossing the English Channel at 55, and joining the elite ranks of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming at 56 by comp...

Lieutenant Colonel Robert Michaels '02, '05 Dickinson Law, has served in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps since January 2006. During his time as an Army lawyer, he has served in military units all over the world. In addition to service in Iraq, South Korea, and Europe, he most recently returned to the United States after serving for two years as the first-ever U.S. A...

Misconceptions of autism and the frequency in which people are excluded, threaten access to the vital information, resources and support autistic people and their families need. Sarah Kernion '06, a distinguished global speaker and neurodiversity advocate, is first and foremost a mother of three children, two of which have non-speaking autism. Through her work, she fosters a supportive commun...

From Fortune 500 giants to burgeoning startups, Rebecca Friese '93  navigates outdated practices in the workplace, fostering the capacity for impactful cultural changes. Rebecca is a seasoned change management leader dedicated to transforming organizations. On a mission to enhance workplaces, she champions innovative, engaging, and forward-thinking environments. As the author of "The Goo...

Jasmine Forsberg '21 is an emerging star of Broadway...and she's a Penn Stater! Forsberg is currently performing in the hit Broadway musical "Six " after touring the country for over a year in the First National Tour. Last summer, Jasmine made her Broadway debut in the all-Filipino cast of "Here Lies Love." In addition to her successes on stage, Jasmine starred in the...

From early days with the Daily Collegian to time spent with the Centre Daily Times and the Associated Press, photographer Pat Little '77 has chronicled life at Penn State for fifty years. Some of Pat's most famous photos include a lion cub...sitting atop the famous Nittany Lion shrine, President Bill Clinton eating Berkey Creamery ice cream, and the return of the team busses to State Col...

Alumni Association Paul Clifford '20g is joined by journalist Erin Strout '97 for an engaging conversation on her career — including covering health, fitness, and Olympic sports — mental health awareness for female athletes, the state of media coverage on higher education, and more. Erin's work has appeared in the Washington Post, ESPN-W, Self, Women's Health, Outside, Runner’s...

Anessa Fike, otherwise known as the "Queen of Fractional HR," is the CEO and Founder of Fike+Co, a multi-million-dollar consulting firm that specializes in interim or fractional people, human resources, and talent executive leadership with companies that are experiencing growth, scale, transition, or transformation. A 2007 Penn State graduate, Anessa has led more than a dozen startups an...

We have a Lady Lions basketball legend on today's episode of The People of Penn State, as we're joined by Lisa Lambert '89! Lisa's successes as a student at Penn State — and as a team captain for the Lady Lions in the late 1980s — have helped propel her to become one of the most successful venture capitalists in the country. Professionally, Lisa is the Chief Investment Officer,...

Today on The People of Penn State, we chat with professional soccer player Sam Coffey! Sam is a midfielder for the Portland Thorns of the National Women's Soccer League and the United States Women's National Team. Sam is a two-time NWSL Best XI honoree and recently scored her first goal for the United States in a friendly against China. She takes us through her time in Happy Valley, comp...

Every day's commute to work is a "pinch me moment" for alumna Antonella Crescimbeni '17. Her office is the "World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden, home of the NBA's New York Knicks and NHL's New York Rangers, the latter of which Antonella works for as a Video Shooter/Editor.  With the Rangers, she is responsible for all aspects of the creati...

We're feeling peachy! With Penn State Football heading to Atlanta to take on Ole Miss in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, we're bringing you a special postseason episode of The Football Letter Podcast! On the program, we're joined by 83rd President of the Penn State Alumni Association Anand Ganjam, Penn State Athletics Chief of Staff and former men's basketball captain Nick Colella,...

Since his time growing up in the Finger Lakes in New York, alumnus Brian Kappel (1998 - Visual Arts) has long had a passion for Penn State. This second generation Nittany Lion took a very different path which provided a one of a kind experience in Happy Valley and paved the way for a successful career in art and design. The now Portland-based designer and visual artist has completed work for the C...

Welcome to this week's episode of The Football Letter Podcast as we close out the regular season with another great episode.  First (0:56), we talk with Director of the Penn State All-Sports Museum, Lew Lazarow, about the museum's new photomosaic mural honoring Franco Harris , Franco's legacy at Penn State, the mission of the museum, its other featured exhibits, and more. Follow the...

The popular adventure reality television show, "The Amazing Race," is now in its 35th season...and one of the contestants is a Penn Stater! Alumnus Joe Moskowitz and his fiancé, Ian, started competing on the show in June of this year. Joe joined The People of Penn State Podcast to discuss his experiences on "The Amazing Race" so far, including being a long-time fan of the show,...

Aloha, Penn Staters, and welcome to the newest episode of The Football Letter Podcast! In this episode, we're joined by our Hawaii Chapter President Angela White to hear her Penn State story and discuss how the chapter aims to keep alumni and friends connected thousands of miles from a Penn State campus Angela detailed the Hawaii Chapter's football watch parties hosted at locations acros...

From team manager to starting long snapper, letterman Bob Ceh had quite the journey as a part of the Penn State Football program. On this week's episode, Bob took us through that experience, what it was like working with Brad "Spider" Caldwell, memories as the long snapper for the game-winning kick to upset No. 1 Notre Dame in 1990, his career in education, and the life lessons he l...

Both a United States Field Hockey Hall of Fame and a National Field Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee, as well as an inductee of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame, Char Morett-Curtiss is a Penn State coaching legend. Having led Penn State Field Hockey for 36 seasons, she compiled 541 victories, eight Big Ten regular-season titles, seven Big Ten Coach of the Year honors, 30 NCAA T...

Welcome to this week's episode of The Football Letter Podcast! On today's show, we're joined by letterman offensive lineman Hunter Kelly (0:56) and Baltimore Chapter President Hunter Davey (20:49). Hunter Kelly was a member of the 2016 Big Ten Championship squad, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, and most recently played for the Massachusetts Pirates in the Indoor Football...

Week 9 of the college football season is here and so is a new episode of The Football Letter Podcast! This week, we first talked with Matt Fortuna, Founder of The Inside Zone, college football’s newest online community. Matt has previously covered college football for ESPN and The Athletic. In 2019 at the age of 30, Matt served as the president of the Football Writers Association of America, becom...

It's a pivotal time for justice and equity in the United States. In episode 46 of The People of Penn State, we discussed this critical topic with Christina Parle (she/they), an equity, inclusion, and diversity (EID) educator and consultant with her company, Social Responsibility Speaks. Much of Christina's work with Social Responsibility Speaks is rooted in unlearning, conflict resolutio...

Another great episode for you this week on our Football Letter Podcast, as we were pleased to be joined by two standout lettermen in Garrett Sickels and Jeff Hartings.  Football Letter Editor Emeritus John Black also stopped by to look back at the series history between Penn State and Ohio State. We talked to Garrett (0:56) about what it was like being a part of the Nittany Lions' upset over...

On this episode of The People of Penn State, we speak with Katie McPeak, M.D. Katie is a primary care pediatrician and Medical Director for Health Equity of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She is also an associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Katie has extensive experience in quality improvement, system redesig...