Graduate School Alumni Society
The Graduate School Alumni Society is a constituent society of the Penn State Alumni Association. Penn State has more than 125,000 living graduate alumni globally. Our mission is to foster relationships between graduate students and alumni, both nationally and internationally; enhance the overall graduate student experience; advance graduate education and research; and increase graduate alumni membership in the Penn State Alumni Association.
Graduate School Alumni Society Board of Directors
President
Joseph (Jay) Kovacs, III, MMgt., Business Administration
Chief Engineer, Strategic Solutions
KBR Inc.
President-Elect
Kathleen Hume, MMgt., Healthcare Administration
Healthcare Consultant
At Large Members
Connie Baggett, Ph.D., Agricultural Education
Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education, The Pennsylvania State University
Amit Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., M.S., Civil Engineering
Distinguished Service Professor; Chair, Department of Architecture and Construction Management; and Director, Green Building Institute, Farmingdale State College-State University of New York
James Caltagirone, M.S., Exercise Science
Constituent Outreach Specialist, Senate of Pennsylvania, Office of State Senator Judith Ward
Levon Esters, Ph.D., Agricultural and Extension Education
Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Faculty Affairs, Purdue University
Joseph (Jay) Kovacs, III, MMgt., Business Administration
Chief Engineer, Strategic Solutions
KBR Inc.
Matthew Krott, Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineer at Aurora Flight Sciences – A Boeing Company
Jon Lozano, Ph.D., Higher Education,
Senior Advisor to the Dean at the Johns Hopkins University’s Kreiger School of Arts and Sciences
Cynthia A. Mable, M.S., Computer Science; B.S., Mathematics
Principal Consultant, The CAM Group
Sharon Melzer, Master of Public Administration
Foreign Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State, and Adjunct Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University
Cathy Rusinko, Ph.D., Business Administration; M.A., Economics; B.A., English; B.S., Economics
Professor of Management and Coordinator for Sustainability, Thomas Jefferson University
Jorge G. Trevino, DBA, M.P.S., Homeland Security
Academic Adviser and Lecturer in Organizational Leadership Studies, Penn State World Campus
Campus and College Representatives
College of Agricultural Sciences
Merrilee G. Anderson, Ph.D., Plant Pathology
Professor, Science and Mathematics, Mount Aloysius College
College of Arts and Architecture
Bimal Balakrishnan, Ph.D., Mass Communications, M.S., Architecture
Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Architectural Studies, University of Missouri
Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications
Sarah Worley, Ph.D., Mass Communications
Associate Professor of Communication and Director of Community-Engaged Teaching and Learning, Juniata College
Commonwealth Colleges
Kathleen G. Hume, MMgt., Healthcare Administration
Healthcare Consultant
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Claudia Parada, M.S.; Ph.D.
Senior Reservoir Engineer, BP
College of Education
Amy Thul-Sigler, D.Ed., Adult Education
Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Health Policy and Administration, College of Health and Human Development, Penn State
College of Engineering
Susan O. Schall, Ph.D., M.S., B.S., Industrial Engineering
Founder and Operations Leader, SOS Consulting, LLC
College of Health and Human Development
David M. Kiser, Ph.D., Physiology; M.S., HPER Exercise Physiology
former Vice President of Eastman Kodak Company and Vice President of International Paper, Consultant in the areas of environment, health, safety, and sustainability
College of Information Sciences and Technology
Joslenne Peña, M.S.; Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Computer Science, Macalester College.
College of The Liberal Arts
Hannah Furnas, M.A.; Ph.D.
Research Manager, Chime
College of Medicine
Lawrence M. Mylin, Ph.D., Biological Chemistry
Professor of Biology, Messiah University
Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing
Kimberly Fenstermacher, M.S.; Ph.D.
Assistant Dean of Nursing, Messiah University
Eberly College of Science
Megan Matthews, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
Intercollege Graduate Degree Programs
Lynne M. Casper, Ph.D., Sociology with a Dual-Title in Demography
Professor of Sociology, University of Southern California
School of International Affairs
Paige Castellanos, Ph.D., Rural Sociology and International Agriculture and Development, Master of International Affairs
Assistant Research Professor and Program Manager in the Office of International Programs at Penn State
Smeal College of Business
Jeffrey M. Middleton, MBA, B.S., Economics
Senior Director of Finance, Global Construction Brands Controller, Case New Holland Industrial, Inc.
Graduate Student Representatives
Penn State Global Representative
Ricardo Andrade Fernández, Ph.D. Candidate; College of the Liberal Arts; Spanish Instructor
Graduate and Professional Student Association (GPSA) Representative
Schonn Franklin, MIA Candidate, School of International Affairs; GPSA President
Office of Graduate Educational Equity Programs (OGEEP) Representative
Alex Vera, Ph.D. Candidate, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; Treasurer, Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA)
Ex Officio Members
Sarah Ades
Associate Dean for Graduate Student Affairs
Jennifer Theiss
Director of Alumni and External Relations
*Degrees shown are those from Penn State