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Williams and Magnuson smiling at the camera

Penn State Alumni Association announces $20,000 match for Renaissance Fund gifts

The Penn State Alumni Association (PSAA) has announced a $20,000 matching commitment that will grow the scholarship endowment recently established in honor of 2024 Renaissance Fund honorees Roger Williams, retired PSAA executive director, and his wife, Karen Magnuson, retired assistant director of University marketing. In recognition of the Renaissance Fund’s 55th anniversary, the PSAA will match gifts of $550 or more to any named Renaissance Fund with an equal contribution to the Roger L. Williams and Karen L. Magnuson Renaissance Fund.
Penn State University Libraries’ Teaching and Learning with Technology is working with faculty as part of the 2024 Faculty Engagement Awards focusing on the theme of “Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Teaching.”

2024 TLT Faculty Engagement Award recipients named, focused on AI for teaching

Penn State University Libraries’ Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) has named 13 recipients of the 2024 Faculty Engagement Award with this year’s theme of “Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Teaching.” Recipients will collaborate with TLT staff to identify potential uses, constraints and best practices for using generative AI for teaching purposes. Faculty will utilize available generative AI tools including Microsoft Copilot and Adobe Firefly to assist in content creation, course planning and content delivery.

Penn State awards five new seed grants to support inter-institutional research

The 2024 awardees of Penn State’s Inter-Institutional Partnerships for Diversifying Research initiative comprise five collaborative projects that connect Penn State researchers with colleagues from Morgan State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the University of Texas Health Brownsville Campus, all minority-serving institutions
Six people stand behind a podium bearing a sign that reads "The White House"

Ask an expert: Pop culture in the 2024 presidential election

When Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for president, two questions were at the forefront of social media memes: Who would she select for her running mate, and had Maya Rudolph cleared her schedule to reprise her Harris impression for Saturday Night Live? Politics permeates pop culture, and vice versa, especially during presidential elections. Penn State News spoke with three faculty experts to learn more about how people can best parse politics in pop culture, as well as how to take care in a saturated media landscape.  
Person holding award in front of bookshelves

Penn State Berks librarian receives Heterodox Academy Community Excellence Award

Sarah Hartman-Caverly, reference and instruction librarian at Berks Thun Library, Penn State Berks, was recognized June 6 for her work co-leading a peer community that explores heterodoxy in the context and practice of academic librarianship. Hartman-Caverly’s community, Heterodox Libraries, received the inaugural HxA Community Excellence Award from the Heterodox Academy.