PHILANTHROPISTS OF THE YEAR: Gene and Roz Chaiken

This award recognizes an individual or family who has demonstrated exceptional generosity in the promotion and support of The Pennsylvania State University. The recipients of this award, through their philanthropy and service, have helped shape the University’s future and improve the quality of life for the student body, faculty, and staff.

GENE AND ROZ CHAIKEN

Through the philanthropic leadership of Gene and Roz Chaiken, who are cumulatively the most generous donors in the history of the College of the Liberal Arts, hundreds of undergraduates have been able to afford a Penn State experience, and the college’s academic programs have been permanently enhanced. A 1962 business administration graduate, Gene is chairman of the board for Almo Corporation, and Roz is executive vice president of the family business. Gene has served in many volunteer roles with his alma mater, and the Chaikens have been making philanthropic gifts to the University for decades. They chose the Liberal Arts as their initial philanthropic focus to help establish and sustain the Jewish Studies program, and their desire to ease the financial burden on students led them to establish the Gene and Roz Chaiken Trustee Scholarship in 2008, followed in 2013 by the Chaiken Family Trustee Scholarship. To date, these endowments have resulted in 987 scholarships— amounting to nearly $6.2 million in student support. In 2019, the Chaikens cemented their position as the University’s largest Trustee Scholarship donors with substantial gifts to enhance their existing endowments. Most recently, the Chaikens established the Roz and Gene Chaiken Center for Student Success in the College of the Liberal Arts, which will provide students with resources, programming, and other support. Gene has been honored as a Penn State Distinguished Alumnus and Alumni Fellow, and in 2013, the college created and presented Roz and Gene with the inaugural Chaiken Leadership Award, which annually recognizes an individual or couple for outstanding generosity. The Chaikens’ genuine warmth and affection for the recipients of their support, as well as their extraordinary philanthropy, will have lasting impact in the College of the Liberal Arts and throughout the Penn State community.