Penn State professors create fund to support graduate students Penn State Professors Elizabeth J. Susman and Gerald I. Susman have created two new endowments to support graduate students in the College of Health and Human Development and the Smeal College of Business, their respective colleges. The Elizabeth J. Susman Enhancement Fund in Biobehavioral Health in the College of Health and Human Development and the Gerald I. Susman Enhancement Fund in the Department of Management and Organization in the Smeal College of Business will provide annual support for graduate students in the academic departments where the Susmans have spent their distinguished academic careers. “Over the years, Gerry and Liz have mentored and advised many graduate students. These endowments reveal how deeply committed they are to nurturing Penn State students and to building the programs that attract talented individuals to academia,” said Ann C. Crouter, the Raymond E. and Erin Stuart Schultz Dean of the College of Health and Human Development.
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lege of Business as the Klein Professor Emeritus of Management, as director of the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change, and as director of Smeal’s Sustainability Council. The Susman endowments will support young scholars by covering travel expenses for professional conferences, academic competitions, conference registration and lab fees, and other thesis-related expenses. “Liz and I are deeply committed to supporting Penn State graduate students in whatever capacity we can,” said Gerry. “They and their faculty mentors have enriched our lives in countless ways over many decades, and these individuals have made and will continue to make Penn State one of the finest research universities in the world.”
With these new gifts, the Susmans have found yet another way to help the next generation of scholars.
Elizabeth Susman, the Jean Phillips Shibley Professor of Biobehavioral Health, joined the faculty of the College of Health and Human Development in 1977. Her research integrates behavioral endocrinology and developmental psychology and is published in biomedical and psychological journals. She has served on multiple research and health-policyrelated national committees, and her research has been funded by numerous agencies and foundations. She is the co-chair of HHD’s Development Council for the current campaign, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. Gerald Susman joined the Smeal faculty in 1969 and partially retired in 2010. He continues to serve the Smeal Col-
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- Ann C. Crouter
These enhancement funds are the latest commitments from the Susmans, who have a long history of philanthropic leadership at Penn State. The Susmans also have established professorships through their estates. The couple co-chaired the Faculty and Staff Campaign during the University’s Grand Destiny campaign, and each has served on numerous fundraising committees for their respective colleges.
The new Susman endowments will help the College of Health and Human Development and the Smeal College of Business to reach their goals in For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. This University-wide effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America.
For more information on the For the Future campaign, visit giveto.psu.edu.
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