Wickland Family Scholarship in Recognition of Jennifer Wickland Zahuranec The endowment supports outstanding undergraduate students of at least junior standing with financial need and interest in community service. It is in tribute to Ed and Paula’s daughter, Jennifer ’96 EK ED, a teacher at Benner Elementary School in the Bellefonte Area School District. Her father said Jennifer had expressed a desire to teach from an early age. “One day we were talking with Jennifer, and she said, ‘You and Mom gave me the best gift ever; I graduated with no debt.’ Then we looked around and all we saw were young people struggling. Kids are graduating with a mountain of debt every year,” Ed and Paula stated.
The Wickland family, Ed and Paula (top), with daughter Jennifer (bottom left) and son Teddy ’10 Lib Arts (bottom right).
Edward ’61 BUS and Paula Wickland (William & Mary ’70 B.A., Villanova ’72 M.S.) have pledged $250,000 to establish the Wickland Family Scholarship in Recognition of Jennifer Wickland Zahuranec.
“The light bulb came on when Jennifer said she graduated with no debt. We thought, ‘the College of Education is where our gift belongs.’ At the end of the day, the future of this country lies with education. One generation passes the torch to the next. If one student graduates each year with little or no debt we will have achieved our goal.” Ed said his most profound experience at Penn State occurred before he even enrolled. He accompanied a friend who had been accepted to the University on a trip to University Park for a counseling day. Ed had been considering offers from several Ivy League schools as well as several major public institutions. He
had a chance to explore the campus and downtown and knew immediately that Penn State was where he wanted to continue his education. Ed met informally with his friend’s counselor and gained conditional acceptance to Penn State, which was formalized immediately. Ed spent most of his career in the healthcare publishing industry, managing professional reference units of the Times Mirror Corporation and CBS Publishing, and retiring as Executive Vice President and Group Publisher of a professional reference group at Simon and Schuster. Thereafter, he founded Wickland & Associates, LLC, a consulting firm to the medical publishing industry. He has served as a member of Penn State’s Grand Destiny campaign committee. He is a member of both the Golden Lion Society and the Mount Nittany Society. Ed spent eight years as a member of the Smeal College of Business Alumni Society Board, serving two years as a member of the Executive Council. Paula has spent her entire professional life as an actuary (FSA), specializing in health care benefits. She’s a former principal of Towers Perrin, which merged in January 2010 with Watson Wyatt to form the current firm Towers Watson. Paula is a senior consultant with Towers Watson.
Alumni-Student Teacher Network Remember that FIRST “first day of school?” You know…the one in which you faced a class of strangers, with a new diploma in your pocket, and a whole bunch of butterflies in your stomach? You have learned a lot since then. Share your knowledge. Join the College of Education Alumni-Student Teacher Network. Contact Phil Hoy: phoy@psu.edu or 814-863-2216 Mentor a new teacher. Catch up with old friends. Serving student teachers in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the Centre Region.
www.ed.psu.edu/educ/alumni-friends/alumni-society-1/ alumni-student-teacher-network