Erie native and Penn State alumnus Daniel A. Cooney will establish the Daniel A. Cooney Enrichment Fund at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, an estate gift that will support the college's outreach programs that serve K-12 students as well as incoming first-year students.
"Dan believes strongly in his hometown, its youth and in promoting all of the possibilities that are available to them," said Jack Burke, chancellor at Penn State Behrend. "We are grateful that he has chosen to support Penn State Behrend’s existing youth outreach initiatives."
The Cooney Enrichment Fund will give priority to programs that educate students about setting objectives, personal goal setting and career exploration. Penn State Behrend has more than two dozen outreach centers, programs and initiatives for area school students and the community.
"As part of my overall involvement with Penn State, I wanted to bring some of it back home to Erie through existing outreach programs at Penn State Behrend," Cooney said. "Exposure, education and effort are some of the ingredients for success, and Penn State Behrend is a wonderful vehicle with which to bring this to the next generation. I am very pleased to further assist their fine outreach programs to our community and our youth."
Among Penn State Behrend's existing outreach programs, this gift could support:
-- The Penn State Educational Partnership Program, an after school mentoring program for at-risk students in Erie’s Wayne and Wilson middle schools and Central Tech High School;
-- The annual Math Options Career Day and Chemistry Day, hosted by Penn State Behrend faculty for middle and high school students; and
-- 21st Century Kids, which provides science enrichment to all seventh-grade students in rural Warren and Forest counties.
Currently, Cooney is president of Timber Dreams Inc. in Chester Springs, Pa. Timber Dreams distributes log and timber-frame home structures. In 1998, Cooney retired from his position as national sales director of Tellabs Inc., which designs and manufactures telecommunications equipment for global telecommunications service providers.
A Vietnam-era Marine Corps officer, Cooney earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Penn State University Park and is a graduate of Cathedral Prep.