UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State alumnus James R. Antoniono has always demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit throughout his education, his professions and his volunteer work with successful results. Recently, he and his wife, Susan, of Greensburg, have made a leadership gift with an estate commitment of $1 million to support innovation and excellence among faculty and students in the College of the Liberal Arts.
Their gift will endow an early career professorship, a graduate fellowship, a director’s fund in the Paterno Liberal Arts Undergraduate Fellows Program and a dean’s fund in the college. The couple also created a Trustee Scholarship in the college and a fund in Intercollegiate Athletics.
"Jim and Susan's gift provides vital resources to support the ambitious work of future students and faculty," said Susan Welch, the Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts. "We are deeply grateful for their vision and generosity to the Liberal Arts community."
"My Penn State experience provided inspirational teachers and great educational opportunities," Antoniono said. "I truly believe it is important to give back to our society. The University has become a leader in many areas and we want to help the faculty and students anywhere we can."
James R. Antoniono arrived on the Penn State campus in 1968 at the age of 23 as a U.S. Army veteran and a non-traditional freshman. He became very active in student government and was elected as president during a time of campus unrest. As a student leader, Antoniono engaged University administrators on a variety of issues such as campus safety. Later, he was invited to the White House, along with other student leaders from other universities, to meet Henry Kissinger, foreign policy adviser to President Richard Nixon.
After graduating from Penn State in 1971 with his political science degree, Antoniono earned an M.A. in political science from Rutgers University and a law degree in 1979 from Duquesne University. He started his own law firm with a focus on personal injury and estate planning. Over the years, Antoniono also founded several businesses and has been actively involved in political and community organizations. At Penn State, he serves as an alumni mentor to Liberal Arts students and he sits on the Board of Directors of the Liberal Arts Alumni Society.
To create the new gift, the Antonionos worked with development and gift planning officers at Penn State to establish charitable remainder trusts. Alumni and friends can set up such a trust during their lifetime or through their estate, and transfer assets such as securities, real estate or business interests into the trust. Penn State invests the assets for a certain term, providing the donors or designated family members with an annual income for years. At the end of the term, the remaining assets will go toward endowing the Liberal Arts programs.
James and Susan Antoniono are invaluable partners in fulfilling the University’s land-grant mission of education, research and service. Private gifts from alumni and friends enrich the experiences of students both in and out of the classroom; expand the research and teaching capacity of our faculty; enhance the University’s ability to recruit and retain top students and faculty; and help to ensure that students from every economic background have access to a Penn State education. Penn State’s third and most ambitious University-wide fundraising campaign, For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, concluded on June, 30, 2014 with a total of $2.188 billion. The University’s colleges and campuses are now enlisting the support of alumni and friends to advance a range of unit-specific initiatives.