Roger L. Williams, executive director of the Penn State Alumni Association, will be a guest for a Chronicle of Higher Education online "brown bag" lunch chat from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24.
Williams will discuss a number of new programs and services designed to reach younger alumni and "alumni-in-training." From a new student membership corps to an annual program of intellectual and cultural events in East Coast cities to travel-related initiatives, the effort to attract and retain young alumni is both challenging and rewarding.
Williams came to the Penn State Alumni Association in 2003 with more than 25 years of higher education communications, public relations and marketing experience, having served as the chief public relations officer at three major research universities. Immediately prior to joining the Alumni Association, Williams was the associate vice chancellor for university relations at the University of Arkansas from 1998 to 2003. Williams also served as the associate vice president for communications at Georgetown University from 1995 to1996.
The majority of Williams’ professional career has been spent at Penn State. He began in 1978 as a writer-editor in Penn State’s Department of Public Information and rose through the ranks of manager of special projects, assistant director and director of Public Information, then served as the assistant vice president and executive director of University Relations from 1986 to 1995. Williams also is an affiliate associate professor in Penn State’s College of Education and serves on the editorial board of the scholarly journal History of Higher Education Annual.
The Penn State Alumni Association is the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world with more than 159,000 members. Established in 1870, the Alumni Association connects alumni to the University and to each other, provides valuable benefits to members and supports the University’s mission of teaching, research and service. The Penn State Alumni Association oversees hundreds of annual programs and events designed to inform, involve and inspire Penn State alumni. For more information on the Alumni Association, go to http://www.alumni.psu.edu online.
Chronicle of Higher Education online subscribers can participate in the brown bag discussion on Jan. 24 by going to http://chronicle.com and clicking on the link under Discussion Forums.
The Chronicle's weekly online chat that involves a guest from the world of university management to answer readers' questions about key issues of concern to those with interest in the business of higher education.