Administration

Pennsylvania native creates scholarship to honor late brother

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Dolores Hart Druckenmiller, a Pennsylvania native and current California resident, has established a scholarship that will honor her late brother, Berne C. Hart, while providing support for graduates of Biglerville High School in Adams County. Created with a gift of $1 million, the Berne C. Hart Scholarship will benefit graduates of their childhood alma mater who demonstrate financial need.

“I am tremendously proud to honor Berne by supporting students who share his dream of attending Penn State,” said Druckenmiller. “Berne was unable to realize that dream because of the financial restraints he experienced as a young man, so I am thrilled to help others from Biglerville with the same aspirations who may not otherwise have the means to afford the world-class education Penn State offers.”

More than 50 graduates of Biglerville High School are currently enrolled at the University, and over half of those students have demonstrated financial need. The Berne C. Hart Scholarship will continue Penn State’s land-grant mission of access and affordability for students graduating from Biglerville High School with low-income backgrounds. Creating this kind of opportunity is key to the Open Doors imperative of the University’s current fundraising campaign, “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence.”

“The Open Doors imperative embodies Penn State’s longstanding commitment to easing the financial burden associated with higher education for undergraduates of every economic background,” said O. Richard Bundy III, vice president for development and alumni relations. “This ambitious vision wouldn’t be possible without the thoughtful generosity of donors like Ms. Druckenmiller, and we are grateful for her remarkable support.”

Druckenmiller doubled the impact of her support with a 1:1 University match through the recently concluded Leadership Gift Matching Program, an initiative of the “Greater Penn State” campaign.

Though Hart was unable to attend Penn State, this gift will permanently link his name to the University that he loved. Hart left high school to join the U.S. Marine Corps, serving three combat tours in Vietnam. After 20 years in the Marines, Hart completed his education and gained a juris doctor degree from Western State University College of Law in 1991, secured a position at Hughes Aircraft, and spent more than 20 years specializing in aviation law. Raised in Biglerville with her brother, Druckenmiller currently resides in San Jose, California.

Gifts from Penn State's alumni and friends have been essential to the success of the University's historic land-grant mission to serve the public good. To fulfill that mission for a new era of rapid change and global connections, the University’s current campaign "A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence," focuses on the three key imperatives of a public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hard-working students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more, visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.

Last Updated September 9, 2019

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