UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Former Penn State Board of Trustees Chairman Keith E. Masser and former Pennsylvania State Sen. Robert “Bob” C. Jubelirer were both conferred the rank of trustee emeritus on Sept. 18, in recognition of their years of meritorious service to the board and the University.
Emeritus status is an honorary designation granted to past board chairs, as well as to other members of the board who have served for six or more years with distinction and have been recommended by the board’s Committee on Governance and Long-Range Planning. Trustees emeriti draw on their previous board service to provide counsel as needed, and they are invited to attend University events, activities and public meetings of the board. The board chair also can appoint a trustee emeritus to serve as a nonvoting member of certain standing committees.
Masser was elected to the Board of Trustees by delegates from agricultural societies in July 2008. He served as chairman of the board from 2013 to 2016, and continued to serve as a trustee through July 2020. Masser, a 1973 Penn State alumnus, is a member of the Mount Nittany Society, the Alpha Epsilon Ag Engineering Honor Society and the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. He is president of Sterman Masser Inc., a family farm based in Sacramento, Pennsylvania.
Jubelirer was elected to the Board of Trustees by University alumni in July 2014, and served two terms through June 2020. He was previously honored by Penn State with the Distinguished Alumni Award, and by the Penn State Alumni Association in being named an Alumni Fellow. He is a lifetime Alumni Association member, as well as a member of the Nittany Lion Club.
Jubelirer is a 1959 alumnus of the College of the Liberal Arts, and earned his law degree from Penn State Dickinson Law. He served as a Pennsylvania state senator from 1975 to 2006, during which time he served as pro tempore of the senate for more than 20 years. He also held the office of lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 2001 to 2003. He is currently a partner with the international law firm of Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell and Hippel.