Administration

Penn State Hazleton receives $200k gift from foundation of former professor

HAZLETON, Pa. – The foundation of a former Penn State professor and Hazleton native has committed $200,000 to Penn State Hazleton. 

The gift from the Eloise C. Snyder Foundation will be split evenly between the Dr. Eloise C. Snyder Scholarship, established to support full-time students with a financial need, and the Dr. Eloise C. Snyder Excellence Fund, which supports undergraduate students, faculty and programs on campus.

Snyder, who died in 2015, earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in sociology at Penn State. After teaching at universities in Illinois and South Carolina, she returned to the University in 1970 as an associate professor of sociology.

Snyder was integral in developing the women’s studies program at Penn State and often lectured or consulted on women’s issues. She also edited “The Study of Women: Enlarging Perspectives of a Social Reality,” published in 1979. 

After retiring in 1986 as professor emeritus, she went on to find success as a venture capitalist, helping several small businesses along the way.

“She was brilliant,” recalled Snyder’s sister and foundation trustee Nancy Mindick.

Mindick added Snyder would be proud to know students from Snyder’s hometown and surrounding communities will benefit from the recent contribution.

“It would please her very much knowing her monies are going to help students,” Mindick said.

This is the second time the foundation has given a gift to Penn State Hazleton; its first commitment was a gift of $250,000 in 2018 to provide scholarship and tuition support to students attending the campus.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Eloise C. Snyder Foundation for its generous support,” said Chancellor Gary M. Lawler. “Eloise’s accomplishments are proof of what can be achieved when one combines determination, grit and hard work with a Penn State education. This commitment, through its support of campus resources, will ensure more students have the same opportunity.”

The Eloise C. Snyder Foundation’s gift will advance “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century 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 serving communities and fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.   

Last Updated January 27, 2021