A Round of Applause

I spent more time than usual reading articles in the Nov./Dec. Penn Stater. Your organization uniformly does a good job on the magazine. (Since I’m 85, I don’t have too many times to say “thank you” anymore; gotta get it out of my system while I can.) The Green (“Bound and Determined,” p. 36) and Sotiropoulos (“Into the Future,” p. 52) articles were particularly interesting. The Chapters and Groups listings show the scope of Penn State’s reach around the country. The picture of the S-Zone kids (“Welcome to Nittany Nation,” p. 63) was an acute reminder of how long we’ve looked like that. Good job on the magazine over the years.  

Tom McCurdy ’67 A&A, ’69 MRP IDF
Durham, N.C.

Baldwin Honored

The Honorable Cynthia A. Baldwin, former president of the Penn State Alumni Association and former chair of the Board of Trustees, was recently honored with the William Hernandez Lifetime Achievement in Governance Award by the National Association of Corporate Directors (Three Rivers Chapter).

Baldwin was the first woman of color to serve as president of Penn State’s Alumni Association and as Chair of Penn State’s Board of Trustees. Her groundbreaking career includes serving on the board of Koppers Holdings Inc., where she was both the first woman and the first person of color to serve on the board of the publicly traded global materials company. A former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice and the first African American woman elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas, she has brought the same spirit of excellence and justice to her leadership across multiple sectors. She has served on the boards of the Fulbright Association, Duquesne University, the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities (AGB), the Pennsylvania State University, National Association of Corporate Directors (Three Rivers Chapter) and Foundation of HOPE. She has served on more than 20 boards and has chaired a third of those boards.

A Penn State Distinguished Alumna and Alumni Fellow, Cynthia Baldwin has modeled the highest ideals of leadership, service, and civic engagement in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the United States, and beyond.

Art Baldwin ’69 Sci
White Oak, Pa.

Mixtape Correction

I was reading the article on p. 76 of the March/April 2025 edition, “1994 Valentine’s Day mixtape from WPSU,” and noticed an error with the band/song listing for SIDE B. The reason I noticed it is because my brother, Michael Weidenhammer, was a member of the Underground Cartoons, and they sang “Not that Stupid” on their Shoot for the Sky album. The band Vertigo sang the song “King of Terror.” If you look at the picture of the mixtape, you can see that there is an arrow showing that the bands are switched for the two songs.

Sherri Weidenhammer Linn ’83 Bus
Harrisburg, Pa.

Dinks and More Dinks

Joe Zoshak isn’t the only one who kept his freshman dink after all these years (Item of Note, Sept./Oct., p. 76). When I showed my son Andrew, a 2005 grad, he was amazed, because he’d never seen or heard of one before.

Ron Kochman ’68 Lib
Kenilworth, Ill.

I found my Mont Alto dink and associated name tag going through my mother’s house. If I remember correctly, getting people to sign your name tag was a way to introduce yourself as well as getting to know other students on campus, many of which were new like you. I wonder how many different styles there were, and if any campuses still use them? 

Jeff Heintzelman ’79 Bus
Gettysburg, Pa.

The Item of Note reminded me I still have mine from the Ogontz (now Abington) Campus from 1966. I also have the first patch of the Ski Club at Capitol Campus, from 1968. It was designed by Al Jarzynka and me. 

Tom Leahy ’70 Hbg, ’83 MEng Eng
Perkasie, Pa.

Right to the Point

A few years ago, you had an article about reporter Rod Nordland (“Waiting for the Monsoon,” Jan./Feb. 2020, p. 38), who recently passed away (In Memoriam, Nov./Dec., p. 78). I wrote to Nordland back when he worked for Newsweek. I asked him if he was the same fellow who wrote articles about the Black Student Union and campus ROTC when I was at Penn State. As you can see from the reply (left), Rod gave a very concise answer.

Tom Witt ’73 Com
Middletown, Ct.