New THON Record

Penn State THON 2025 raised $17,737,040.93 for Four Diamonds at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, surpassing THON 2024’s record-breaking total of $16,955,683.63 by more than $780,000. More than 700 students danced and stood without sleep for 46 hours at the Bryce Jordan Center in February. Since 1977, THON has raised more than $236 million for Four Diamonds, funding pediatric cancer research and supporting children and families fighting childhood cancer.

Wolf Prize for Physics

Professor Jainendra K. Jain, Eberly Family Chair in the Eberly College of Science, was recognized for his groundbreaking work in the field. Read the full story.

Research Gems

Penn State Behrend and Penn State Harrisburg have received the new Carnegie Classification for “Research Colleges and Universities”—a designation awarded by the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching that recognizes institutions with at least $2.5 million in research and development expenditures from external and internal funding in an average year. Penn State retained its Research 1 (R1) standing, indicating the highest levels of research expenditures and doctorate production.

“Research drives innovation, addresses real-world challenges, and enhances the educational experience for our students,” said Penn State Harrisburg Chancellor and Dean David M. Callejo Pérez. “Our growth in research funding reflects our commitment to supporting faculty, students, and partners in inquiry and discovery.” 

ACE and the Carnegie Foundation updated their methodology in 2023 to “better account for and reflect the multifaceted, wide-ranging research landscape of higher education institutions in America,” according to their press release. The new Research Colleges and Universities designation identifies research conducted at colleges and universities that historically have not been recognized for their research activity.

Home Field Advantage

The Werzyn family and West Shore Home make a significant field naming gift for Beaver Stadium.

In honor of a $50 million gift from the Werzyn family and West Shore Home, the Penn State Board of Trustees approved the naming of Beaver Stadium’s field as West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium beginning with the 2025 season through the 2039 season.

“We are incredibly grateful to B.J., P.J. [Werzyn], and West Shore Home for this game- changing gift,” said Patrick Kraft, vice president for intercollegiate athletics. “As an alumnus of our great university and a business owner in central Pennsylvania, B.J. understands the critical role that Beaver Stadium plays in our community.”

Once completed, the Beaver Stadium Revitalization project will create additional revenue to benefit all 31 sports programs at University Park while simultaneously fostering economic growth across the region.

West Shore Home also committed to a new partnership with the College of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) and the Nittany AI Alliance.

“West Shore is proud to be founded and based in Pennsylvania, and this partnership with Penn State is an exciting opportunity for our company,” said B.J. Werzyn ’99 H&HD, founder and CEO of West Shore Home LLC. “It’s a great relationship.”

Since the Mechanicsburg, Pa., company’s founding in 2006, Werzyn has made West Shore Home one of the premier home remodeling companies in the U.S, with 40 locations in 20 states.

 

Commonwealth Campus Update

In late February, President Neeli Bendapudi announced that Penn State’s seven largest commonwealth campuses—Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, and Lehigh Valley—and the graduate education–focused Great Valley will stay open. However, declining enrollment, long-term demographic trends, and financial pressures make necessary the move to close some of the other 12 commonwealth campuses to sustain a viable commonwealth campus ecosystem.

“My commitment to the Penn State mission and my appreciation for the importance of the commonwealth campus ecosystem is deep and abiding,” Bendapudi said. “Across higher education, institutions are grappling with similar headwinds, and we have reached a moment where doing nothing is no longer an option.”

Penn State Dickinson Law, the College of Medicine, and the Pennsylvania College of Technology will continue to operate as they do. 

A final recommendation on the future of the commonwealth campuses was expected by the end of spring semester. No campus will close before the end of the 2026-27 academic year, allowing associate degree students enrolling in fall 2025 to complete their degrees and 2+2 bachelor’s degree students time to transition to another Penn State campus.