The first version of what would become The Penn Stater magazine lasted but four years. The Alumni Quarterly debuted in 1910 but was renamed Penn State Alumni News and started publishing bimonthly by 1914. The four–page Alumni News featured no photos and was mailed to “all graduates and former students of the College who pay the annual membership fee of $2.00.” In return, alumni received updates on campus happenings—bonfires after athletic victories were banned as too dangerous—and listings of weekly alumni luncheons, then held in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. By 1915, black & white photos documenting reunions were regularly included.

By 1961, Penn State Alumni News had grown to a magazine format of 32 pages with numerous photos, though still in black & white. The magazine, then as now, was filled with features on Penn State students and alumni and campus news. John Black ’62 was the editor who renamed the magazine The Penn Stater in 1972, and in the decades since it has grown to a colorful 80- to 96–page magazine with award–winning feature writing, photography, and design. Tina Hay ’83 took over the magazine in 1996 and guided the magazine to hundreds of awards, including being named the 2007 Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year.