Here are five takeaways on the teaching profession from the newly released 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey.

Jill Biden won't be the first educator to live in the White House. Here are the other 19 teachers who became presidents and first ladies.

The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Finance and Investment advanced a proposal for the construction of an Academic Learning Center at Penn State Harrisburg.

The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Finance and Investment advanced a proposal on Nov. 7 for renovations and additions to Sackett Building, which borders the southwest edge of Pattee Mall on the University Park campus. 

The Penn State Board of Trustees Committee on Finance and Investment voted on Nov. 7 to move forward with a recommendation to the full board to select a developer to build a 1,500-bed affordable housing development to meet the needs of students attending the University Park campus. 

The Penn State Board of Trustees’ Finance and Investment Committee advanced a plan on Nov. 7 to construct a new classroom building at the University Park campus.  

Penn State Sustainability is wrapping up its semester of programming with both a Sustainability Showcase Series and an Intersections Film Series centered on Indigenous food and foodways. Chef Tawnya Brant — a Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) woman, Indigenous food sovereignty leader, restaurant owner, and recent "Top Chef Canada contestant" —will join SustainPSU for a series of events.

The Penn State School of Music will present three choir concerts on Sunday, Nov. 17, in the Recital Hall on the University Park campus. Featuring world premieres, folk traditions and themes of community and aspiration, these concerts will make for a lovely Sunday afternoon of music for audiences of all ages. 

The Penn State College of IST Distinguished Lecture Series will host Wenke Lee from Georgia Tech at noon on Nov. 18 in E202 Westgate Building at University Park.

The Penn State DuBois Office of Student Engagement will welcome students and members of the public to Hiller Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 12, when the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers visit campus.

After a successful pilot program, Penn State Residence Life is expanding the IDEA Ambassador program to include cohorts in each residence area on campus with nearly double the student staff. IDEA (inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility) Ambassadors are student leaders embedded in residence halls on campus with a goal of strengthening support and providing resources for resident students, especially those in their first year.

The Penn State community is invited to participate in the annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive, a tradition aimed at supporting local families in need and the on-campus Lion’s Pantry.

On Veterans Day, President Bendapudi shares a message with the University community. Today's events include Penn State's annual Military Appreciation Breakfast and Veterans Day Ceremony. 

On Oct. 12, Penn State Global hosted a multi-campus synchronous Day of Service aimed at getting students involved in sustainability work in their communities. More than 80 students from five campuses – Abington, Berks, Brandywine, Great Valley and University Park – participated in four service experiences, which conclude with the Global Sustainable Action Conference on Nov. 16-17.

Lara Fowler, chief sustainability officer at Penn State, director of Penn State Sustainability, and teaching professor of law, will give the talk, “Decarbonizing Penn State: How Does Law, Policy, and Financing Fit In?” at 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18, in 112 Walker Building on the University Park campus, as well as via Zoom.

As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 15 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.   

Penn State remains one of the largest public universities in the United States with 87,995 students enrolled across the University’s campuses in fall 2024, according to the annual enrollment snapshot released today (Nov. 11).

Whether you are interested in a STEM workshop on finding or requesting standards or you’d like to learn about how to assess company culture during the job hunt, graduate students can find events for those topics and more between Nov. 13-19 designed to support their success at Penn State.

Working remotely and from in-person sites at the Harrisburg and University Park campuses, teams spent three focused days in June attending workshops and webinars, collaborating with coaches and each other, as they worked on their projects related to student success and providing opportunities for students in the higher education space.

Penn State has announced the selection of 23 faculty members for the Penn State Emerging Academic Leaders program for fall 2024. This initiative highlights individuals who have demonstrated exceptional potential for academic leadership and innovation within their fields.

Rick Brazier, senior associate dean for faculty and research in the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, has been named dean of Penn State’s 14-campus University College. Brazier served as interim dean of the University College since February 2022 and will begin the permanent appointment on Sept. 2, 2024.

Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses and Westmoreland County Community College, building upon a long-standing relationship, have entered into a new articulation agreement designed to enhance educational opportunities and improve the rate at which students obtain undergraduate degrees in Pennsylvania.

Events continue through October as Penn State units at campuses across the commonwealth celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, observed each year from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. This year's overall theme is “Unidos en la Diversidad: Celebrating our Roots and Honoring our Heritage."

Adam Horan, a third-year student at Penn State Scranton, has been honored with the 2024 Chancellor’s Student Worker Service Award.

A draft proposal of Penn State’s institutional strategic plan has been unveiled and shared with the community for feedback and discussion. All faculty, staff and students at all campuses are encouraged to visit the Strategic Plan website to review and provide feedback on the draft plans for four goal areas.

Kost Tire and Auto Service has partnered with Penn State Scranton to offer campus students, faculty and staff free winter safety checks of their vehicles during a special event on Tuesday, Oct. 1. In addition, representatives from State Farm Insurance will be offering car seat safety checks.

Baking in the test kitchens at The Hershey Company. Studying the effects of space weather on satellite communication with NASA. Working on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., as a congressional intern. Planning events at the Arboretum. These activities are just a few of the many experiential learning and professional development opportunities that Penn State students gained through internships this summer. 

Penn State Scranton is set to host a job fair for students in its nursing degree program from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 14, in the Nursing Suite's lobby. The event aims to connect nursing students with local healthcare recruiters from major health systems.

Penn State Scranton held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newly renovated Library Building and Nursing Suite on Wednesday, Oct. 2.

Northeast Regional Chancellor Elizabeth J. Wright has announced the hiring of two new full-time faculty members at Penn State Scranton: Jennifer Durham Gresham, assistant professor of biology, and Stephanie Longo, assistant professor of corporate communication.

Penn State's Campus-wide Accessible Syllabus Competition highlights the importance of accessibility in higher education and the University's new tool in Canvas — Anthology Ally.

Penn State Scranton has announced the establishment of the Lambda Omicron Chapter of Alpha Alpha Alpha (Tri-Alpha) Honor Society, a national organization dedicated to recognizing the achievements of first-generation college students.

Agnes Kim, associate professor of physics at Penn State Scranton, has received a National Science Foundation grant aimed at enhancing the understanding of white dwarf stars.

This semester, students in Penn State Scranton’s Corporate Communication "External Communication" class are collaborating with Valhalla Veterans Services to promote, raise funds and plan the organization's annual Fall Ball, which supports local veterans and first responders.

Penn State Berks will present “People, Place, and Things,” a campus-wide exhibition that showcases artists with ties to eastern Pennsylvania whose work engages ideas of place-making and regional identity. The exhibition will open Nov. 21 and run through Feb. 26. The opening reception will be held from 12:15-1:15 p.m. on Nov. 21 in the Perkins Student Center Lobby. The event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

Developed by a team in the College of Arts and Architecture's Office of Digital Learning, HAX, or Headless Authoring eXperience, is a content management system that structures content in a ubiquitous format for simple web publishing.

Scientists have spotted microplastics, tiny pieces of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters, in some of the most pristine environments on Earth, from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the snow on Mt. Everest to the mountaintop clouds of China and Japan. Microplastics have been detected in human brains, the bellies of sea turtles and the roots of plants. Now, new research led by Penn State scientists reveals that microplastics in the atmosphere could be affecting weather and climate.

Penn State Berks will host a variety of events during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2024, set for Monday, Nov. 18, to Friday, Nov. 22. Events are sponsored by the college’s Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development Center and the Berks LaunchBox in downtown Reading.

Penn State Smeal College of Business alumnus Curran McCready was recently appointed to the college’s Finance Advisory Board.

Penn State's Sustainable Labs Program, now in its third year, is enhancing sustainability in research labs across the University. The program has expanded to multiple campuses with more than 70 labs and 600 researchers as part of current or past cohorts. 

A team of researchers led by Nanyin Zhang, the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Brain Imaging and professor of biomedical engineering at Penn State, recently published their findings about how blood flow changes to different brain regions relate to what is happening with the brain's neurons.

Five Penn State aerospace engineering graduate students, including two brothers, were selected for the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship-for-Service Program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Join Invent Penn State’s "Dare to Disrupt" for a live podcast recording in the newly renovated Nittany Lion Inn’s 1855 Lounge at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 22, featuring Scholar Hotels Founder and CEO Gary Brandeis.

Penn State Great Valley is offering a streamlined 33-credit MBA with highly flexible delivery and the opportunity to specialize by earning up to three graduate certificates as part of the program.

Joshua Krause graduated from Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus in May 2024 with a bachelor of science in electro-mechanical engineering technology and a minor in business. Now pursuing a second degree in project and supply chain management, Krause has cemented himself as a prominent student leader.

Penn State alumnus Isam Al-Zadjali recently was named a 2024 Alumni Fellow and returned to the University Park campus from his home country of Oman to accept his fellowship from President Neeli Bendapudi. Al-Zadjali said he frequently makes the long trip from Oman because he loves giving back to Penn State. As an international student, he said he faced challenges but found a second home among the University community. 

Marking a decade of doing good, Penn State is preparing to launch its 10th GivingTuesday event this fall. Honoring the University’s founding year, the event will begin early on Dec. 2 at 18:55 on the 24-hour clock — 6:55 p.m. EST — and conclude at midnight on Dec. 3.

Aiming to reinvigorate debate over polarizing issues, Penn State graduate and longtime volunteer James P. Jimirro has made a gift to create a debate series, which is projected to raise the University’s profile as a national leader in showcasing free speech in action.

The 2024 edition of “Best for Vets: Colleges” ranked Penn State World Campus as a leading institution in the United States for online education.

Penn State has been ranked as the No. 28 school for undergraduate entrepreneurship studies by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneurship magazine in the partnership's annual ratings released Nov. 12, moving up five spots from the previous year. Among schools in the Mid-Atlantic region, Penn State came in at No. 4.