Penn State alumni Ann E. and George R. Kemp have pledged $100,000 to create two undergraduate scholarships at the University. The Wallace and Zelda Bland and Kemp Family Trustee Scholarship will support students at Penn State Greater Allegheny (formerly McKeesport) with demonstrated financial need, and the George R. and Ann E. Kemp Scholarship in the College of Agricultural Sciences will support students with high academic achievement who were home-schooled.
The Kemps met while students at the University. Ann began her studies at Penn State Altoona, completed her degree in elementary education in 1953, and taught in the primary grades for 20 years. George started at Penn State Mont Alto and received a bachelor?s degree in forestry from what is now the College of Agricultural Sciences. He later earned a civil engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University and opened the Kemp Group, which provided land planning, civil engineering and landscape design services for more than four decades. The Kemps also founded and operated a bookstore, The Fishers of Men, for 28 years.
The Kemps are long-time volunteers on Penn State?s behalf and have a wide range of interests, including the College of Agricultural Sciences and the Penn State Greater Allegheny and Mont Alto campuses. George is president of the College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Society and a member of the Penn State Greater Allegheny campus? advisory board. The couple also serve on committees and as volunteer ambassadors at University events.
The Wallace and Zelda Bland and Kemp Family Trustee Scholarship recognizes the donors and the Blands, Ann?s late aunt and uncle, who had ties to education and business in the McKeesport area.
Trustee Scholarships are designed to keep a Penn State education accessible to all qualified students, regardless of their financial means. Launched in 2002, the program has a unique matching component?the University matches 5 percent of each gift annually and combines these funds with income from the endowment to increase the financial impact of the scholarship. The matching funds become available almost immediately to scholarship recipients. Last year, more than 80 percent of Penn State Greater Allegheny campus students received student aid, most of it in the form of federal student and parent loans.
?This generous gift will have an immediate and significant impact,? said Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus Chancellor Curtiss E. Porter, ?supporting talented business students who need help to achieve their educational goals. Armed with a Penn State degree, they will be in a better position to excel in their chosen fields and serve society.?
The donors were inspired to create the George R. and Ann E. Kemp Scholarship in the College of Agricultural Sciences through interactions with families who have chosen to school their children in the home as well as their own personal experience.
?Families who home-school are often at a financial disadvantage,? George Kemp said, ?for they sacrifice one parent?s income in order to accomplish their desired educational goals for their children.?
Robert D. Steele, Dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, said, ?We are excited about the Kemps foresight in creating this scholarship. This is the first scholarship at Penn State focused on this particular group, and we are hopeful that it will help us increase the enrollment of home-schooled students in our College.?
This latest gift builds on the Kemps? previous philanthropy to the University. During Penn State?s Grand Destiny campaign, they designated Penn State Greater Allegheny and the College of Agricultural Sciences as a percentage contingent beneficiary of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA). These planned gifts are designated for student scholarships and internship programs.
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the campus at its current location. Penn State Greater Allegheny offers baccalaureate degrees in six disciplines and provides the first two years of instruction for more than 160 Penn State academic programs. The campus also offers associate degrees, baccalaureate minors and certificate programs. For more information, contact Penn State Greater Allegheny at 412-675-9048.