Faculty & Staff Articles

It’s been a busy “awards season” as Penn College closes out the 2024-25 academic year, and among the top traditions is the Student Leadership & Involvement Awards. Hosted by the Office of Student Engagement in the Thompson Professional Development Center, the recent gathering honored student leaders, their mentors and the student organizations who make a positive impact on campus and in the community.

Twenty-one high school students from seven area school districts participated in the 2024-25 Penn College Youth Leadership Program, an initiative hosted annually by Pennsylvania College of Technology. As part of their engagement, the young leaders took field trips to local resources and community organizations, and they also completed service projects to learn more about leadership as a function of social change.

Pennsylvania College of Technology has been awarded a $50,000 state grant to enhance economic and educational development in the Lehigh Valley. Supported, in-part, by the efforts of state Sen. Nick Miller, D-14, chair of the Senate Minority Policy Committee, and state Rep. Peter Schweyer, D-134, majority chair of the House Education Committee, the grant provides backing to develop and grow workforce, economic and educational partnerships within the region.

Shanna P. Wheeler, instructor of English composition and technical communication at Pennsylvania College of Technology, will be reading her work, published in "Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania," on Sunday, June 1, at Lycoming Arts Gallery, 46 W. Fourth St. Williamsport. The literary event, celebrating the launch of the anthology, is open to the public and will run from 1 to 3 p.m.

Beth M. Bittenbender, executive director of operations/special projects for Workforce Development at Pennsylvania College of Technology, is among leaders named to The 2025 Trailblazers in Economic & Workforce Development list, released Tuesday by City & State Pennsylvania.

The Plastics Innovation & Resource Center at Pennsylvania College of Technology delivered training to eight industry professionals during the recent Color Science & Weathering Workshop. The three-day course covered the critical parameters and considerations for coloring plastic materials and focused on weathering technology and evaluation methodologies. Sponsored by Penn Color Inc., the sessions featured lectures and extensive hands-on experience in Penn College’s industry-standard labs.

Just as the 2024-25 academic year concluded, Penn College faculty jumped into the 2025 Summer Teaching Institute, held May 19-20. This year’s event featured keynote speaker Christina Katopodis, the Mellon senior research associate at the City University of New York’s Humanities Alliance.

David B. Clark, a former associate professor of chemistry at Pennsylvania College of Technology, died May 14 at the age of 84. Clark began teaching at Penn College’s predecessor institution, Williamsport Area Community College, in 1966 and taught at the college for 39 years, until 2005.

Carrying on despite rain and chilly temperatures, the inaugural Williamsport Main Street Torch Run was a rousing success for participants and fans on Wednesday. Beginning at Lycoming College, the ceremonial run carried the Special Olympics Flame of Hope through Williamsport to Penn College, where runners were welcomed at the college’s entrance and at a pep rally held in the lobby of the Davie Jane Gilmour Center.

Penn College Athletics’ Male and Female Athletes of the Year kick off the new “WildCast” – a podcast giving listeners an all-access pass to the stories, struggles and successes of Wildcat student-athletes, their coaches and administrators. In the first episode, Livingston Cross (men’s basketball) and Megan Kurian (women’s soccer) sit down for a 30-minute conversation with Matt Blymier, assistant director of athletics for compliance and athletic communications.