UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Three incumbent trustees and five new members were elected or appointed to serve on the Penn State Board of Trustees today (May 6).
Richard Sokolov and Naren Gursahaney were elected as trustees representing business and industry. Delegates of agricultural societies re-elected Valerie Detwiler and Abraham Harpster.
Tracy Riegel was elected as an at-large trustee. University alumni elected Christa Hasenkopf and Barry Fenchak and re-elected Ted Brown.
Business and industry trustees
Richard Sokolov. Sokolov is a 1971 graduate of Penn State and the current vice chairman of Simon Property Group, the largest owner of retail real estate in Pennsylvania. Sokolov served as chair of the “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence” campaign that raised over $2.16 billion for Penn State. A longtime supporter of the University, Sokolov’s own charitable support to Penn State includes numerous scholarships and endowments, including an $8.3 million gift endowing the Sokolov-Miller Family Financial and Life Skills Center. Sokolov has been recognized with both the Penn State Alumni Fellow Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award.
Naren Gursahaney. Gursahaney is a 1983 graduate of Penn State, the former president and CEO of the ADT Corporation, and the current non-executive chairman of Terminix Global Holdings. A dedicated supporter and donor to the University, Gursahaney has given back to Penn State through the creation of scholarships and excellence funds in the College of Engineering and the College of Information Sciences and Technology, as well as through support for the Student Veteran Center. He has been recognized with the Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award and the Penn State Alumni Fellow Award.
Agricultural society trustees
Valerie Detwiler. Detwiler is a 2006 graduate of Penn State who was first elected to the board by delegates of agricultural societies in 2016. She is a senior vice president for Reliance Bank. Detwiler owns and operates a machinery dealership in Martinsburg and a beef and crop farming operation in nearby New Enterprise, both alongside her husband. She currently serves in positions with the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, the Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission and the Pennsylvania Banking Association. A lifetime member of the Penn State Alumni Association, she also supports the University as a member of the Golden Lion Society and the Nittany Lion Club.
M. Abraham Harpster. Harpster is a 1993 alumnus of Penn State who was first elected to the board by delegates from agricultural societies in 2013. He is the co-owner of Evergreen Farms Inc. based in Spruce Creek, which operates the largest dairy farm in Pennsylvania and supports various charitable and youth programs. He is a member of professional organizations including the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, the Pennsylvania State Grange and the Holstein Association, and has previously served on the boards of organizations including the Future Farmers of America Foundation, the Beef Quality Assurance Commission, the Pennsylvania 21st Century Environmental Commission and the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board.
At-large trustee
Tracy Riegel. Riegel is a 1985 alumna of Penn State, a former project manager for the Vanguard Group investment management company, and a longtime University volunteer and supporter. She is a member of the Penn State Brandywine Advisory Board and Development Committee, the Schreyer Honors College External Advisory Board, the Palmer Museum of Art Friends Leadership Council and the Chester County chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association. She has also held leadership positions with organizations including the Union League of Philadelphia, the Paoli Hospital Auxiliary and the American Cancer Society of Philadelphia.
Alumni-elected trustees
Ted Brown. Brown is a 1968 graduate of Penn State and a veteran of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. First elected to the Board of Trustees by alumni in 2013, Brown spent a 30-year career with IBM and currently works as president of KETCHConsulting, a crisis management and disaster recovery planning firm based in State College. He is the only recipient of the Disaster Recovery Institute’s Consultant of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards. His service to Penn State began as a student, when he served in leadership positions with student government, Greek life and honors organizations.
Barry Fenchak. Fenchak is a 1984 and 1991 alumnus of the College of Engineering and Smeal College of Business, respectively. He has worked in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and currently works as a registered investment adviser with his own practice based in State College. Fenchak also worked with the University for 20 years as an adjunct instructor teaching accounting principles and corporate and personal finance.
Christa Hasenkopf. Hasenkopf is an atmospheric scientist and a 2003 alumna of Penn State. She has served at the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State, where she was the first chief air pollution adviser to the department’s medical director. Hasenkopf is the cofounder of OpenAQ, an environmental nonprofit that houses the largest open air quality database in the world, as well as the founder of Airglow Labs, which builds global support for clean air action. Hasenkopf has mentored Eberly College of Science students for nearly a decade through the college’s alumni mentor program and she has been recognized with the Eberly Outstanding Alumni Award, as well as the Outstanding Scholar Alumni Award from the Schreyer Honors College.
For more information on Penn State's board members, visit the Penn State Board of Trustees website.
The total distribution of the votes cast in the alumni election are listed below by the position of the candidates on the ballot.
- Farnaz Farhi — 5,540
- Edward "Ted" B. Brown III — 9,121
- William F. Oldsey — 6,693
- Christa Hasenkopf — 7,095
- Maribeth Roman Schmidt — 6,434
- Edward Smith — 4,301
- Barry J. Fenchak — 7,536
- Barbara L. Doran — 6,549
Write-In Ballots — 600
Total Eligible Voters — 726,886
Total Ballots Cast —19,144 (101 Mail-In)