UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State Alumni Association welcomed new volunteer leadership earlier this month, with Kelley Lynch beginning a two-year term as president on July 1. Fellow leader Anand Ganjam started his two-year term as vice president on the same day.
Lynch is the 82nd president of the Penn State Alumni Association, and her term as president runs through June 30, 2023.
“I am honored and excited to be president of our Alumni Association,” said Lynch. “We are the best and largest dues-paying alumni association in the world thanks to our incredible network of volunteer leaders and creative and hard-working staff. One of my main goals is to help us to continue to evolve and to meet our members where they are and where they go — making sure we have programs and engagement opportunities for all alumni regardless of stage of life or career, geography, abilities or interests.”
She succeeds Randy Houston, who will serve a two-year term on the Penn State Board of Trustees as the immediate past president of the Alumni Association.
“The Penn State Alumni Association is excited and proud to have an innovative and business-minded leader like Kelley Lynch leading our organization. Her passion for Penn State has shone brightly through her exemplary service to Penn State since her days as a Lion Ambassador and in every volunteer role she has held since,” Alumni Association CEO Paul Clifford said.
“Her vision to meet Penn Staters where they are by increasing support to our affiliate groups and by leveraging technology will help keep more alumni connected to Dear Old State.”
Lynch earned a bachelor of science degree in finance from the Penn State Business School, now the Smeal College of Business, in 1987, and her MBA from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business in 1994.
Professionally, Lynch has spent most of her career leading finance, customer satisfaction and human resources teams in helping to grow international companies based in and around Pittsburgh. The industries she has worked in have varied from artificial intelligence/machine learning to pharmaceutical services, medical equipment manufacturing, and engineering and construction companies.
Currently, she is the chief financial officer and vice president of operations for Othot. She enjoys working with cross-functional teams to help scale and prepare companies for significant growth.
Lynch was appointed to the Alumni Council’s Executive Board in 2017 to serve as the treasurer and chair of the Budget and Finance Committee; Alumni Council is the Penn State Alumni Association’s governing board. Prior to that, she served on the Alumni Engagement Committee. Lynch was elected to the Alumni Council in 2016. She has served on the advisory board at Penn State Greater Allegheny since 2013 and is currently the co-chair for the Greater Allegheny campus' “Be Greater” campaign.
In addition to her volunteer work with Penn State, Lynch also has been involved in numerous community and church organizations in Pittsburgh, including The Center for Victims, Leadership Pittsburgh, the Tepper School of Business, and the finance council of her parish. She spends as much time as she can with her seven nieces and nephews, going to their various school, sporting and arts events, and working hard to make them all Penn State fans.
More on Anand Ganjam
A life member of the Penn State Alumni Association, Anand Ganjam got his start with Alumni Council with an ex-officio term as the University Park Undergraduate Association president.
Ganjam became an appointed member in 2014 and served on the Development and Fundraising Committee and then the Communications Committee. In 2016, Ganjam became an Executive Board member of Alumni Council and the committee chair of the Young Alumni and Student Engagement Committee. He followed that with chairing the Membership Experience Committee from 2018 to 2021.
Professionally, Ganjam is a management consultant for Accenture. Anand graduated in 2015 from the Smeal College of Business and, as mentioned above, served as the University Park Undergraduate Association president during his senior year.
Joining Lynch and Ganjam are 10 alumni leaders who have been voted onto Alumni Council. Listed are the 10 appointed alumni in alphabetical order, along with graduation year. Each of their terms began July 1, 2021.
- Jayson Bayona, 2005
- Darryl Bundrige, 1993
- Christine Flynn, 1998
- Tom Hess, 1985
- Chuck Kimble, 2002
- Mike McHugh, 2012
- Carl Sizer, 2011
- Christina Talley, 2008
- Chris Thomas, 2003
- Greg Touhill, 1983
These appointed members will join the 10 Penn Staters elected to Alumni Council earlier this year (alumni are listed in order of vote totals): Ryan K. Brown Jr. (3,945), Susan Steadman (3,943), John Brabazon (3,885), Melissa Brickhouse (3,608), Wendy Forrest Edgar (3,522), Tiffany McKenzie (3,453), Ami Patel Hopkins (3,392), Jacqueline Barkley Floor (2,515), Rob Biertempfel (2,509) and Rajdeep Champa (2,455).
Each of these alumni will serve a three-year term from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2024.
Alumni Council is an all-volunteer governing body that advises and guides the Penn State Alumni Association on programs and initiatives to uphold its mission of service and support to Penn State. Alumni members of the Alumni Association are eligible to vote in the annual election, which takes place online.
For more information about the Alumni Association or the Alumni Council governing board, visit the Alumni Association’s website.