UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sara F. Thorndike, Penn State’s senior vice president for finance and business and treasurer, and her husband, J. Philip Thorndike, have made a $100,000 commitment to create the Sara and Phil Thorndike Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship. Their gift will provide permanent funding to support undergraduate students across the University.
“Scholarship support is an essential component of our efforts to make a Penn State education accessible to people from all economic backgrounds,” said O. Richard Bundy, vice president for development and alumni relations. “It is especially meaningful when members of the University’s leadership invest in the future of our students by creating new scholarships. We are deeply grateful to Sara and Phil for their generosity, and for setting an example for other Penn State leaders to follow.”
Sara Thorndike indicated that the creation of the scholarship stems from her family’s personal belief in higher education as a way to open up opportunities for a path to lifelong success.
“I worked full time to put myself through college, so I know that affording an education can be a real challenge,” she said. “Year after year, it’s getting harder for many students to overcome that challenge. We are fortunate to be in a position to give back, and we’re excited to help others follow their dreams to Penn State and beyond with this scholarship.”
As an endowed scholarship, the Thorndike Scholarship will provide funding for undergraduate students every year in perpetuity. While it is common for scholarships to be targeted to student populations based on certain criteria, such as a particular college or academic program, or a student’s home region, the Thorndikes chose to make their fund unrestricted, meaning that qualified students from any campus or academic unit at the University can benefit from it.
“The nature of the Thorndikes’ scholarship allows the Office of Student Aid to direct their funds to wherever they will be most useful in a given year,” said Anita Leone, director of University scholarships and special programs. “That could be a student in an academic unit or campus with relatively little scholarship funding available, for example, or perhaps a student whose family has experienced a sudden loss of income that won’t be reflected until the following year’s student-aid application. This flexibility is tremendously valuable in our efforts to ease our students’ financial burden.”
Phil Thorndike said he and his wife are aware of the growing need among students for financial support and wanted to structure their gift so that Penn State could put it to the best possible use.
“All that matters to us is that we’re helping students to succeed, but it will be especially gratifying if our scholarship makes a difference for some students who might not otherwise be able to receive support,” he added.
Sara Thorndike started in her current position at Penn State in January 2021. Before joining the University, she served as vice chancellor for administration and finance and chief financial officer at East Carolina University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Franklin University in Columbus, Ohio, an MBA from The Ohio State University and a doctoral degree in higher education leadership from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Phil Thorndike holds a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from The Ohio State University. He is currently a project engineer for the Fred D. Pfening Company, where he designs automated ingredient handling systems for the baking industry.
With the record-breaking success of “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” which raised $2.2 billion from 2016 to 2022, philanthropy is helping to sustain the University’s tradition of education, research and service to communities across the commonwealth and around the globe. Scholarships enable our institution to open doors and welcome students from every background, support for transformative experiences allows our students and faculty to fulfill their vast potential for leadership, and gifts toward discovery and excellence help us to serve and impact the world we share. To learn more about the impact of giving and the continuing need for support, please visit raise.psu.edu.