UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ryan Jones, editor of the Penn Stater magazine, has been named interim leader of the Penn State Alumni Association. His appointment follows the departure of Paul J. Clifford in January.
The Alumni Association’s mission is to connect alumni to the University and to each other; provide valued services to members; and support the University’s mission of teaching, research and service. Jones will head the association while a nationwide search is conducted for a permanent leader.
As interim leader, Jones will manage the largest dues-paying membership organization of its kind worldwide, with more than 171,000 members. He will guide Penn State’s alumni relations strategy, including engagement initiatives with the Alumni Association’s members and almost 300 affiliate groups; manage a 55-member staff; and oversee the Alumni Association’s broad range of programs, benefits, services and resources.
“Ryan’s appointment follows a thoughtful, collaborative and deliberative process between the University and the association’s Alumni Council,” said Anand Ganjam, president of the Alumni Association. “On behalf of the alumni community, I want to offer Ryan our full support and thank him for stepping forward to lead us during this transition period.”
Jones, who earned a journalism degree from Penn State in 1995, began working at the Alumni Association as senior editor at the Penn Stater magazine in 2007. He was named deputy editor in 2016 and became editor in 2018. He will continue serving as editor of the magazine during his term as interim leader.
“I am honored to be asked to serve in this role, and I thank the Alumni Council and University leadership for their trust and confidence,” Jones said. “I am looking forward to working more closely with the entire Alumni Association team to provide great support for the Penn State alumni community and everything we are.”
Jones previously worked as the editor-in-chief of Slam Magazine, a monthly basketball magazine, and spent time working with the Citizens’ Voice of Wilkes-Barre and the Record of Hackensack, New Jersey.
For more than 150 years, the Penn State Alumni Association has provided alumni with a strong and welcoming community representative of the Penn Staters it proudly serves. The Alumni Association keeps alumni connected to the University and to each other, while upholding Penn State traditions and supporting the University’s mission of teaching, research and service. The Alumni Association also produces the award-winning Penn Stater magazine and other publications, and offers alumni and friends volunteer opportunities, educational programming and many other services. For more information about the Alumni Association, visit alumni.psu.edu.