ERIE, Pa. — John B. Lloyd, a longtime community advocate and investor in Jamestown, New York, has been awarded the Penn State Behrend Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.
The award is presented annually to a Behrend graduate who has made significant contributions to his or her profession, to the community, and to the college.
Lloyd worked in public accounting for more than 50 years. He also served on the board of directors of the Gebbie Foundation, an $80 million organization that promotes economic development in western New York. During his tenure, the foundation provided $6 million for the development of the National Comedy Center, which opened in 2018. More than 66,000 people visited the museum in its first year of operation.
The National Comedy Center is in Jamestown, the hometown of the late Lucille Ball. The museum coordinates the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, which has featured John Mulaney, Jerry Seinfeld, Lily Tomlin and Jay Leno, among others. The center also manages the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Museum, of which Lloyd was a founder and board member.
He also co-founded Jobs Inc., which became Jobs Chautauqua. He traveled internationally on behalf of the organization, encouraging companies to move their operations to Chautauqua County. His work supported a variety of businesses, including Sunburst Travel Agency, Lakeview Computer Consulting, Longview Consulting, CC Financial Services and Summit Financial Services.
“At his core, John is a connector,” Behrend Chancellor Ralph Ford said, “not only in the business community, where he is an active advocate and partner, but in his relationship with Penn State Behrend. He consistently helps our students access his professional network, enabling them to work with and learn from community leaders.”
As a student at Behrend, Lloyd played baseball and wrote for the Nittany Cub, the student newspaper. He earned a degree in business at Penn State’s University Park campus in 1962.
He and his wife, Jean Chambers Lloyd, met at Penn State and were married in Eisenhower Chapel. All five of their children began their university educations at Penn State Behrend; three of the five met their spouses at Penn State.