UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State College of the Liberal Arts is mourning the loss of admired philanthropist and Liberal Arts alumna, Judith Hardes, who passed away in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, on June 25.

Hardes earned her bachelor’s degree in arts and letters in 1952. A longtime Penn State supporter, she made generous contributions to the University over the years, including to the Liberal Arts Future Fund, the University Libraries, Four Diamonds, and other Penn State funds and programs that best reflected her priorities and passions. In 2017, she was awarded the Penn State University Libraries’ Donor Recognition Award.

Hardes was a staunch advocate, especially for those from marginalized populations, including members of the LGBTQIA+ community and women. In that vein, she gifted a total of $750,000 to Liberal Arts to establish and support the Judith Hardes Fund in the College of the Liberal Arts, which has provided financial assistance to outstanding undergraduates majoring in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies who demonstrate a strong interest in women’s reproductive rights, health access, and in policy-making relating to women’s health since 2018.

"Thanks to Judith Hardes' transformational gifts to the Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, we have been able to expand programming and support students in unprecedented ways,” said Alicia Decker, associate professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, African studies, and history, and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies department head. “The impact of her generosity will be felt for many years to come." 

Last fall, funds from Hardes were used to create the Judith Hardes Intern Fellowship in the college’s Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, a collaboration between the department and the Global Network of Women’s Shelters. The fund combines academic credit with financial support for domestic and international job experience in a feminist organization that offers support for victims of gender and sexual violence and that seeks to unite feminist organizations to address such violence on a global level. Funds have additionally been used to support research awards for undergraduate and graduate students, to develop new courses in reproductive justice, and to subsidize student participation in a new study abroad program launched in May 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa, which focuses on reproductive justice issues there. 

"Because of her commitments to educational equity and reproductive justice, Judith made a difference in the lives of many liberal arts students. She will always be remembered as an agent of positive social change,” said Decker. 

In Arizona, Hardes was renowned for her unwavering support to Theater Works in Peoria, the Arizona Theater Company, Prescott Center for the Arts, and the Phoenix Theatre, which named The Judith Hardes Theatre, one of its three campus theaters, in her honor. She was also a benefactor to several other organizations, educational institutions and causes throughout the United States.