UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As Penn State’s Renaissance Fund celebrates its 48th year of recognizing outstanding community members and helping students in need, the Renaissance Fund Committee has announced that alumni, retired staff members, local volunteer leaders, and philanthropists Roger Williams and Karen Magnuson have been selected as the 2024 Renaissance Fund honorees. The couple will be celebrated at a reception in State College on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Since its creation in 1969, the Renaissance Fund has provided scholarship support to academically talented students with the greatest financial need. In the 2023–24 academic year, more than $1.6 million in scholarships was awarded to 820 Penn State students. The annual Renaissance Fund celebration, held each fall, honors volunteer and philanthropic leaders who have made a significant impact in the Penn State and Centre County communities and creates a new Renaissance Scholarship Fund endowment in their name.
“For nearly 50 years, the Renaissance Fund has provided meaningful resources and support to our students while advancing Penn State’s commitment to access and affordability,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “This mission is reflected by Roger and Karen’s extensive contributions to both our University and the Centre County community. Together, they have worked tirelessly to pursue a vision of Penn State that is welcoming to all and offers extraordinary opportunities to our students, to our neighbors, and to the communities we serve. I am greatly looking forward to celebrating Roger and Karen — lifelong Penn Staters whose legacies are deeply felt both at our institution and in the local community — as the next Renaissance Fund honorees.”
That appreciation was echoed by Gina Ikenberry, chair of the Renaissance Fund committee.
“Roger and Karen fully represent what it means to serve and lead a community,” said Ikenberry. “Through their careers, volunteer service, and philanthropy, they have had a profound impact on the experiences of other Penn Staters. There is no more natural choice for Renaissance Fund honorees, and I am proud that our community will have a chance to celebrate them through gifts to secure the financial futures of Penn State students.”
While Williams and Magnuson met during their careers at the University, the two were active in Penn State life long before then. Williams, a native of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, knew from a young age that he wanted to attend Penn State. He went on to complete three degrees at University Park, including a bachelor’s degree in history in 1973, a master’s degree in journalism in 1975, and a doctorate in higher education in 1988. After completing his education, he went on to hold positions at Georgetown University, the University of Arkansas, and Dick Jones Communications, as well as multiple roles at Penn State, including executive director of University Relations (now Strategic Communications) from 1986 to 1995, and ultimately executive director for the Penn State Alumni Association (PSAA) from 2003 until his retirement in 2015.
During his time at the helm of the PSAA, Williams drove the growth of the organization’s memberships to a total of 177,307, a gain of 21%, and the growth of student memberships to 9,151, a gain of 285%. He also held an affiliate faculty position in the College of Education’s Higher Education program. Williams is the author of three books exploring the University's historic land-grant mission and profiling past University presidents, including “The Origins of Federal Support of Higher Education: George W. Atherton and the Land-Grant College Movement,” “Evan Pugh’s Penn State: America’s Model Agricultural College” and “Frederick Watts and the Founding of Penn State.”
Magnuson, who grew up in State College, was involved in University life from childhood, attending art camps, playing on campus athletic facilities, enjoying Friday evening family dinners at the HUB, and participating in regular family visits to the creamery, cow barns and other campus landmarks. She became an alumna in 1975 after finishing her bachelor’s degree in visual arts. Her career at Penn State — which spanned 37 years — included multiple roles in the Office of University Relations (now Strategic Communications). She was responsible for overseeing implementation and use of the University’s first systemwide graphic identity system in 1988, and remained the essential point person for the University’s visual standards throughout her tenure. She also managed the University Editor Representative System — the network of internal communicators representing the colleges and campuses — to ensure systemwide consistency with University visual and editorial standards and University marketing initiatives and campaigns. She retired in 2015 as assistant director of University Marketing.
Williams and Magnuson’s engagement in the State College community extends far beyond their personal roots and professional pursuits. Inspired by his passion for local history, Williams serves as the president of the Centre County Historical Society, a volunteer- and membership-driven organization that aims to collect, preserve, and promote Centre County’s history. He also serves on the Dean’s Development Council for the College of Education, the Penn State All-Sports Museum Advisory Board, and recently was appointed to the WPSU Board of Representatives. He has served on the boards of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Penn State and the Schlow Library Foundation. Both he and Magnuson are life members of the Centre County Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association.
Magnuson’s primary volunteer work is with Interfaith Human Services, a State College nonprofit organization that supports low-income families in Centre County through programs that foster financial stability. After retiring from Penn State in 2015, she joined the board of the organization, and, a year later, went on to serve as president. During her tenure, she initiated and executed a full-scale strategic planning process and collaborated with "Brand[Aid]" — a State College-based philanthropic effort of creative professionals — to overhaul the organization’s visual identity. She also was instrumental in reorganizing the governing board into active working groups aligned with the strategic plan and initiating a Futures Committee to set goals for growing the organization in response to community need. She was awarded the Interfaith Human Services Volunteer of the Year award in 2022 for her service.
In addition to her work with Interfaith Human Services, Magnuson is an active volunteer for St. Paul Lutheran Church in Pine Grove Mills, where she has been a lifelong member. She facilitates monthly meetings of the Worship and Music committee and serves as sacristan, assistant minister, and reader for Sunday worship services. She participates in two faith-based programs exploring the role of the church in the community and ensuring a worship space that includes, celebrates, and advocates for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions.
Beyond their volunteerism, the couple has directed philanthropy toward various areas across the University, including the College of Education, the College of Agricultural Sciences, and the Palmer Museum of Art. In 2015, Williams and Magnuson’s friends and colleagues created the Roger L. Williams and Karen L. Magnuson Program Endowment in Higher Education to honor Williams’ 12 years of service to the Penn State Alumni Association. As members of the Mount Nittany Society, Williams and Magnuson made a $25,000 estate commitment to the fund, which benefits the higher education program in the College of Education. The couple also has designated support for the Burton S. Horne Memorial Scholarship Fund in the College of Agricultural Sciences, which honors the late grandfather of Magnuson’s children.
To Williams and Magnuson, being honored by the Renaissance Fund is another opportunity to inspire others to give back and share their love of the community and the institution.
“Not only is there an abundance of intellectual activity here in State College because of the University, but there’s an ethos of volunteerism and generosity that makes this a great place to live,” said Williams. “We really love being a part of this wonderful community, and we want to give back to it. Penn State is big part of the fabric of our lives.”
Williams and Magnuson have a blended family of four children, three of whom also are Penn State graduates. The couple’s inspiration for giving back has not only been to honor the past, but to inspire the rising generation with hope for the future.
“As we look to what’s ahead, including the challenges that our children and grandchildren will face, the thing that gives me hope are the brilliant young minds coming out of the University,” said Magnuson. “The Renaissance Fund, to us, is like an insurance policy to help guarantee those young minds reach their full potential. We are humbled to be this year’s honorees, but we also see this as a call to action.”
To learn more about making a gift to the Roger L. Williams and Karen L. Magnuson Renaissance Fund, visit raise.psu.edu/Renaissance2024, or contact Kathy Kurtz, associate director of annual giving, at klk13@psu.edu or 814-863-2052.
Gifts to Renaissance Fund Scholarships advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach, and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients, and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.