UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Penn State College of Health and Human Development recently received a $20,000 gift from members of the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) Alumni Group to endow the Sherry Corneal Award for Outstanding HDFS Student Achievement. This award will honor the late faculty member’s legacy and recognize fourth-year undergraduate students majoring in HDFS who have demonstrated excellence during their studies at the University.
Nicholas Turiano, associate professor of life-span developmental psychology at West Virginia University and president of the HDFS Alumni Group, explained that when the board first considered endowing an award to reward demonstrated excellence, the decision to name it after one of the department’s most beloved professors was easy.
“The level of respect that she still garners from her former students nearly got the endowment funded on its own,” said Turiano. “We had a number of donors that immediately offered their support. When they found out we were planning to endow the award, they were invested in making sure her legacy lives on.”
Corneal taught her first class at Penn State as a master’s student in 1986, and after receiving her doctoral degree, she taught as an associate professor in HDFS for more than 25 years. During that time, she received numerous certificates of excellence for teaching from the college, and in 2011 she was awarded the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence, a prestigious University award that recognizes outstanding undergraduate educators. Outside of academia, she also worked as a caseworker for Counseling Service Inc.; as an individual and family therapist at Deveraux Foundation and The Learning Center; as a consultant to Stepping Stones Transitional Living; and as the acting director for Counsel House.
Turiano said, “She was an educator at Penn State for over 25 years, teaching some of the larger introduction courses like HDFS 129 Introduction to Human Development and Family Studies, which is a pathway course that gets a lot of students engaged and a big reason many decide to declare the major.” He attributed Corneal’s popularity to her ability to break down material in a way that speaks to students.
Gerard Hoefling, assistant professor of psychology at Goldey-Beacom College and a former student of Corneal's who helped to fund the endowment, said that Corneal, throughout her career, encouraged her students, as well as her colleagues, to pursue their passion, often taking an interest in both their professional and personal well-being. He explained that she was known to show up to colleagues’ homes with words of encouragement, build relationships with their entire families, and offered support to anyone in her sphere.
The kindness and dedication she had for her work often left a lasting impression on her students, Hoefling said, even connecting otherwise unrelated cohorts of alumni.
“I've been to innumerable conferences at other institutions, and it is almost inevitable that I will strike up a conversation with a Penn State alum from a different generation and they’ll tell me, ‘Did you know Sherry Corneal? She is why I decided to major in HDFS.’ Without fail,” Hoefling said.
Hoefling explained that he was an adult learner by the time he decided to return to Penn State to finish his degree, and that’s how he caught her attention.
“She would often take an interest in non-traditional students, encouraging them to make the most of their time at Penn State,” he said.
As the endowment grows, the board hopes to expand the endowment to incorporate Corneal’s enthusiasm for adult learners and nontraditional students by offering two awards every semester, with one recipient being from University Park and the second being a World Campus student, as many online students fall into those categories.
Douglas Teti, distinguished professor of HDFS and head of the HDFS department, expressed his gratitude to the board for its decision to endow this award.
“Sherry was a true educator,” Teti said. “She served as a superb mentor to our undergraduate and graduate students, helping them to connect more fully with their fields of study and forging meaningful connections between students and faculty that, for many, helped launch their careers. She took great joy in her work and was always eager to promote our students in whatever way she could. The Sherry Corneal Award for Outstanding HDFS Student Achievement is a wonderful tribute to her legacy and the generations of students and human development professionals she left behind.”
The HDFS Alumni Group consists of alumni and friends of Penn State who share a common interest in human development. Its mission is to serve the needs of HDFS alumni, students and faculty through advocacy, promotion and developmental support while working to bolster the overall quality and visibility of the department and programs it offers. The board accomplishes this multifaceted mission by providing networking opportunities and student mentoring opportunities that open doors for students and helps with departmental recruitment.
This fall, the HDFS Alumni Group is partnering with Let’s Grow State to expand the new endowment. To make a gift in support of the Sherry Corneal Award for Outstanding HDFS Student Achievement, visit raise.psu.edu/CornealAward.
These contributions 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.