Alumni couple endows scholarships for students from underrepresented communities

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Randy and Patricia “Tish” (nee Rokosz) Wussler, both 1986 Penn State graduates, were raised by parents who believed in the power of a college education.

Tish’s father was a truck driver; her mother was a bookkeeper. Randy’s father was a community banker who drove buses to supplement his family’s income; his mother worked as an administrator at a school for special needs children. None of them earned college degrees, but each wanted better lives for their children. And now the Wusslers, grateful for the Penn State educations their parents made possible, have established scholarships in their honor to ease the way for other students and families.

“When we were growing up, there was never any question we were going to college,” said Randy, who earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology, followed by an MBA from San Diego State University. He recently retired as senior vice president of product management for Green Street, a Newport Beach, California-based research firm concentrating on the commercial real estate industry. “My parents didn’t have degrees, but they strongly believed education would expand our opportunity to make a better life for ourselves and better serve the community.”

“My parents had to work really hard to put my three sisters and me through college,” said Tish, a former mission planner and rocket trajectory analyst for General Dynamics and TASC. She earned her Penn State degree in aerospace engineering. “They worked long hours and borrowed to make my Penn State education possible. It would have been nice if scholarships like these were available to make it easier for them.”

Knowing the challenges their parents had to overcome to cover their educational costs, the Wusslers established the Bernard and Florence Rokosz Endowed Scholarship in the College of Engineering in 2020. The scholarship supports first-generation students and students who contribute to the diversity of the Penn State student body.

Earlier this year, the Wusslers endowed another scholarship, this time in the College of the Liberal Arts. With a $50,000 gift, they established the Donald and Judith Wussler Endowed Scholarship. The parameters for the scholarship mirror those of the Rokosz scholarship.

“Randy and Tish Wussler are a special couple who epitomize Penn State’s spirit and values,” said Clarence Lang, Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts. “Because of their generosity in the College of Engineering and now in the College of the Liberal Arts, more students from underrepresented populations will have access to a Penn State education. I am grateful that the Wusslers understand the importance of making a Penn State education affordable to deserving students, no matter their background.”

A Penn State union

New Jersey natives who grew up less than a half hour from each other, the Wusslers found their way to Penn State through different avenues. Knowing she wanted to major in aerospace engineering, Tish targeted colleges with well-regarded programs that were relatively close to home. Penn State was the perfect fit. Randy was less certain about what he wanted to study but was attracted to the broad educational opportunities available through Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts.

“I viewed a liberal arts degree as a great foundation for many career options,” Randy said. “My Penn State experience taught me to be incredibly adaptable and fostered outstanding critical-thinking skills.”

Even though they had many mutual friends and have since figured out multiple instances when they had been in the same place at the same time, Randy and Tish didn’t meet until the second semester of their junior year. They were introduced by Randy’s roommate, who also happened to be Tish’s study partner. They were married in 1987, just a year after graduating from Penn State.

Today, Randy is a mentor in the Liberal Arts Alumni Mentor Program and recently joined the college’s Alumni Society Board. Tish volunteers for the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. Randy also is an avid endurance athlete. This past April, he biked across the country, with Tish driving the support van ahead of him, raising more than $20,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The couple’s daughter, Lexie, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was eight months old and continues to manage her disease at 26. The couple’s son, Bailey, 24, is a manufacturing engineer.

The Wusslers’ service as well as their recent philanthropic gifts to Penn State are in keeping with the values their parents instilled in them from a young age.

“We worked really hard to make a good life for our kids, but now we’re focusing on giving back,” Randy said. “Like our parents, we believe education is the most important driver of upward mobility. It has the most power to change a person’s life trajectory, but so many young people simply don’t have a path toward higher education. They get stuck, and many of the problems we face as a society are perpetuated as a result. These endowments are our way of making college more of a reality for more people.”

“Penn State is an incredible place,” he concluded. “It molded us and enabled us to do so much with our lives. We hope our giving inspires others to support the University and the causes they’re passionate about.”

With the record-breaking success of “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” which raised $2.2 billion from 2016 to 2022, philanthropy is helping to sustain the University’s tradition of education, research, and service to communities across the commonwealth and around the globe. Scholarships enable our institution to open doors and welcome students from every background, support for transformative experiences allows our students and faculty to fulfill their vast potential for leadership, and gifts toward discovery and excellence help us to serve and impact the world we share. To learn more about the impact of giving and the continuing need for support, visit raise.psu.edu.