This week's top stories from across Penn State:
30 UNDER 30: Three Penn Staters were among individuals recognized in Forbes' 30 Under 30 list for 2017.
WORLD CAMPUS RANKING: Penn State World Campus has been recognized as a high-quality online institution by U.S. News and World Report.
STRATEGIC PLAN: As the University implements its long-range strategic plan that provides a vision for Penn State's future, a series of public forums will take place to gather ideas on putting the plan into action. Faculty, staff and students are invited to participate in these forums, starting with "Stewarding Our Planet's Resources" on Jan. 23.
DIGGING DEEPER: The best practices for and challenges facing student entrepreneurs and small business owners will be discussed during the next episode of WPSU Penn State's "Digging Deeper" with Penn State President Eric Barron. The show will premiere at 11:30 a.m. Jan. 15 on WPSU-TV.
DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORS: Fifteen Penn State faculty members have been honored with the title of "distinguished professor" in recognition of their academic contributions to the University.
TOMATILLOS: Delicate fossil remains of tomatillos found in Patagonia, Argentina, show that this branch of the economically important family that also includes potatoes, peppers, tobacco, petunias and tomatoes existed 52 million years ago, long before the dates previously ascribed to these species, according to an international team of scientists.
$20M DOE GRANT: Penn State researchers and a team from Stanford University will receive $20 million in funding over five years from the U.S. Department of Energy to create a state-of-the-art framework of computational tools that will help assess the impacts of weather-related variability and change.
VOLUMETRICS: The Volumetrics diet, created by nutritional sciences faculty member Barbara Rolls, has been ranked No. 2 for weight loss out of 38 diets in U.S. News & World Report's Best Diets of 2017.
LITERAL LIFE SAVER: 1984 Penn State alumnus John Hyde became a literal life saver by donating his kidney to Alex Reed, who graduated from Penn State Altoona.
$3.6M PLANT GRANT: A $3.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation will support a new research project aimed at pinpointing the genes that confer disease resistance in cacao. The ultimate goal of the four-year study is to develop a new approach that plant scientists and breeders can use to identify the genetic basis for disease resistance in a variety of perennial crops.
PENN STATE HARRISBURG LOVE STORY: For Thomas and Kathleen Kuhn, Penn State Harrisburg remains very much at the center of the couple's romance and lives since graduating from college in 1972.