Verizon Executive, Warren Natives Establish Trustee Scholarship
Warren County students given first preference
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| Wendy and Daniel Mead |
Four Warren County students have been awarded the first Daniel S. and Wendy J. Mead Trustee Scholarships at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. The Meads, who are Warren County natives, provided a $100,000 gift to establish the scholarship, which gives first preference to students from Warren County.
“The Penn State experience provided a strong foundation for me to participate in the historic growth of the telecommunications industry,” said Mead, president of Verizon Services Corp. “I appreciate the opportunity to now support talented Penn State students who are preparing to excel in their chosen professions.”
“We’re thankful for the Meads’ generosity and I’m confident our students from Warren County will be successful in their educational pursuits,” said Chancellor Jack Burke. “Trustee matching scholarships are a key component to the financial assistance that we are able to provide to Penn State Behrend students.”
Launched in 2002, the Trustee Matching Scholarship program is part of an effort by Penn State to secure private support University-wide for new undergraduate scholarships. This scholarship program has a unique matching component to maximize these efforts—the University matches the income from the gift annually, doubling the financial impact of the scholarship.
The first Mead Trustee Scholarships were awarded this month for the spring 2008 semester to Victor Hodak, a sophomore from Warren, and freshmen Cody Brown from Tidioute, Kaisy Kafferlin from Spring Creek, and Joel Mason from Youngsville. Currently Penn State Behrend has 113 Warren County students enrolled in its academic programs.
According to Burke, the positive response to establishing trustee matching scholarships has accounted for a large amount of growth in scholarship aid—growth that assisted the college in granting more than $1 million worth of Penn State Behrend-specific scholarships during the 2006-07 academic year. In addition to trustee matching scholarships, these include endowments, annual gifts, the Chancellor’s Scholarship Program, and a host of academic-, leadership-, merit-, and need-based scholarships. To date, Penn State Behrend has already awarded more than $1 million in student aid for the 2007-08 academic year.
A leader in the telecommunications industry, Mead is president of Verizon Services Corp. (VSO), a multi-billion dollar business group that manages finance operations, real estate, and supply chain services for all of Verizon. VSO employs 10,000 people, operates 155 million square feet of real estate, procures $35 billion of goods and services, and processes $160 billion in transactions annually.
Mead’s career in telecommunications began in 1978 at GTE Sylvania in Warren, where he still keeps a home. His leadership role at Verizon began as one of the founding senior executives responsible for launching Verizon Wireless in July 2000 where he helped to build it into the industry’s leading wireless company. From March 2001 to October 2005, Mead was president of the corporation’s Midwest area, a 15-state region that stretches from Pennsylvania to the Dakotas and from Minnesota to Kentucky. In this role, he managed all wireless operations, including 12 million customers, 10,000 employees and 460 retail locations.
Mead holds two Penn State degrees, an M.B.A. and a bachelor’s degree in quantitative business analysis and finance. Most recently, he was named to the Penn State Behrend Council of Fellows, which is composed of community and business leaders who advise the college’s leadership on strategic planning issues with particular emphasis on regional needs and economic development.
He and his wife, Wendy, are graduates of Warren Area High School.
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, is a comprehensive residential college offering 33 baccalaureate, six associate, four pre-professional and two graduate degree programs with 22 minors to more than 4,000 students. Focused on providing a student-centered environment, Penn State Behrend is the link that connects its students to a major research and land-grant institution on a campus enriched by more than 110 clubs and organizations, 21 NCAA varsity teams, 19 intramural sports and modern facilities. For more information, visit behrend.psu.edu.