UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — James Jimirro, distinguished alumnus, media visionary and champion of the arts, has committed $1.5 million to support the College of Arts and Architecture’s School of Theatre, and to rename the school’s Playhouse Theatre as the James P. and AJ Jimirro Playhouse Theatre in the School of Theatre.
The commitment will create an endowment in the School of Theatre that provides permanent support for scholarships, faculty support, professional development and more while bolstering efforts to upgrade the school’s facilities such as the Playhouse Theatre’s dressing rooms and green room.
“I am so proud of Penn State, and I hope this gift can help the University to continue to build a culture that I, and so many others, identify with and believe in,” said Jimirro, who graduated from the University in 1958 with a bachelor of arts degree in TV and radio.
After earning his undergraduate degree at Penn State, and his master’s at Syracuse University, Jimirro moved to New York City in the early 1960s when he landed a job with CBS-TV. He left CBS for an opportunity on the West Coast where he became founding president of both The Disney Channel and Disney Home Video and would later go on to revive the National Lampoon brand.
Throughout his career, he stayed connected to Penn State both philanthropically and in advisory roles. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1985 and has since endowed the James P. Jimirro Professor of Media Effects in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications and the James Jimirro Open for Debate Series, a groundbreaking dialogue series designed to showcase thoughtful, evidence-based discourse on controversial topics and hosted by the Presidential Leadership Academy in the Schreyer Honors College.
With several mass media and communications initiatives well established at Penn State and beyond, Jimirro began to explore other avenues where he could continue to support free speech, communication and expression. One of the first that came to mind was the theater, he said.
His love and admiration for theater dates back to his teenage years at Avonworth High School near Pittsburgh, he said. With roles in several plays and musicals under his belt, Jimirro became a regular on stage — so much so that his English teacher and director of the school’s plays would hand him a new script and say, “Tell me, Jim, what part do you want?”
“Then I went to Penn State and realized that I wasn’t that good an actor after all,” Jimirro joked. “I got weeded out real fast, and that’s when I decided my career would be behind the camera and stage, not in front of them.”
He stayed active in the Penn State Thespians Society during his undergraduate work, and after returning to Penn State to pursue a doctoral degree in the mid-1960s, he would serve as director of the Penn State Thespians Society for a brief period between the tenures of longtime directors Ray Fortunato and Ruth Yeaton.
“Communications was my vocation, but theater was my avocation,” Jimirro said. “I loved them both, but with communications, I really felt like I could do something.”
Throughout his influential career in communications and mass media, Jimirro didn’t stray far from his theater roots. He has long been a supporter of the Great American Songbook, the unofficial canon of popular songs from the early to mid-20th century, and he recently established and is executive producer of the J2 Spotlight Musical Theater Company, which produces an annual series of Broadway Musical revivals in New York. The company is currently preparing for its seventh season.
“It’s been a labor of love,” Jimirro said. “Bringing to a new generation of people these classic shows that I grew up with, that I love and that deserve to be shared and nurtured, has been a delight for me.”
Always looking ahead, Jimirro said he wanted to do more in the theater industry and thought, “What better place than Penn State?”
“From the time I was 4 years old, I was fascinated by anything that has to do with communications. Whether it was mass media or interpersonal communications, I was always astounded by the power and possibilities of one group of people communicating with another group of people,” Jimirro said. “I see theater as one of the highest forms of communication, and that’s why I decided to support the Penn State School of Theatre.”
B. Stephen Carpenter II, Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Dean in the College of Arts and Architecture, said Jimirro’s generosity will shape the experiences of College of Arts and Architecture students for generations while creating new opportunities for learning, artistic growth and professional development.
“Jim is a visionary, and we are deeply grateful for his commitment to the School of Theatre,” Carpenter said. “This gift strengthens our ability to attract and support talented theater artists, designers and technicians, and reinforces our position as a destination and epicenter for creative excellence.”
Kikora Franklin, director of the School of Theatre, said Jimirro’s endowment is a meaningful affirmation of the power of theater and arts to inspire and shape lives and communities.
“We are deeply grateful for Jim’s passion, his belief in our students and his profound commitment to the future of theater at Penn State," Franklin said.
Donors like James Jimirro 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.