UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State graduates Diane and Mike Katzaman had a tough row to hoe along their journeys to enrolling and graduating from Penn State. As an aspiring horticulturist in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Diane was navigating an agricultural subfield still dominated by men, while Mike, the son of a stonemason, struggled to forge a different path for himself and fulfill his educational ambitions.
“Penn State eventually came into focus as a place where I could pursue my interest in computers and gain access to experiences and career opportunities that weren’t available in my hometown,” Mike said.
Now, after reflecting on the array of obstacles they faced to earning their degrees, the Lancaster-based couple have come forward with a $3 million estate commitment designed to lower financial barriers for students and provide the support they need to thrive academically and flourish within the campus community. The gift, which reorganizes and reallocates previous endowments alongside $1 million in new giving, has been designated to support three key areas.
- $1.4 million will be directed to the College of Agricultural Sciences to address two priorities. The Diane Malcolm and Michael E. Katzaman Scholarship will provide support to students in the college with demonstrated financial need, and the Diane Malcolm and Michael E. Katzaman Office of Access and Equity Program Fund will offer discretionary program support geared toward ensuring accessible, equitable opportunities and fostering an inclusive community, with expenditures that may include support for students from underrepresented communities, first-generation programming, conference travel, hands-on workshops, student professional development, peer-to-peer tutoring and graduate student programming.
- $1.4 million will be designated for the Office of the Vice Provost for Educational Equity, where it will establish two endowments. The Diane Malcolm and Michael E. Katzaman Pipeline and Success Fund will help to build a diverse and inclusive student body through Upward Bound, Talent Search and Office of Scholars Programs. The Diane Malcolm and Michael E. Katzaman Educational Equity Program Fund will provide discretionary funding for programming and scholarships aligned with Educational Equity’s strategic priorities. These endowments will work in tandem to broaden the pipeline of incoming students and ensure they receive robust resources and community support once they are enrolled.
- $200,000 will be channeled to the Diane Malcolm and Michael E. Katzaman First-Generation Student Fund at Penn State Berks in order to support initiatives that contribute to the success of first-generation students through programs like the Tri-Alpha Honor Society, the Aspiring Scholars Program and related events and programming.
“Mike and Diane recognize that a Penn State education doesn’t just occur within the walls of a classroom but also through immersion in campus organizations and culture,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, executive vice president and provost. “Their inspiring generosity is helping to establish new springboards to access these hands-on opportunities and to ensure that every student can fulfill their full potential, regardless of financial background.”
A native of Arlington, Virginia, Diane Malcolm Katzaman participated in the Horticulture Club as a student and graduated from Penn State in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in horticulture. She worked for several years as a Penn State Extension agriculture educator in Bucks County. After obtaining an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania, she spent many years in information technology and health care marketing positions. Upon her retirement in 2015, she became a Penn State Extension Master Gardener in Berks County.
Diane said she inherited her love of gardening from her mother and grandfathers, but her eventual success was hard-won as she struggled to break into a field where women remained rare.
“I finally settled for my first job working at a greenhouse making minimum wage — and I was angry,” she said. “I had the same credentials, the same knowledge as my male counterparts, but the doors weren’t open to me. Part of our motivation for creating pathways to career mobility is so young people today don’t run into some of the obstacles we faced.”
Michael “Mike” Katzaman, a native of Reading and first-generation college student, began his college career at Penn State Berks before graduating from Penn State in 1973 with a degree in computer science. In 1976, he completed an MBA at Drexel University and went on to a successful career in technology, working in management positions for General Electric and MCI Inc., among other industry leaders. He retired in 2003.
Along the way, he said, he found creative workarounds to get past roadblocks. As a computer science major, he convinced an administrator he’d already completed his foreign language requirement by mastering two esoteric computer languages, and he accelerated his transition to University Park by lobbying to gain access to the latest computer technology. Once there, however, he not only excelled at academics but also immersed himself in the campus culture as a member of the Penn State Blue Band; president of his fraternity, Tau Epsilon Phi; and leader on the Penn State Interfraternity Council.
“It’s as a leader in these campus organizations that I got my real education in finance, HR [human resources] and legal matters — and at a breakneck pace,” he said. “You learn things by being thrust in the thick of it. Diane and I designed our gift to make sure students with the drive and ambition to come to Penn State have access to resources to make that happen — and then can find organizations that galvanize them with a purpose. We need to keep building new pipelines to funnel students from lower-income households and underrepresented communities into the system, where they can compete and thrive alongside their peers.”
In April, Mike will be elevated to a seat on the Educational Equity Advisory board, where he will work to promote inclusive and equitable educational opportunities for historically underrepresented and underserved groups across Penn State.
“At the heart of Mike and Diane’s educational journeys is a remarkable resilience through adversity and a determination to gain access to a world-class education that would serve as a launchpad for their careers,” said Seria Chatters, interim vice provost for Educational Equity. “What’s truly inspiring about their story is that after all they’ve accomplished in their professional lives they are now building permanent ladders for aspiring Penn State students to ease their ascent to success. On behalf of all of the units where their generosity is poised to have an extraordinary impact, I thank them for their visionary leadership and for the inspiring example they’ve set for other alumni and friends.”
The Katzamans’ estate commitment builds on their already extensive philanthropic legacy at Penn State, which includes gifts to the Penn State Fund for Educational Equity, the Underserved Students Program Fund in the Eberly College of Science, the First Generation Program at Penn State Berks, the Pasto Agricultural Museum at Penn State, the Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm, and an array of other programs and causes across the University.
For her part, Diane marvels at how horticulture and agriculture more broadly now permeate the Penn State experience of students from a broad swath of academic areas.
“Horticulture was once bracketed off in a corner, but now you see student volunteers from every academic background volunteering at the student farm, where they’re learning about insects and seasonal cycles and building supply chains and transporting produce to food pantries,” she said. “It’s these hands-on, collaborative experiences that make Penn State so special, and our hope is that our gift keeps opening new pathways to experiences likes these.”
Donors like Mike and Diane Katzaman 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.