Retiring soccer star Ali Krieger joins Jay Paterno on Penn State board of trustees

After an unusually high turnout in the board of trustees election, Penn State alumni are set to see the return of two well-known incumbents to go along with two-time Women’s World Cup champion Ali Krieger.

The three newly alumni-elected trustees include incumbents Anthony Lubrano and Jay Paterno, in addition to Krieger, who ran as a member of the progressive “Penn State Forward” coalition. They will serve 3-year terms, which will officially begin July 1.

Eight candidates ran for the three open seats, with incumbent Alice Pope finishing fourth in the voting. The full results are below:

1. Ali Krieger — 12,141 votes

2. Jay Paterno — 11,745 votes

3. Anthony Lubrano — 10,281 votes

4. Alice Pope — 9,191 votes

5. Uma Moriarity — 9,081 votes

6. Randolph “Randy” Houston, Jr. — 7,865 votes

7. Melinda Kuritzky — 7,067 votes

8. Kevin Carey — 4,605 votes

Some 25,620 ballots were cast, making this the highest turnout since at least 2017. From 2017 to 2022, between 14,500 and 23,500 votes were cast each year.

All three alumni-elected trustees should be familiar to the Penn State community. Paterno, the son of Joe Paterno and the Nittany Lions’ former quarterbacks coach, was first elected in 2017 and has served two terms. Lubrano, president of a financial services and wealth management firm, has served since 2012 and won three elections, taking a two-year break in 2018 for personal reasons. And Krieger, who recently announced her intent to retire from a decorated soccer career after this season, is set to serve her first term. She previously said she hopes to make Penn State more inclusive.

Krieger is the second member of Penn State Forward to earn a seat. Last year, in the coalition’s first time assembling candidates, atmospheric scientist Christa Hasenkopf earned a surprising win.

There are nine alumni-elected trustees with three seats becoming open each year. Overall, the board of trustees consists of 38 members, two of whom — Gov. Josh Shapiro and PSU President Neeli Bendapudi — cannot vote.

Other newly elected/appointed trustees, not voted on by alumni, include incumbents Randall Black and Lynn Dietrich (Agricultural societies), Robert Beard and Karen Quintos (Business and industry), incumbent Matthew Schuyler (at-large), Kevin Schuyler (student) and Kelley Lynch (Immediate past president of the Penn State Alumni Association).

Former State College Borough Councilman (and current council candidate) Evan Myers will also serve as Shapiro’s representative/designee to the trustees.

“In this non-voting position, I will be the eyes and ears of the Governor to relay items to him that arise at board meetings and be able to relay information back to the board when he is unable to attend,” Myers said in a written statement. “As a Penn State alumnus and a resident of State College I regard this position with the special meaning that those two affiliations deserve, understanding the great importance Penn State University has in the Commonwealth and in the success of its students and the broader community.”

Penn State’s 38-member board of trustees is basically broken down into nine distinct groups: nine members elected by alumni, six members appointed by the governor, six members elected by agricultural societies, six members elected by the board representing business and industry, three at-large trustees, one student trustee, one academic trustee and the immediate past president of the Penn State Alumni Association. Five members are also ex-officio by right of their office, including Shapiro, Bendapudi, Secretary of Agriculture Russell C. Redding, acting Secretary of Education Khalid N. Mumin and Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources Cynthia A. Dunn.