Alumnus extends legacy to Schreyer Honors College through Trustee Scholarship

7/19/2007
Arthur Beier, a 1938 Penn State graduate, made no secret that he found visiting his alma mater to be one of the closest things to heaven on earth.

"Penn State was my dad's true love," said his daughter, Amy Barnes, a Gaithersburg, Md., resident and a 1977 graduate of the University's Smeal College of Business. "I think football had a lot to do with it. He once said when he walked back into that stadium, he felt like he was back in college again."

Beier died in June at the age of 91. He made his last trip to State College in April to attend the Blue-White game and the Schreyer Honors College's first-ever Scholars reunion. While the honors college was established nearly 60 years after Beier graduated from Penn State, his affection for and support of the program ran deep. Earlier this year, Beier established the Anna Belle and Arthur R. Beier Trustee Scholarship, the third scholarship funded by Beier to assist students enrolled in the honors college.

At the time he endowed the scholarship with a $50,000 gift, Beier said "it's using the investment return of my Penn State education to help keep America great. Without such help, parents may be unable to provide for the increasingly high cost of good education such as provided by the Schreyer Honors College."

After graduating from Penn State, Beier was employed in aircraft engine research at Wright Aeronautical Corp. and the Navy Engine Laboratory. He earned his pilot's license from Sherman Lutz, one of State College's aviation pioneers. Before being grounded by health and age, many of the trips he made to State College for Penn State's home football games were just a 40-minute commute by private plane from his home in Maryland.

Barnes said that in recent years her father's involvement with Penn State and the Schreyer Honors College brought him a great deal of enjoyment.

"As he got older, he went up there and he was in heaven," Barnes said. "Everyone was so warm. He loved to think of all of those talented students. He most loved the idea of the honors college—that Penn State was attracting bright young people and providing them with an exceptional education."

The Anna Belle and Arthur R. Beier Trustee Scholarship, named after Beier and his late wife, will be awarded to a Schreyer Honors College student who has demonstrated financial need. Preference will be given to Scholars enrolled in the College of Engineering. The first recipients will be named at the start of the fall semester.

The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program is designed to keep a Penn State education accessible to all qualified students, regardless of their financial means. The program has a unique matching component—the University matches 5 percent of the principal of each gift annually and combines these funds with income from the endowment to effectively double the financial impact of the scholarship. Implemented in 2002 upon approval by Penn State's Board of Trustees, the program assisted more than 4,000 students in 2006-07.

"For students with the highest level of need, scholarships such as the one created by Art Beier make the difference between a college education being accessible and affordable or being well beyond reach," said Christian M. M. Brady, dean of the Schreyer Honors College. "When Mr. Beier last visited campus, he met several of our Scholars, and it was plain to see that he took great joy in hearing about the experiences and opportunities they were receiving at Penn State and through the honors college."

This most recent scholarship, along with the two previously endowed by Beier, are a lasting tribute to her father's love of Penn State and his appreciation of the value of education, according to Barnes.

"In my dad's mind, first you gave a child love and then you gave them an education," she said. "My dad felt he had received a wonderful education at Penn State. He just hoped he could make a difference in some young person's life and help them come to Penn State, a place that he loved. If he could help someone get an education and change their life for the good, that's what it was all about for him."

To learn more about the Trustee Matching Scholarship Program, visit http://www.giveto.psu.edu/Trustee.