Scholar alumnus named Alumni Fellow
10/23/2009
University Park, Pa. – Scholar Alumnus Greg Lucier ’86 Eng and twenty-three other Penn State alumni were honored Oct. 21 for their outstanding professional accomplishments and given the lifelong title of Alumni Fellow, the highest award given by the Penn State Alumni Association.
Lucier is CEO and chairman of the board of Life Technologies, a global biotechnology tools firm in Carlsbad, Calif. The firm supplies tools and equipment to researchers in regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental research, and 21st-century forensics. Life Technologies was formed in 2008 when Lucier led a merger between Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems in a deal valued at more than $6.5 billion. Before the merger, Lucier served as president and CEO of Invitrogen Corp. Prior to joining Invitrogen, Lucier served General Electric in a variety of leadership roles.
The Alumni Fellow program is administered by the Penn State Alumni Association in cooperation with the University's academic colleges, campuses and the Office of the President. Alumni are nominated by a college or campus as leaders in their professional fields and accept an invitation from the president of the University to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty and administrators.
During Lucier’s visit, he met with Scholar recipients of the Life Technologies Scholarship and had lunch with several Scholars majoring in chemical engineering, biology, and science. He also met with several faculty members and attended an honors class, Modern Science, Technology, and Human Values. That night, Lucier joined the other 23 Penn Staters being recognized as Alumni Fellows. Each received a commemorative award. Since the award was established in 1973, just 642 alumni have been honored with the title of Alumni Fellow, designated a permanent and lifelong title by the Penn State Board of Trustees.
