Before they announced their largest gift to Penn State to date, Gene and Roz Chaiken, Wynnewood residents, were already named Penn State’s Philanthropists of the Year for 2021, writes Susan Burlingame for the Penn State News.

That is one of the reasons why their latest donation came as an unexpected but welcomed surprise one day before Penn State’s 2021 holiday break. The donation is their largest gift to date and it dramatically increases the Chaiken Family Trustee Scholarship endowment for the College of the Liberal Arts. It also made the pair the school’s largest ever scholarship donors.

While they asked to that the amount of their gift be kept confidential, their support will ensure that future generations of liberal arts students will get the opportunity to afford a Penn State education, which is what always mattered most to the Chaikens.

“Gene and Roz Chaiken are an extraordinary couple,” said Penn State President Eric Barron. “Motivated by a profound desire to give more students access to a Penn State education, they have been generous beyond compare.”

As of December 2021, the Chaiken Trustee Scholarships has awarded 987 student scholarships totaling about $6.2 million.

Read more about Gene and Roz Chaiken in the Penn State News.

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Faculty, students, and the deans describe the impact of the generosity of Roz and Gene Chaiken, and Tracy and Ted McCourtney in this video from PSLAalumni.