Submit Your Alumni Note
Share your professional, educational, or personal achievements or milestones with your fellow alumni. Please provide a photo and links to articles or posts if applicable.
Submit Your Alumni Note2013 • Advertising/Public Relations
Maddy Pryor
accepted a position as social media manager at Bloomberg Philanthropies, working out of the company's New York City office on the Upper East Side.
Note posted: October 15, 2026
2018 • Advertising/Public Relations
Nicole Miao
assumed the role of data science manager, omni-channel engagement analytics, at Nordstrom.
Note posted: October 15, 2026
1997 • Journalism
Lisa Walkiewicz
was honored as Penn State Lehigh Valley recognized alumni during its Alumni Awards Ceremony.
The Sept. 29 event celebrated professional achievement, community service and support for student success.
Walkiewicz is president and chief executive officer of Via of the Lehigh Valley, a Bethlehem nonprofit serving more than 1,200 children and adults with disabilities annually. She joined Via in 2007 and became CEO in 2019, helping guide its growth from $2 million to $12 million. Working with Via’s leadership team, she helped develop an employee engagement initiative that reduced direct support professional turnover to less than half the national average and earned the 2026 national Moving Mountains Award.
She also received The Morning Call’s 2026 Top Workplaces Leadership Award.
Walkiewicz was the marketing chairperson for the 1997 Penn State Dance Marathon, a member of Parmi Nous Senior Honor Society, Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society, Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and Golden Key Honor Society.
She lives in Macungie, Pennsylvania, with her husband Mike, and daughters Emma and Samantha. Samantha, a fourth-generation Penn Stater, is a junior at Penn State.
Note posted: October 05, 2026
1981 • Advertising/Public Relations
Diane Corcoran Makgill
was appointed creative director for the Raleigh Lace Museum in North Carolina. She owns 3D by D Designs, an interior design firm that specializes in restaurants and custom homes along the East Coast.
Note posted: September 28, 2026
2002 • Advertising/Public Relations
Lisa Marzka
was named director of development and alumni relations for the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
Note posted: September 28, 2026
2001 • Advertising/Public Relations
Lauren Steinberg
started a new role on June 1, 2026 as vice president, colleges, campuses and units in the Division of Development and Alumni Relations at Penn State.
Note posted: September 28, 2026
1985 • Telecommunications
Joseph Lello
retired after 35 years as a public school teacher, the last 25 years as an English as a Second Language teacher in the Pittston (Pa.) School District
Note posted: September 21, 2026
2010 • Advertising/Public Relations
Shira Mahler
is head of communications at GeneDx, a leader in genomic medicine helping families with rare disease find answers faster.
Mahler leads corporate communications and reputation as GeneDx works to help children with conditions including autism, epilepsy and developmental delays uncover the precise genetic cause of their condition, opening the door to more personalized care, targeted treatments and precision medicine. Mahler has helped elevate GeneDx’s mission and patient stories nationally, building awareness of how an earlier, accurate genetic diagnosis can change the trajectory of a child’s life.
Note posted: September 21, 2026
1981 • Print Journalism
RIch Scarcella
won his 20th Keystone Media Award earlier this year, receiving honorable mention in the sports breaking news/live event category for his coverage of the Penn State football team's upset loss to Northwestern.
Also, he received his first Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Award of Excellence this year for Outstanding Radio Coverage of a Local Sporting Event, the 2025 PIAA Class 4A boys basketball title game for WEEU-AM/830. He also was an analyst for the PIAA Radio Network this year for all six boys basketball state championship games in March and four high school baseball title games in June.
Note posted: September 04, 2026
1999 • Journalism
Laurie A. Roth
was recently elected to the executive board of the Municipal Clerks' Association of New Jersey (MCANJ). The Municipal Clerks' Association of New Jersey has been around for 100 years.
The objectives of the MCANJ are to promote educational training in the municipal clerk industry, a better understanding of the official duties and obligations of its members, and insofar as possible set up uniform methods of procedures in New Jersey municipalities.
Roth works as the borough administrator/municipal clerk for Allentown, New Jersey, in Monmouth County for the last decade.ectives of the Municipal Clerks' Association of New Jersey are to promote education and training in the Municipal Clerks' industry, a better understanding of the official duties and obligation of its members, and insofar as possible to set up uniform methods of procedures in New Jersey municipalit
The objectives of the Municipal Clerks' Association of New Jersey are to promote education and training in the Municipal Clerks' industry, a better understanding of the official duties and obligation of its members, and insofar as possible to set up uniform methods of procedures in New Jersey municipalities.
Note posted: August 03, 2026
1985 • Telecommunications
Joseph Lello
retired in June after 35 years as a public school teacher — the last 25 years as an English as a Second Language teacher in the Pittston Area School District.
Note posted: August 03, 2026
2005 • Journalism
Laura Michalski
was promoted to deputy head of print at The Washington Post in 2026, helping lead a team of editors and designers who fully own print production, planning and strategy. She was previously a senior copy editor and has worked at The Post since 2017.
Note posted: August 03, 2026
2020 • Film-Video
Katie Gergel
wrote and sold a Survivor-inspired romcom novel titled "Worth Playing For" that will be published with Penguin Random House in spring of 2027.
Note posted: August 03, 2026
2006 • Film-Video
Tyler H. Walk
and classmate Chris Chandler ('06) both had films screen as part of this year's Sundance Film Festival. Walk was an editor on "Who Killed Alex Odeh?" and Chandler was an editor on "The Musical." "Who Killed Alex Odeh?"
Note posted: August 03, 2026
2004 • Broadcast Journalism
Amy Barrickman
released a book, "The Living Room Design Formula," that became a No. 1 new release on Amazon in Interior Design & Decorating Books. The book is designed to help everyday homeowners create beautiful, functional living spaces using a clear, approachable system that removes the overwhelm from decorating.
Note posted: August 03, 2026
2022 • Telecommunications
Courtney Rowland
is a martech operations analyst for an industry leader in B2B data analytics and integration. Bottom- and top-line focused, she supports go-to-market strategy, shareholder reporting and sales enablement across global sales and marketing organizations. She partners with over 40 global sales teams and regional leaders to enable and align AI-driven prospecting at scale.
Prior to entering tech, Rowland built her foundation in business operations and cross-functional execution through corporate fashion roles at Free People and Saks Fifth Avenue. At Free People, she worked in sourcing and procurement, where she supported contract negotiation, overseas production timing, and vendor communication.
Rowland's first job post-grad was at Saks Fifth Avenue, where she excelled on the ecommerce sample management team supporting the buying office in finalizing purchase orders. She is is grateful for the flexibility of her communications degree, positioning her to seamlessly pivot from retail to tech. She is forever grateful to Bellisario College professors, naming Anne Hoag and David Norloff as pivotal in her succsess.
Note posted: August 03, 2026
1981 • Journalism
Katy Koontz
editor-in-chief of "Spirituality & Health: A Unity Publication," accepted the trophy for Print Magazine of the Year at the 2025 Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards in New York City last October. The publication is a hybrid of Unity Magazine and Spirituality & Health, created in January 2024 when Unity purchased S&H. Before that, Koontz was editor-in-chief of "Unity Magazine," which consistently won various Folio: honors for both editorial and design over the ten-year period she was editor. In 2019, Koontz was named to the Folio: 100. The Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards have been one of the most prestigious recognition programs in the publishing industry for more than 30 years.
Note posted: August 03, 2026
2016 • Advertising/Public Relations
Robert Strang
has joined the WP Intelligence team a senior sales executive, where he’ll oversee revenue for new membership councils and professional subscriptions the Washington Post plans to launch early next year.
Strang brings to us a strong history of building high end membership products at The Wall Street Journal, where he was sales lead for the WSJ Executive Membership products, helping grow the CEO Council and several other councils at WSJ.
WP Intelligence is the name given to the Post's new professional products business, which will have both a membership tier and a professional subscription, built around several topic verticals planned to launch in 2025. Strang will work across the company's Growth and Client Solutions teams and help build his own sales operation to create a revenue pipeline for growing this new suite of products.
A native New Yorker, Strang started his career at the Journal where he worked for the Corporate Communications team for WSJ's parent company, Dow Jones. From there, he joined the Memberships Team where he helped build out WSJ's Executive Membership product, including the creation of The CMO Network and expansion of The CEO Council.
He later moved to WSJ's Live Journalism team where he built out their strategic partnerships and sponsorships. During this time WSJ nearly doubled their sponsorship revenue and regained its foothold internationally as a top brand for business leaders around the world. In 2022, he moved to Google, where he worked as a Strategist for the Google Customer Solutions team. He returned to The Wall Street Journal in July of 2023, where he was C-Suite Sales Lead for The Journal's Executive Memberships
Strang graduated from Penn State and has an M.B.A. from Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business with a concentration in media. He is the chair of The Emerging Leaders Council at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business and sits on the Ad/PR Network board of Penn State University’s Bellisario College of Communications.
Note posted: October 15, 2024
1981 • Journalism
Mark Tosh
Mark Tosh (‘81 Journ) is working as a ranger/starter at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island, S.C., after retiring from WebMD, where he had worked with the Jobson Health division since 2016. He previously held reporting positions with The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.),The Montgomery Journal (Rockville, Md.) and Women’s Wear Daily in its Paris office.
Note posted: October 13, 2024
2006 • Journalism
Michael V. Pettigano
earned the 2023 Associated Press Sports Editors contest Excellence in Video honor for "The Athlete of the Week Story" at NorthJersey.com and The Bergen Record. This is his second consecutive APSE Excellence in Video honor.
-https://www.northjersey.com/st...
-https://apsportseditors.com/20...
Note posted: February 28, 2024
