Penn State's Old Main on May 3, 2024. Photo by Geoff Rushton | StateCollege.com
Former Nittany Lion football players swept the three Penn State Board of Trustees seats up for election by alumni this spring as results were announced at Friday’s full board meeting.
Incumbent Brandon Short (17,083 votes) won a third term, while Matt McGloin (15,064) and Carl Nassib (13,274) each were elected to their first terms. They outpaced incumbents Alvin de Levie and Steve Wagman, who were both seeking their second term.
Incumbents also won reelection for the seats representing agricultural societies, business and industry, at-large trustee and academic trustee.
Short is a 1999 graduate with a degree in marketing from the Smeal College of Business. An All-American and two-time captain for the Penn State football team, Short played for seven years in the NFL. After earning an MBA from Columbia University, he worked in real estate investment and Middle East banking for Goldman Sachs, served as mergers and acquisitions director at Round Hill Capital in London and, since 2021, has been a portfolio manager for PGIM Real Estate. He is currently vice-chair of the Board of Trustees Committee on Equity and Human Resources. Short resides in Edgewater, New Jersey.
McGloin is a 2012 graduate with a degree in broadcast journalism. He went from walk-on to starting quarterback for the Nittany Lion football team, setting records for career passing touchdowns and single-season passing yards. McGloin spent seven years playing in the NFL and XFL and founded the Matt McGloin Foundation to support the health and well-being of children, young adults and veterans. In November, McGloin was elected to the three-member Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners. He resides in Waverly, Lackawanna County.
Nassib is a 2015 graduate with a degree in biology. Starting out as a walk-on for the Penn State football team, he became an All-American defensive end, winning the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Nagurski and Lombardi awards in his final season. He spent seven years in the NFL, making history in 2021 when he became the league’s first openly gay active player. After retiring in 2023, he founded a tech start-up, Rayze, to connect nonprofits with young philanthropists; works with Financial Finesse to promote financial independence for athletes; serves on the board of the United Way of Chester County and collaborates with various organizations, including The Trevor Project. He resides in West Chester, Chester County.
Nine of the 38 Penn State Board of Trustees members are elected by alumni to staggered three-year terms, with three seats up for election each year. When the new trustees take office July 1, five of the nine seats will be held by former Nittany Lion athletes, including former football player and assistant coach Jay Paterno and former women’s soccer player Ali Krieger.
In other trustee elections, Donald Cairns and Chris Hoffman were reelected by delegates of agricultural societies.
Cairns is a 1988 Penn State alumnus who owns and operates the 1,600-acre crop farming operation Cairns Family Farm in Chester County and spent 35 years as a professional risk management consultant. Hoffman, who has been recognized as Pig Farmer of the Year by the National Pork Board, owns and operates Lazy Hog Farm and Lazy Chick Farm in Juniata County.
Robert Fenza and Mary Lee Schneider were re-elected as trustees representing business and industry.
Fenza, who has received the university Alumni Fellow Award and was named Fundraising Volunteer of the Year in 2012, is a 1980 Penn State graduate and the retired chief operating officer of Liberty Property Trust. Schneider, a 1984 Penn State graduate and Alumni Fellow, has held senior leadership roles in public and private companies in the publishing, printing and educational services industries
Julia Potts was re-elected as at-large trustee. Potts, who received the university’s Honorary Alumni Award this year, is president and CEO of the North American Meat Institute and serves on the board of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.
Nicholas Rowland was re-elected as academic trustee. A distinguished professor of sociology at Penn State Altoona, Rowland has received the university’s Excellence in Classroom Teaching Award, the Grace D. Long Award for Faculty Excellence and the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is also a current member and past chair of the University Faculty Senate.
