Girio Family Scholarship Established at Penn College

Members of a family well-known in the Williamsport area business community have established another scholarship fund at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

George E. and Patricia B. Girio and Joseph T. and Cheryl B. Girio recently established the Girio Family Scholarship Fund at Penn College. The fund will generate scholarship awards for full-time or part-time students in Penn College's bachelor's degrees in accounting, business administration, information technology or technology management. Students who graduated from high schools in Lycoming County will receive preference for the awards.

The Girio family has been a mainstay in the real estate and insurance business in the Williamsport area since the late 1950s, and the family has had a long association with the college. George E. Girio serves on the Penn College Foundation Board of Directors.

The family previously established a scholarship fund at Penn College in memory of family patriarch and matriarch George and Andonetta Girio, who both passed away in 1987. The George and Andonetta Girio Family Scholarship provides financial assistance for students in the college's horticulture majors in the School of Natural Resources Management or in any major in the School of Hospitality.

"Our family has always had great respect for Penn College and what they do for the community," said George E. Girio. "Since establishing the scholarship in memory of my grandparents, we have enjoyed meeting some of the students who have benefited from those awards and decided we would like to help more students through a second scholarship."

"The Girio family has been very generous to Penn College, and we are appreciative of their desire to continue that support with another scholarship fund," said Robb Dietrich, executive director of the Penn College Foundation. "Building an endowed fund that will generate awards into perpetuity is a fitting legacy for a family with such a rich history in the Williamsport community."

The Girio Family Scholarship Fund will be an endowed (permanent) scholarship fund and will begin generating awards from investment income upon reaching a minimum principal balance of $25,000. The Penn College Foundation is accepting donations to the Girio Family Scholarship Fund by mail at One College Avenue, Williamsport, PA, 17701-5799, or online .

Penn College is a special mission affiliate of The Pennsylvania State University, committed to applied technology education. With more than 6,500 students enrolled in bachelor-degree, associate-degree and certificate majors, Penn College has the second-largest enrollment in the Penn State system.

For more information about any of the college's more than 100 fields of study, visit on the Web , e-mail or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

For more information about establishing a scholarship fund or other ways of making a gift to support Penn College and its students, visit online , call the Institutional Advancement Office toll-free 866-GIVE-2-PC or e-mail .