Former President Establishes Scholarship Fund at Penn College

A former president of Pennsylvania College of Technology's immediate predecessor institution has established an endowed scholarship fund at the college that will encourage student leadership in the community.

Bill Feddersen served as president of Williamsport Area Community College from 1974-80. The Dr. Bill Feddersen Leadership Scholarship Fund he has established at Penn College is open to full-time students in any major who demonstrate academic performance and financial need, with an added requirement that applicants demonstrate leadership within the community either during high school or as a student at the college.

"Through this endowed scholarship I hope to both promote and recognize student leadership, while helping students afford the quality education provided at Penn College," Feddersen said. "I have watched the college continue to grow and develop over the years and am grateful for the opportunity to have served the college during the 1970s."

Feddersen received a master's degree and doctorate in higher education administration from Columbia University and was a founding administrator at Bucks County Community College, where he served as director of admissions and records and assistant to the president from 1965-72. From 1972-74, he served as dean and director of the Clarinda Campus of Iowa Western Community College. Following his tenure as president of W.A.C.C., he led two California community colleges for 22 years, first as president of Napa Valley College from 1980-91, then as president of the largest single-campus California community college, Mt. San Antonio College in Los Angeles County, from 1991 until his retirement in 2002.

Feddersen and his wife, Roberta, reside in Palm Desert, Calif.

"I am most grateful for Dr. Feddersen's support and continued interest in the college and our students," said Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour, whose career at the college dates to Feddersen's tenure as president of W.A.C.C.

Gilmour, who serves in several volunteer leadership positions in the Greater Williamsport area, noted the scholarship's requirement that applicants demonstrate leadership in the community: "By encouraging community leadership, Dr. Feddersen is once again exerting a very positive influence on students at this institution while demonstrating his commitment to educating the whole student."

Penn College is a special mission affiliate of The Pennsylvania State University, committed to applied technology education. For more information, visit online , email or call toll-free 800-367-9222.

For more information about making a gift to support Penn College and its students, visit on the Web , call the Institutional Advancement Office toll-free at 866-GIVE-2-PC, or email .