HAZLETON, Pa. – Drs. William and Jean Lovrinic have made an estate commitment to Penn State that will establish the Jean and William Lovrinic Scholarship Fund at Penn State Hazleton.
The $100,000 commitment will endow a scholarship for full-time undergraduate students who live in the Hazleton Area School District and have a demonstrated financial need.
“We appreciate the foresight the Lovrinics have given to their estate planning and their decision to remember Penn State Hazleton in their plans," Hazleton Chancellor Gary Lawler said. "Students for years to come will benefit from their generosity.”
William Lovrinic grew up in Hazleton and attended Penn State Hazleton before graduating from the University Park campus in 1958 with a degree in pre-medicine.
“I had excellent teachers at the Hazleton campus who gave me a lot of the habits I needed,” he recalled. “They got me started on the right foot in college, which stayed with me for the next 32 years of my education and career.”
“I wanted to give something back to Penn State and felt that students from the Hazleton area could really use the assistance," Lovrinic said. "My wife and I felt that the best thing to do was to help students who might not otherwise have the chance to get an education. There are so many exciting opportunities that you can have when you have the credentials. “
After earning his bachelor’s degree from Penn State, William Lovrinic attended medical school at Thomas Jefferson University and served an internship at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. He completed his residency as an ear, nose and throat specialist at Temple University. Lovrinic served in the Navy, including a rotation with astronauts from Project Mercury conducting G-force training where he was mentored by Alan Shepard and tours of duty in Okinama and Vietnam as a battalion surgeon with an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. After his time in the military, Lovrinic worked as an otologist in private practice in West Chester until 2000, when he and his wife both retired.
Jean Lovrinic earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Nebraska and her doctorate in audiology from the University of Pittsburgh. She taught as a Temple University faculty member at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine and later as a member of the graduate faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences. She retired as a professor in communication sciences after 34 years on the Temple faculty. The Lovrinics relocated to Sun City, Arizona, in 2015.
The scholarship will advance “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” a focused campaign that seeks to elevate Penn State’s position as a leading public university in a world defined by rapid change and global connections. With the support of alumni and friends, “A Greater Penn State” seeks to fulfill the three key imperatives of a 21st-century public university: keeping the doors to higher education open to hardworking students regardless of financial well-being; creating transformative experiences that go beyond the classroom; and impacting the world by fueling discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. For more information about “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” visit greaterpennstate.psu.edu.
To learn more about giving opportunities at Penn State Hazleton, contact Christen Reese, director of campus development, at 570-450-3015 or [email protected].
