President Eric Barron

Eric J. Barron took the helm of Pennsylvania’s flagship public university on May 12, 2014, arriving from Florida State University, where he had been president for four years. No stranger to Happy Valley, he had previously spent 20 years of his career at Penn State, serving as a faculty member and dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Barron has more than 40 years of leadership experience in academic administration, education, research and public service, and a track record as a talented manager of fiscal policy within large and complex institutions. In recognition of his expertise and leadership in higher education, he served as chairman of the Commission on Economic and Community Engagement (CECE) for the Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU) in 201719.

As leader of Penn State, Barron oversees a research enterprise of more than $1.01 billion and 24 campus locations. His responsibilities include oversight of two law schools, the internationally recognized online educational enterprise known as Penn State World Campus, and a nearly $2 billion health enterprise, including the Penn State College of Medicine, the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and the Penn State Health network, which extends throughout Central Pennsylvania. Penn State’s current enrollment is approximately 97,000 students, and the University boasts the world’s largest dues-paying alumni association in the world. During his tenure as president of Penn State, Barron has prioritized access and affordability; diversity, equity and inclusion; student engagement; economic development; job creation and student career success; technological innovation; and the arts. Under Barron’s leadership, Penn State has achieved record-setting results in the University’s fundraising campaign, A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence. Penn State has now raised more than $1.7 billion of the $2.1 billion goal. Barron’s Invent Penn State initiative supports investment in entrepreneurship and innovation programs, tools and resources that accelerate the movement of great ideas to the marketplace and make a substantial economic development impact in Pennsylvania and beyond. Since its inception in 2015, Invent Penn State has partnered with the University’s campuses across the Commonwealth to open 21 LaunchBox and innovation hubs available to the surrounding communities. These hubs have provided resources to more than 3,325 entrepreneurs, engaged more than 9,360 students in entrepreneurial thinking and startups, graduated 345 startup teams from accelerator programs, resourced 247 product development projects, and created more than 194 new jobs.

Patrick Mansell