Facts and Figures

Zaryab Iqbal assumes role as Schreyer Honors College associate dean

Schreyer Honors College named Dr. Zaryab Iqbal as its new associate dean on January 3, 2022. An international relations expert and a veteran educator and administrator, Iqbal brings a global approach and a fresh perspective to the College’s leadership.

Iqbal holds a doctorate in political science and has been on the College of the Liberal Arts faculty at Penn State for 14 years. With administrative roles both at Penn State and at the National Science Foundation also on her resume, Iqbal will help lead Schreyer Scholars from across the University who come from a wide range of disciplines and have varying co-curricular interests.

“I’m most excited about this opportunity [as associate dean] because of my longstanding interest in interdisciplinary approaches to academic outcomes,” said Iqbal. “Schreyer Honors College is a space within Penn State in which we are trying to harness the strengths of all colleges, all disciplines, and all campuses. That effort, by necessity, calls for an interdisciplinary approach.”

During her time at Penn State, Iqbal has developed an understanding of the resources and complexities that come with the University’s size, she said. Now, as an administrator, she plans to take an engaged approach to grasp how those complexities impact Schreyer.

“I want to ramp up efforts for faculty outreach, both at University Park and the Commonwealth Campuses, because each college is unique, and there are even additional differences among departments within colleges,” Iqbal said. “So, I am planning a listening tour of colleges and campuses to understand their particular needs.”

Iqbal’s work will focus heavily on academic affairs, student programming, and admissions. She explained that she has crafted her goals and strategies for the position around what she calls the “Schreyer Promise.”

“My purpose is to help the College deliver exceptional academic outcomes for all of our Scholars,” Iqbal noted. “When we talk about exceptional outcomes, the focus is on student success.

“Going forward, I will seek opportunities to be directly involved in Schreyer’s processes for enhancing student success and access,” she continued. “By removing barriers to goal achievement through addressing financial needs, incorporating inclusive practices, and helping students engage with the University community, both socially and academically, Schreyer can deliver on its promise.”

Iqbal is not alone in bringing fresh ideas, goals and strategies to the college’s leadership team. Patrick Mather was appointed dean in June 2021, and began his role on Aug.16 following the retirement of former dean Peggy A. Johnson. Iqbal said that the dynamic between her and Mather has been very collaborative.

“Pat and I talk frequently and think about strategies to combine our respective strengths to enhance various aspects of the Scholars’ experiences,” she said. “We enjoy talking about the new directions in which we could take Schreyer.”

No matter where those new directions lead, said Iqbal, she and Mather will work to continue to deliver on the Honors College’s mission of promoting academic excellence with integrity, building a global perspective, and creating opportunities for leadership and civic engagement

In particular, Iqbal draws on her experience at the National Science Foundation to help impart leadership lessons, she said.

“My work at the NSF showcased to me the importance of communicating the value of science to a diverse range of stakeholders,” she said. “The true contribution of science lies in its societal impact and support for scientific endeavors at all levels necessitates scientists’ ability to communicate their work to broad audiences clearly.

“To that end, I am committed to efforts that will help Schreyer Scholars build the skills needed to speak across disciplines and professions,” Iqbal continued. “Whatever venue our Scholars pursue in their careers, effective communication will be critical to their success.”

As a researcher, Iqbal’s time has been dedicated to international relations, focusing on the consequences of militarized conflict, issues related to political violence, and state failure. She credited her interest in that field of study to an experience from her teenage years; in high school she took a course in world history that had a section on World War II and the Holocaust, and that introduced her to the concept of genocide.

“I decided that I wanted to pursue higher education in a field that would help me understand how violent conflict impacts ordinary people and civilians,” she said.

For Scholars, and students at large, who are discovering and pursuing their professional interests at Penn State, Iqbal said that if something speaks to them at an emotional level, they should not disregard that feeling.

“They should always be open to pursuing what they feel passionately about,” she added. “When we feel passionately about something, we are in a much better position to make a long-term commitment to that.”

Mr. William bogdan, attorney at law, Hinshaw and Culbertson, LLP

Mr. Mark bowser, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Cox Automotive

Mr. William Donato Jr., president and chief operating officer, Safegard Group, Inc.

Mr. Robert Edwards, retired executive vice president, PNC Bank; vice-chairman, External Advisory Board

Mr. Charlie frazier, treasurer, BDR Properties, Inc.

Ms. linda Gall

Mr. arthur Glenn, retired vice president, General Electric Company

Ms. lisa Hart, senior vice president, Commercial Real Estate, M&T Bank

Mr. Reginald Hedgebeth, chief legal officer, Capital Group American Funds

Mr. Edward Hintz, president, Hintz Capital Management

Mr. Thomas lindquist, senior vice president /general manager for government programs, Medica

Mr. Todd H. lippincott, vice president, Global Rewards, Mars

Ms. Melissa Marshall, chief compliance officer, Westinghouse Electric Corporation Mr. Edward Marx, executive director, Enterprise Analytics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Mr. Nathan Nair, neurosurgery residency director and associate professor, Georgetown University Hospital

Mr. Ryan Newman, managing director, Goldman, Sachs & Co. Ms. Carol Packard, associate vice president, colleges and units— alumni affairs and development, Cornell University

Mr. Robert Poole, president and CEO, S&A Homes, Inc.; CEO, Poole Anderson Construction; chairman, External Advisory Board

Mr. Mark Prybutok, managing director, GI Partners

Mr. Rick Riegel, chairman, Actigraph & Deerfield Agency

Ms. Tracy Riegel

Mr. brian Schmanske, president, Jupiter View Strategic Advisors, LLC

Ms. Drueanne Schreyer, president, BDR Properties, Inc.

Ms. Sarah Shaffer, rates manager, Equitrans Midstream Corporation

Mr. andrew Sieg, head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch Ms. Kristin Smith, senior vice president and chief counsel, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

Mr. Stephen Snyder, retired managing partner, Accenture (Comms/High Tech/Energy)

Mr. brian Stern, president, Fairpointe Wealth Partners, LLC

Ms. Kathryn Sutton, retired partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Mr. Tony Talbert, partner, The Shidler Group,

Mr. Joseph Versaggi, senior vice president— real estate, Washington Capital Management

Mr. David Wagner, president and chief executive officer, Everbridge

Mr. Edward Weber, senior vice president and CFO, MLB Advanced Media, LP

Mr. James Wiggins, retired managing director, Morgan Stanley & Co.

Mr. Christopher Wilson, senior associate, Baker Botts, LLP

Mr. Thomas Wilson, managing partner, Frederickson Partners

Ms. brenna Wist, retired partner, KPMG

Mr. Jack Yoskowitz, litigation partner, Seward & Kissel, LLP

SCHolaR alUMNI SoCIETY boaRD

Ms. alayna auerbach ’15 Bus, management consultant, MBO; chair, student engagement committee

Dr. Samuel b. bonsall IV ’04 Lib, ’04g Bus, ’12g Bus, Deloitte & Touche Teaching Excellence Professor in Accounting, Penn State Smeal College of Business

Mr. brian J. Ellis ’02 Lib, vice president, senior legal counsel, Fidelity Investments (Fidelity Institutional)

Ms. lori feathers ’90 Lib, co-owner and book buyer, Interabang Books

Mr. Nikolai foreman ’14 Bus, director, environmental markets research, Green Trading Capital

Ms. olivia francois ’14 Agr, test developer, Cambium Assessment

Ms. asia Grant ’17 Bus, founder, Redoux Mr. brian J. Harkless ’95 Eng, command property officer, NAVAIR; chair, alumni engagement and membership committee

Mr. John Hemmer ’03 Eng, patent attorney and partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Mr. basel Kayyali ’96 Eng, senior partner, McKinsey & Company

Ms. Natalie Keller ’17 Agr, food scientist, La Colombe Coffee Roasters; president, Scholar Alumni Society

Ms. Eleni Kornblatt ’98 Bus, executive director, global marketing-HPV vaccines, Merck and Co.; co-chair, career development and mentorship committee

Dr. Kristin a. lambert ’14 Agr, ’19g, ’21g Medicine, pediatric resident physician, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

Mr. Jared Edgar McKnight ’11 A&A, ’11 Lib, senior associate and designer, WRT Design Mr. Michael o’Connor ’05 Eng, senior counsel, Kraken Cryptocurrency Exchange; co-chair, career development and mentorship committee

Dr. aleks Radovic-Moreno ’05 Eng, partner, Longwood Fund

Mr. aryath Narayanamangalam ’23 Eng, president, Schreyer Student Council

Ms. Emily Kowey Roth ’12 Lib, associate general counsel, Aramark

Mr. Nikhil Shekher ’16 Bus, technology investment banking associate, Jeffries

Ms. Kathryn Pruss Zeltwanger ’98 Lib, deputy general counsel, Armstrong Group; vice-president, Scholar Alumni Society

In her formative years, Himani Vommi envisioned a future where she worked in medicine. Those plans shifted, however, when she attended her high school’s STEM outreach program. One workshop set Vommi on a path that led her to present her undergraduate research at a national cybersecurity conference.

“The workshop was called ‘Girls Exploring Tomorrow’s Technology’ where the speaker was a woman in computer science,” Vommi said. “She made me believe that I could do that, too.”

A spring 2022 Schreyer Honors College alumna who studied at Penn State Brandywine, Vommi earned her bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity analytics and operations. She credits Andy Landmesser, assistant teaching professor in information sciences and technology, for helping shape her desired career path.

“Dr. Landmesser told me about the cybersecurity program and how it had just been starting out,” Vommi said. “Because it’s such an emerging field I said, ‘Let me give it a try.’” “Her research is critical as society relies more on artificial intelligence to provide solutions using algorithms,” he said. “Himani’s work can offer insight into what can be done if the overall system is corrupted then provides influenced responses to its users. She’s already making an impact on the cybersecurity industry as evidenced by her selection to speak at ExploitCon.”

Since graduating in May, Vommi has begun a full-time position as a software engineer with Lockheed Martin. According to Pew Research Center data, as a woman in a STEM profession, she helps make up a group that holds just 25% of today’s computer occupations in the United States. Like the woman she met at the high school workshop years ago, Vommi is working to open doors for future generations of girls and women who want to study and work in computer-related fields.

“Himani is absolutely a role model for other women in STEM,” said Landmesser. “She has taken part in STEM events at local high schools and spoken with accepted Penn State Brandywine students, as well.”

Vommi’s thesis, titled “Exploring Effectiveness of Host Based Intrusion Detection for Machine-Learning Data Defense,” has earned her national recognition and multiple opportunities to present her research at cybersecurity conferences. She gave a virtual ‘Firetalk’ at ExploitCon Spokane and then traveled to present in person at ExploitCon Reno in August.

Vommi built her thesis around the question: “We often use security monitoring tools to protect our [computer] systems, but how often do we monitor the security system itself?”

“Machine learning systems are only as good as the data and configurations used to train them, and the same rule applies to security tools powered by that type of technology,” she explained. “Splunk, the security monitoring tool my paper focuses on, has a machine learning plugin that can help with processing huge amounts of data.”

Her research investigates what happens to a security system’s machine learning toolkit, like Splunk, when its behavior is altered by a malicious actor. Even small changes to the way machine learning-powered security systems operate will impact how information is processed and presented and, ultimately, what decisions are made based on that information.

Landmesser, who advised Vommi through her thesis work, believes that her research will have valuable real-world applications.

Vommi points to Mary Kotch, a lecturer in cybersecurity, as a source of inspiration to pursue a STEM career, and to support other women within the field.

“The advice and support Mary’s given me motivated me to pursue cybersecurity within my internship at Lockheed Martin,” she said. “Her advice and insight encouraged me to reach out and continue asking about opportunities on my team.”

In a similar way, Vommi helped a classmate overcome some obstacles in her own journey within the cybersecurity field.

“I said to her, ‘If you’re scared and excited to do something, then do it,’” Vommi said. “She was able to take that advice and make advances toward her career and reach out to an employer. It feels like passing a torch, the way I gained inspiration from a leader in cybersecurity and was then able to motivate another female student in the field. It is a wonderful sequence that I hope to continue to be a part of.”

From a chance meeting to exchanging vows: A Schreyer love story

On May 6, 2022, nearly 500 Scholars gathered at University Park for the medals ceremony that culminated their time at Schreyer. One day later, 162 miles to the east, two Scholar alumni who met because of a Schreyer Honors College t-shirt exchanged wedding vows and began their married life together.

Kylee Hansan’s and Sam Diacont’s story began way back in 2013 at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey. She was there on a school trip. He, meanwhile, skipped school with his sister and future brother-in-law to go to the theme park. Little did Diacont know that the shirt he wore that day would play a large part in setting the course for his, and Hansan’s, future.

“There wasn’t a particular motivation to wear the [Honors College] shirt that day,” Diacont said. “I wore it a lot my senior year after deciding to go to Penn State but no specific reason that day.”

That shirt was the specific reason, though, that Hansan called out to him while they waited in line to ride a roller coaster.

“I didn’t hesitate at all. I remember seeing Sam in the Schreyer Honors College t-shirt and just being excited,” she said. “He was closer to the front of the line and going to board soon, so I just blurted out, ‘Do you go to Schreyer?’”

Diacont responded that he would begin in the fall, just moments before he took his ride on the coaster. Then amid the bustle of a busy amusement park, the pair missed on reconnecting that day. It wasn’t until months later, during their first weekend living in Atherton Hall, that Hansan and Diacont could get properly acquainted.

In Atherton’s TV lounge, Hansan and her roommate happened upon Diacont hanging out with some other first-year students. She recognized him right away and helped jog his memory about their brief encounter earlier that summer. Hansan said some “awkward” encounters followed during their first week of classes, including calling Diacont “Six Flags” because she couldn’t remember his first name. Before long though, they were spending hours together at a time and bonding over jellybeans, Honey Nut Cheerios, and solving the Rubik’s Cube. “During our freshman year, Sam would frequently venture up to my dorm on Atherton’s fourth floor with one of those three things,” Hansan said. “We would sit on my blue futon and either guess the jellybean flavor, eat Honey Nut Cheerios, or he would teach me the Rubik’s Cube.”

Diacont’s developed an interest in Rubik’s Cubes only when his next-door neighbor in Atherton Hall introduced him to a formulaic approach to solving the puzzle. He became “hooked on solving it faster and faster” and it turned into a hallmark of the early days of their relationship.

“I passed along to Kylee what he taught me, and it was a way we bonded during freshman year,” Diacont said. “I actually bought Kylee a Rubik’s Cube as a gift at one point.”

Today, the couple is a little over nine years past the day they first met and upon reflection, Diacont says that Schreyer’s role in their lives as a couple and individuals was “pivotal in every sense.”

Neither Hansan nor Diacont have been back to Six Flags Great Adventure, or any amusement park for that matter, since that fateful day. They have, however, held on to their Schreyer t-shirts and wore them in celebration on their first day as a married couple.