The Child Study Center is fortunate to have many alumni, donors, and friends who have made important financial contributions to the Child Study Center. This support assists us in our goal of creating an exceptional research and training center whose focus is to gain knowledge about children’s typical and atypical development as it relates to our major research initiatives.
Our donors include:
The Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman Child Study Center Endowment
Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman have been two of Penn State’s most generous benefactors. Through their generosity, they have committed to endow the CSC, which will one day be named the Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman Child Study Center. Arnold (d. 2022) was a 1957 Penn State graduate from the College of the Liberal Arts (Journalism). Bette is a 1958 Penn State graduate from the College of Health and Human Development (Home Economics). Click here to read more about this endowment.
Pictured: Arnold S. and Bette G. Hoffman
The Linda Brodsky Strumpf Liberal Arts Centennial Graduate Endowment in the College of the Liberal Arts
The Linda Brodsky Strumpf Liberal Arts Centennial Graduate Endowment provides funds to support graduate students in the Department of Psychology’s Child Study Center. Linda Brodsky Strumpf and Jonathan A. Strumpf created this fund in 2009. Both are 1969 Penn State graduates. Click here for information on the Strumpf Award and our Strumpf Scholars.
Pictured: Jonathan A. and Linda Brodsky Strumpf
The Robert and Ruth Faris Child Psychology Fund in the College of the Liberal Arts
The Robert and Ruth Faris Child Psychology Fund in the College of the Liberal Arts is an endowment to enrich the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State by providing funds for the support of activities related to the study of child psychology, including undergraduate internships, graduate research assistants, travel to conferences or research sites, and course development.
Pictured: Robert Faris
The Lippin Family Fund to Promote Moral Development and Ethical Behavior in Young Children in the College of the Liberal Arts
The Lippin Family Fund in the College of the Liberal Arts is a gift to assist in the development of technology-based resources to promote social-emotional competencies, moral development and ethical behavior during early childhood; and to promote scientific advancement in the understanding of early moral development and learning. Click here to read more about The Lippin Family Fund.
Pictured: Richard (Dick) Lippin
The Donn and Susan Rappaport Child Study Center Fund
The Donn and Susan Rappaport Child Study Center Fund is a gift intended to help identify factors that lead to child sexual abuse, as well as to lay the foundation for exploring strategies and practices for mitigating child sexual abuse risk. Donn earned his bachelor’s degree in 1972 from Penn State. Click here to read more about their generous gift.
Pictured: Donn and Susan Rappaport
The Tracy and Ted McCourtney Child Studies Professorship
The Tracy and Ted McCourtney Child Studies Professorship is one of two professorships created in the College of the Liberal Arts and made possible by the generosity of Tracy and Ted McCourtney. The purpose of the professorship is to help provide exceptional Liberal Arts faculty with the resources necessary to continue innovative teaching, research and public service. Tracy is a 1965 graduate of Penn State (English). Click here to read more about the professorship.
Pictured: Ted and Tracy McCourtney
The Child Study Center’s Lois Bloom Lecture
The Child Study Center’s annual Lois Bloom Lecture is made possible by a gift from Dr. Lois Masket Bloom, ’56 Arts and Letters and a Distinguished Alumna of Penn State, and Edward Lee Thorndike Professor Emeritus, Teachers College, Columbia University. This lectureship fund supports lectures by outstanding experts in the field of child studies with a special emphasis on early child development. View the complete listing of the lectures.
Pictured: Dr. Lois Masket Bloom
The Richard and Susan Sokolov Family Fund in the Child Study Center in the College of the Liberal Arts
The Richard and Susan Sokolov Family Fund in the Child Study Center in the College of the Liberal Arts is an endowment to enrich the College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State by providing funds for program support in the Child Study Center. Rick is a 1971 Penn State graduate from the College of the Liberal Arts (Psychology) and Susan Saltzman Sokolov is a 1971 Penn State graduate from the College of Education. This includes support for students and faculty engaging in work with children and families, and to bring scholars to lecture at Penn State. Click here to read more about the Sokolov endowment.
Pictured: Richard Sokolov
Richard and Young Mi Hayes Child Study Center Director’s Fund in the College of the Liberal Arts
The Richard and Young Mi Hayes Child Study Center Director’s Fund in the College of the Liberal Arts is made possible to provide support for the Child Study Center and its multiple efforts. The Hayes are committed to supporting community engagement at the CSC and helping to translate basic research into practices, programs, and policies that enhance the lives and well-being of children, youth, and families, especially those most at-risk due to social and economic disadvantage. Click here to read more about their generous bequest.
Pictured: Richard & Young Mi Hayes
The Irene E. Harms Graduate Scholarship Award
The Irene E. Harms Graduate Scholarship in the College of the Liberal Arts Endowment provides funds to support graduate students in the Department of Psychology’s Child Study Center. This endowment was distributed to the University from the Estate of Irene E. Harms in 2019. Irene E. Harms was a former faculty member in Penn State’s College of Economics, Department of Child Development and Family Relationships during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Her area of research was child development. The Irene E. Harms Award recognizes the outstanding academic potential of students who strive for academic excellence in one or more of three areas of child psychology: translational science, community-engaged research, and outreach to communities. Translational science includes research that bridges basic science and real-world applications, and includes policy research. Click here for information on the Harms Award and our Harms Scholars.
The Larry Emdur and Barbara Gross Emdur Fund
The Larry Emdur and Barbara Gross Emdur Fund in the Child Study Center in the College of the Liberal Arts was established in 2014 out of the Emdur’s interest in supporting child development research. Larry Emdur earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Penn State in 1970. He holds a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh, an MBA from California State University, and is board certified as a Diplomate and Advanced Fellow in anti-aging medicine by the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.