Alumni Society Honors
Gary Kaplan For Service To Penn State
By Donna F. Williams© Penn State Liberal Arts Magazine. Spring/Summer 2001.
The Service to Penn State Award was established in 1987 to recognize Liberal Arts alumni who have demonstrated significant commitment and deduction to enhancing the objectives of the University and the college. Gary Kaplan '61 political science has been actively and effectively serving Penn State for decades. Whether it's recruiting students in the Los Angeles area, hosting alumni events, organizing educational programs, visiting campus to mentor students and speak in classes, or serving on advisory boards, Gary has touched hundreds of Penn Staters with his wisdom and practical advice.
Gary is founder and president of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a retained executive search firm with an international clientele that conducts executive and management-level searches for positions in for-profit and non-profit organizations. The client base ranges from Fortune 500 companies, to entrepreneurial start-ups, to philanthropic organizations, and includes such fields as entertainment, financial services, high technology, health care, and academia.
He has been involved with student mentoring since the 1980s and he has reinvigorated alumni activities in the Los Angeles area with a series of programs and events. He travels to University Park at least twice a year for meetings of the Liberal Arts Development Council and the Penn State Alumni Council where he is a member of the executive committee and where he is launching an alumni-to-the-classroom initiative. He usually arrives two days early for a full schedule of meetings with students, speaking in classes, and presenting job-finding workshops.
Gary is a member of numerous other boards and associations across the country, but he reserves special time and energy for things Penn State. He is a 1998 Alumni Fellow, and with his wife, Linda, has established an undergraduate scholarship in Liberal Arts and a scholarship in family medicine at Hershey Medical Center. He has contributed to the Bryce Jordan Center and the Hintz Family Alumni Center building campaigns, and is a member of the Mount Nittany Society and the President's Club.
Gary is founder and president of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a retained executive search firm with an international clientele that conducts executive and management-level searches for positions in for-profit and non-profit organizations. The client base ranges from Fortune 500 companies, to entrepreneurial start-ups, to philanthropic organizations, and includes such fields as entertainment, financial services, high technology, health care, and academia.
He has been involved with student mentoring since the 1980s and he has reinvigorated alumni activities in the Los Angeles area with a series of programs and events. He travels to University Park at least twice a year for meetings of the Liberal Arts Development Council and the Penn State Alumni Council where he is a member of the executive committee and where he is launching an alumni-to-the-classroom initiative. He usually arrives two days early for a full schedule of meetings with students, speaking in classes, and presenting job-finding workshops.
Gary is a member of numerous other boards and associations across the country, but he reserves special time and energy for things Penn State. He is a 1998 Alumni Fellow, and with his wife, Linda, has established an undergraduate scholarship in Liberal Arts and a scholarship in family medicine at Hershey Medical Center. He has contributed to the Bryce Jordan Center and the Hintz Family Alumni Center building campaigns, and is a member of the Mount Nittany Society and the President's Club.
