Why the trustees renamed a PSU building in downtown State College after the university president
Minutes after referring to Penn State as a “special place,” outgoing university President Eric Barron — who’s set to retire Sunday — was honored with the announcement that the building they stood in would be named after him.
The Innovation Hub, an 85,000-square-foot building in downtown State College that opened last winter, will now be known as the “Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub Building.” Penn State’s board of trustees voted unanimously on the name change Friday afternoon.
The $52 million hub, part of the Invent Penn State initiative launched by Barron in 2015, is a space for students and community members alike to turn their entrepreneurial ideas into reality. It’s also home to the Happy Valley LaunchBox, which provides free business legal advice, free design spaces, free support and more.
“Penn State’s LaunchBox and Innovation Hub network will benefit generations of Penn Staters and create a powerful path to revitalization in our communities for so many years to come,” board chair Matthew Schuyler said.
During Barron’s final presentation to the board, before the building naming, he reflected on some of his accomplishments and proudly recounted Invent Penn State’s success. He anticipated only six or seven LaunchBoxes around the commonwealth might succeed; instead, there are now 21 such spaces around Pennsylvania still going strong.
Some 96% of Pennsylvanians now have a LaunchBox or Innovation Hub within 30 miles of where they live or work, according to officials.
“There’s not a single one that we want to give up,” Barron said. “They truly make our campuses a part of the community, and they clearly have tremendous support.”
After concluding his report, from the sixth floor of the hub at 123 S. Burrowes St., Barron joked he couldn’t bring an actual bottle of champagne to his final meeting. But he thanked the trustees and those at Penn State who helped him during his eight-year tenure and all those who care and support the university.
“We’ve had some ups and downs, and I will tell you — if I were a little bit younger, I would do it all over again, even if I knew it wouldn’t be smooth. Because this is a special place,” Barron said. “I really — really — have appreciated and enjoyed being your president for eight years. So thank you. Thank you.”
Schuyler took the podium after Barron and made several announcements related to Barron, Penn State’s 18th president. Not only was a building renamed after him, but Barron also earned emeritus status and was granted the Penn State Medal, which recognizes those who make “outstanding” contributions to higher education in Pennsylvania.
But it was likely the Innovation Hub’s naming that felt most personal. The building also houses the dean’s suite for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, where the retiring president served as dean from 2002 to 2006. Barron was a faculty member for the college starting in 1986, leaving in 2006 before returning in 2014 as the university president.
According to Penn State, Invent Penn State has supported 4,976 entrepreneurs, graduated 464 startups from accelerator programs and helped start 218 new Pennsylvania companies since 2015.
The Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub Building opened last November and was simply known then as the Penn State Innovation Hub. It features makerspaces, a virtual-reality/immersive technology laboratory, student club storage, a sixth-floor vista point/overlook event space and collaboration areas.
Barron will officially retire Sunday, with President-Elect Neeli Bendapudi set to take over Monday.
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 4:15 PM.
