Letters: It’s time to truly honor Joe Paterno; Penn State continues to be academic leader

It’s time to truly honor Joe Paterno

Now that we have a new president and athletic director on board at Penn State, and former President Spanier has been able to present his side of the story in his book, it is time to finally recognize the great legacy of Joe Paterno while his wife Sue and the family can be part of this recognition. I have said many times that Joe Paterno’s laboratory was the football field, not unlike numerous other laboratories in a host of colleges scattered throughout the university. The football field is where Joe tested his theory that a nationally recognized football program and high academic standards could co-exist and even thrive. I believe that by proving this on and off the field of play was no less spectacular than a discovery that happens in a Nobel laureate’s laboratory. He also taught young men the finer technical points of football and taught them that “success with honor” was not a slogan to be hung on a post outside the stadium but was to be lived each day. The most fitting and the only lasting recognition that could be made for all the years of Joe’s research on his theorem could be to name his laboratory “Paterno Field” at Beaver Stadium.

If you board of trustees, Madam President Bendapudi and Athletic Director Kraft want to be truly remembered by Penn Staters past, present and future, make this happen and that will be your most enduring legacy here at Penn State.

Penn State continues to be academic leader

In 1897, responding to rumors of his demise, Mark Twain famously said, “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

So, too, are reports of Penn State’s demise as a worldwide academic leader.

The QS World University Rankings 2023 has placed Penn State in the Top 100 Global Universities. The university is well ahead of the more than 20,000 accredited higher education institutions worldwide, according to the UNESCO/ World Higher Education Database.

Only 27 U.S. universities were ranked in the top 100. The U.S. still leads the world, but its market share is declining. Nations the world over are quickly building their own highly competitive universities.

Penn State was ranked 93rd, one of five Big Ten universities in the top 100. Michigan was 23rd; Northwestern, 32nd; Wisconsin, 83rd; Illinois, 85th. The Pac-12 also had five. The Ivys, seven.

In another new ranking, this one by U.S. News, Penn State was placed in the Top 20 Best Global Universities for Education and Educational Research. This category included pedagogy and methodology, the history of education, reading, curriculum studies, education policy, the sociology and economics of education, and classroom technology. These programs are situated in Penn State’s College of Education. Kudos to Dean Kimberly Lawless, Dean Emeritus David Monk, and a truly outstanding faculty, past and present.

Penn State was ranked No. 20. The eight U.S. universities ahead of it were Michigan State, 2; Stanford, 3; Harvard, 5; Cal-Irvine, 8; Michigan, 12; Vanderbilt, 13; Maryland, 16; Cal-Berkeley, 18.

Thanking a community leader

Now that this election cycle has ended, I want to acknowledge a community leader. Thanks, Bob Potter, for all you do in support of our political process in Harris Township.