Joseph and Cheryl Gera Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons
January 3, 2025
SCHUYLKILL HAVEN, Pa. — Joseph S. Gera, a Penn State alumnus and retired IBM executive, has committed $50,000 to establish the Joseph S. Gera STEM Scholarship at Penn State Schuylkill. Over the next five years, this scholarship will support 20 students pursuing degrees in critical science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
This marks Gera’s second major contribution to the campus. In 2020, he and his wife, Cheryl, pledged $50,000 to create the Joseph S. Gera Engineering Scholarship, which supports high-achieving, rising second-year students from Schuylkill County who are pursuing engineering degrees.
A native of Schuylkill County and a graduate of Penn State’s electrical engineering program, Gera has a distinguished history of leadership, service and philanthropy to the University. For the past 30 years, he has been an active Penn State academic recruitment volunteer and served as the University Park coordinator for high school student recruitment in several New York counties in the Mid-Hudson Valley region. Gera is a lifetime member of the Penn State Alumni Association and co-founded the Mid-Hudson Valley Penn State Chapter in 1999, which is now in its 25th year. He was recently named vice chair of the newly formed Penn State Schuylkill Campus National Co-op Advisory Council.
Gera also is a member of both the Penn State College of Engineering Alumni Board and the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Alumni Board, where he serves as vice chair and secretary. Recognized for his achievements and contributions, Gera was named Outstanding Alumni of the Year for 2023 by Penn State Schuylkill. Additionally, he is a member of the Penn State Nittany Lion Club, where he achieved the Honorary Coach level, and he is a member of the Penn State President’s Circle, a philanthropic honor.
After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering, Gera embarked on a 33-year career with IBM, holding many different senior leadership positions in engineering, management, corporate headquarters, marketing and sales. When he recently retired, he held the position of program director of market planning and strategy for the system-Z mainframe server division. He credited his own academic success to the support of a scholarship he received as a student, which he said inspired his commitment to creating similar opportunities for others.
“I was fortunate to receive a scholarship when I went to college, and I want to provide the same opportunity to students today,” Gera said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to give back to the Schuylkill Campus where my academic and eventual professional journey began.”
The Joseph S. Gera STEM Scholarship will provide four annual awards of $2,500 each to full-time second-year students at Penn State Schuylkill. To be eligible, students must graduate from a Schuylkill County high school, maintain a minimum 3.25 GPA, and pursue degrees in nursing, radiological technology, information technology or cybersecurity analytics and operations, or other engineering-related fields.
“It’s important to come up with a game plan and then work backward,” Gera said, offering advice to current students. “Figuring out what you want to do in life is 50% strategy and 50% execution. Once you have a vision and passion, the rest is easy.”
Through his dedication to education and philanthropy, Gera is advancing Penn State Schuylkill’s mission to prepare students for success in critical and innovative fields. The new STEM scholarship will be available for the 2025 academic year.
For more information about scholarships at Penn State Schuylkill, visit sl.psu.edu/scholarships. Support for scholarships will advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.
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