State College, Pennsylvania - Notable People

Notable People

The following individuals were born and/or raised in State College:

Sport figures:

  • Chris Bahr – former NFL football (placekicker) and NASL soccer (midfielder) player
  • Stan Belinda – former Major League Baseball pitcher
  • Ron Dickerson, Jr. – head football coach at Gardner-Webb University, former NFL football player
  • Larry Johnson – NFL running back, most recently played for the Miami Dolphins
  • Butch Leitzinger – professional racecar driver
  • Jonathan Stupar – NFL tight end, most recently played for the Buffalo Bills
  • Matt Suhey – former NFL fullback, played ten seasons with the Chicago Bears
  • Myles Thomas (1897–1963) – former Major League Baseball pitcher

Others:

  • Brian Blanchard – Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
  • Michael Begnal -- Irish-American poet and former drummer for Wasted Talent
  • Si Kahn – singer-songwriter, political activist, founder of Grassroots Leadership
  • Joshua Leonard – film actor, star of The Blair Witch Project and Madhouse
  • Gretchen Morgenson – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times
  • Vance Packard (1914–1996) – former journalist, social critic, and author
  • Kelly Perine – television actor and comedian
  • Arron Scott – dancer, member of the American Ballet Theatre corps de ballet
  • Doug Sweetland – animator for Pixar and Sony Pictures Animation

The following were/are residents of State College:

Sport figures:

  • Walter Bahr – former professional soccer player, ASL and Penn State soccer coach. National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee.
  • Pat Chambers – Penn State men's basketball head coach
  • Jim O'Hora (1915–2005) – former football coach, associate professor at Penn State
  • Joe Paterno (1926–2012) – former Penn State football head coach
  • Rene Portland – former Penn State women's basketball coach
  • Russ Rose – Penn State volleyball coach and author
  • Steve Suhey (1922–1977) – former NFL guard, played two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers

Others:

  • Abhay Ashtekar – Professor of Physics at Penn State, noted for his contributions in General Relativity and Quantum Gravity
  • Lloyd Huck – retired chairman of Merck & Co., former three-term Penn State trustees president
  • James Morrow – science-fiction author
  • Joel N. Myers – founder of AccuWeather, which is headquartered in State College
  • Tawni O'Dell – novelist, author of Back Roads which was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 2000
  • C. R. Rao – statistician and professor emeritus at Penn State
  • Rustum Roy (1924–2010) – former Professor Emeritus at Penn State. Founder of Materials Science Laboratory
  • Fred Waring (1900–1984) – former musician/bandleader and radio-television personality

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