“Without question, coming from a small farming community, without a lot of knowledge of corporate environments, I benefited from a culture that prepared me to be successful,” he says. “That’s directly related to the quality of the faculty and staff associated with the College of Ag Sciences.”

David’s younger sister, Julie, was exposed to the same family indoctrination that attracted him, but she hungered for a more urban setting. “When I first started looking at colleges, I almost decided against going to Penn State because I wanted a different experience from the rest,” Julie says. “But after looking at a number of private schools—mostly in New England—and comparing the type of education and the city lifestyle they offered, Penn State seemed to be more of the experience I wanted to have at college.”

As a structural frame engineer for Weyerhauser Company, Julie helps design residential construction plans that use structural composite lumber, engineered timber, and other engineered wood products. She credits the college for having one of the most advanced wood technology programs in the nation. “Pretty much no other institution in the country could have prepared me for what I do now,” she says.

Keith is quick to appreciate the education and supportive faculty the college provides. “The Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department, in particular, has been good to our family,” he says. “It’s only reasonable that we personalize our enthusiasm by contributing money there.”

In 2002, the Massers created the Kim L. Masser Memorial Scholarship to memorialize Keith’s younger brother, who died heroically in 1980 trying to save a friend in a farm swimming accident. The scholarship benefits Penn State undergraduates majoring in Ag and Biological Engineering or Agricultural Systems Management. In 2007, the Massers endowed a second scholarship in Kim’s memory, this one part of Penn State’s Trustee Matching Scholarship program, in which the university matches 5 percent of each gift annually to increase the financial impact of the scholarship.

Masser says he appreciates the college’s help in establishing a scholarship that is administered locally and sees it as a way to benefit his business and family.

“It felt good for us and the university,” he says. “The matching component was a way to memorialize Kim with additional scholarships and to keep his name alive in perpetuity. We hope our company can continue to grow and we can provide additional incentives for students to be able to share in the success story we’re living right now.”

—Gary Abdullah