Former Nittany Lion and New York Giants linebacker Brandon Short is seeking one of three alumni-elected positions on the Penn State Board of Trustees this spring.
Short, who is now an international real estate investment banker, made the announcement on Sunday. The nomination phase for the alumni trustee election opens on Monday and continues until Feb. 25. A candidate must receive 250 nominations to appear on the ballot for voting, which will open in April.
‘I love Penn State. Penn State has changed the trajectory of my life,’ he said. ‘By joining the Penn State family, I’ve grown from an inner-city kid from a tough background to a global financier who has helped structure and advise corporate boards across five continents. I’ve been blessed to have achieved a high-level of success in both sports and business and feel a responsibility to serve the community that has done so much for me.”
Short said that Penn State is a world-class university that is a leader in higher education, but that the school has challenges to overcome.
‘The rising cost of tuition, board governance and accountability, and shrinking state funding are all issues that hamper Penn State’s ability to improve, to continue to lead and to carry our standard of excellence into the future,’ he said.
He added that he ‘will challenge the status quo’ while working with the rest of the board ‘to improve on every aspect of the university.’
The three alumni seats on the board that will be up for election this year are currently held by Anthony Lubrano, Ryan McCombie and Robert Tribeck,
A native of McKeesport, Short graduated from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business in 1999 with a degree in marketing and in 2010 earned an MBA from Columbia University. While an undergraduate, he was a four-year starter and two-year captain for Penn State football. He was twice named All-Big Ten and in 1999 was a consensus All-American.
After being drafted by the Giants in 2000, Short went on to a seven-year NFL career, during which he was elected as an NFLPA union player representative.
Following his NFL career and MBA work, Short joined Goldman Sachs’ real estate investment banking division in New York and transferred to the firm’s Middle East banking division in Dubai in 2012. In 2015, Short moved to London and is now vice president of the real estate investment firm Round Hill Capital.
