Joel Myers Named Renaissance Fund Honoree

AccuWeather founder and three-time Penn State graduate Joel Myers has been selected as the 2017 honoree for the university’s Renaissance Fund.

The Renaissance Fund, now in its 41st year, annually honors an individual or couple for contributions to the Penn State and State College communities through a lifetime of service. The fund’s board of directors chooses someone each year with deep ties to the Centre Region and a commitment to philanthropy and working with civic and university leaders.

An endowed scholarship fund is created in the name of each honoree, with funds directed to high-achieving students who have great financial need.

Myers earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees from Penn State and was a university faculty member in the university’s meteorology department for 20 years before retiring in 1981. 

While a second-year graduate student in 1962 he created AccuWeather as a consulting business and over time built it into the world’s largest weather media company and a global leader in data analytics and digital media. Headquartered in State College, AccuWeather now reaches 1.5 billion people and provides services to 245 of the Fortune 500 companies and thousands of other businesses around the world.

“Joel Myers’ success and reputation as a globally renowned business leader, and his willingness to share the fruits of his labor with his alma mater and community, represent the very best of what it means to be a Penn Stater,” Penn State President Eric Barron said in a statement. “The University is proud to count Joel Myers among our alumni, and we can choose no better way to celebrate our honoree than to support the scholarship that has been created in his name.”

Myers has been named one of America’s greatest entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur Magazine and he has published dozens of papers in scientific journals. He is also a sought-after speaker on international business, digital media and technological impact.

He was elected by alumni to Penn State’s Board of Trustees 11 times, serving a total of 33 years, and continues to serve as a trustee emeritus. In 2016 he was named a Distinguished Alumni and grand marshal of the Homecoming parade.

Myers gave $2 million for the creation of the Joel N. Myers Weather Center teaching facility in Walker Building, and has awarded dozens of scholarships to meteorology and information sciences and technology students, as well as creating an endowed scholarship for the football team.

He donated the weather vane — one of the world’s largest — that sits atop Beaver Stadium as well as the interactive sundial at The Arboretum at Penn State and walk-in sundial at The Nittany Lion Inn. 

In the local community he supports organizations such as the Team Pennsylvania Foundation, YMCA, Jewish Community Center, Make-A-Wish Foundation and American Cancer Society. He also recently co-founded the Dads’ Resource Center to support single fathers in playing an active role in their children’s lives.

“I am extremely grateful and pleased to earn this prestigious recognition, especially since its purpose it to raise funds for disadvantaged, hard-working and very bright Penn State students,” Myers said. “My personal history is deeply rooted with Penn State as a student, teacher, trustee, employer of Penn State graduates and philanthropist. I am thrilled that my achievements as an entrepreneur will, in turn, help to unlock the imaginations, deep learning and creativity of Penn State students. I have always been proud to be a Penn Stater, and I am highly honored to have been selected as the 2017 Renaissance Fund honoree, particularly given the esteemed leaders who have received this award before me.”

Myers, who has seven children and nine grandchildren, will be honored at a dinner on Nov. 29.

Editor’s Note: Joel Myers is the father of Dan Myers, owner of Lazerpro Digital Media Group, the parent company of StateCollege.com.