Two Longtime Penn State Administrators to Retire; VP Headed to Ohio State

Penn State announced this month that two administrators will retire this summer after decades at the university, while a senior leader is leaving for a new position at Ohio State.

Gail Hurley, associate vice president for Auxiliary and Business Services, and Ford Stryker, associate vice president for physical plant, are both set to retire effective June 30. Vice President for Human Resources Susan Basso is leaving to become senior vice president for talent, culture and human resources at Ohio State, with July 31 as her last day at Penn State.

Student Engagement at Forefront of Hurley’s Career

Hurley has held various roles in Student Affairs, Residence Life and Auxiliary and Business Services in more than 32 years at Penn State. In her current role, she leads planning and oversight for he Bryce Jordan Center, Hospitality Services, Housing and Food Services, Multimedia and Print Center, Procurement Services, Transportation Services and University Park Airport.

She recently led an initiative to improve student housing at University Park and several Commonwealth Campuses.

“She is admired by all with whom she has come in contact,’ said David Gray, senior vice president for finance & business, in a release. ‘While her accomplishments are too numerous to mention, I believe her crowning achievement has been the planning for — and now the execution of — the multi-year renewal of Penn State’s largest residence hall areas. Students will benefit from her vision and dedication for decades to come.”

Student engagement has been at the forefront throughout her career at the university, and the Penn State On-Campus Mentor Alumni Interest Group recently established an endowed scholarship in her name.

“Especially noteworthy about Gail’s career is she has always been dedicated to nurturing, encouraging and mentoring both student leaders and her staff members,” said Diane Andrews, assistant vice president for Housing, Food Services, and Residence Life, in a release. “There are so many people who credit Gail and share how their Penn State experience and careers as well as their lives have been impacted by knowing and working with her. Throughout her career, Gail has shown an unwavering commitment to making Penn State a better place for the students, employees and customers she serves.”

Hurley said that in retirement she will continue her involvement with Penn State.

‘I can’t call myself an alum but I feel like one, and I want to figure out how I can continue to be a part of Penn State, on a volunteer basis, in retirement,’ she said. ‘This place has been very good to me, and I don’t think I’m finished giving yet.”

Stryker Guided Significant Growth

A registered professional engineer, Stryker joined the Office of Physical Plant staff in 1997 as deputy associate vice president overseeing day-to-day operations at University Park. In 2004, he became associate vice president responsible for more than 32 million square feet of buildings and 22,000 acres of land at all of Penn State’s 23 campuses.

Stryker has been at the helm of OPP during a time in which the university’s physical plant has undergone extensive expansion and renovation. Since 2004, 5 million additional square feet have been added in addition to numerous renovations and infrastructure improvements.

“It is impossible to imagine what Penn State would look like today or how it would operate without Ford’s leadership over the last 20 years,”  Gray said. “His guidance has helped grow not only our physical plant operation, but the university as a whole. Ford’s dedication to environmental stewardship, workplace safety, preserving valuable infrastructure and planning and executing multi-billion dollar capital plans has put Penn State in a strong position to continue to pursue its mission of teaching, research and service. We are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Ford and wish him all the best in retirement.”

Stryker previously achieved the rank of captain in the U.S. Navy’s Civil Engineering Corps and was commanding officer of the Public Works Center Norfolk before moving to Penn State. He commanded Amphibious Construction Battalion Two, which deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

“I’m optimistic about the future for OPP and the university physical plant,” Stryker said. “We have a really strong organization. We have great support from the administration. Customers appreciate what we do. There will be challenges, but I think the organization is in a good place to face them successfully.

“Many people ask me if I’m counting the days until retirement. I may be counting the days, but in the sense that I only have so many days left and I have a lot of things I want to do. I feel like there are a number of loose ends that I would like to tie up to make things easier for the next person. Further I want to meet with all of our crews and staff to see how things are going, and to thank them for their dedication and hard work.”

A national search is under way for Stryker’s successor.

Basso Modernized University’s HR

Basso, who has led Penn State’s human resources office for the past seven years, will head to Ohio State in a similar role, where her appointment is effective Sept. 5.

She has overseen HR for all of Penn State’s campuses and has led a number of complex, multi-year initiatives to modernize human resources operations.

‘Susan will leave Penn State with our very best wishes and much to be proud of,” Gray said. “In her seven years as our chief human resources officer, Susan has built a professional HR leadership team and organization that is seen by many as a national model. She has advanced critical and transformative organizational and technological change, positioning the University to offer higher quality, strategic HR services with significant improvements in cost-effectiveness.”

Basso has 25 years of HR leadership experience. Prior to arriving at Penn State she was the chief human resources officer at Seton Hall from 2006 to 2010. Before that she spent 18 years at East Stroudsburg.

“The team-building, the collaborative services model, and the drive to a contemporary HR/payroll system are all legacies of Susan’s leadership that will leave Penn State in a strong position moving into the future,” Gray said. “I wish Susan well as she concludes her service at Penn State and embarks upon the next chapter of her career.”

Penn State will conduct a national search for her successor and will announce interim leadership in the near future.