(May 30, 2026) For Robyn Radomski, protecting the future of student journalism is more than volunteer work—it’s a mission rooted in gratitude for an experience that helped shape her life and career. That commitment has earned Radomski the Penn State Alumni Association’s 2026 Martin R. Cepeda, Jr. Award for Alumni Career Advancement and Development.
A six-year member of the Collegian Alumni Interest Group Board of Directors, including the
last four as president, Radomski has helped lead one of the most consequential periods in the history of The Daily Collegian. Her signature achievement was spearheading the creation of the Collegian AIG Sustaining Fund in 2025, a long-term financial lifeline established after Penn State ended its decades-long direct funding support of the student newspaper.
Managed by the Alumni Association, the Sustaining Fund has already raised more than $50,000 and this year will make its first distributions to support Collegian projects and student journalists.
“When I joined the Collegian Alumni Interest Group board, I simply wanted to help preserve an institution that gave so much to all of us,” Radomski said. “Supporting today’s students has never felt like volunteering to me. It feels like paying forward a gift.”
She quickly added that the recognition reflects the work of many others.
“This recognition truly belongs to our dedicated AIG board members, alumni volunteers, and especially the students whose passion and resilience inspire all of us every day,” she said.
The Cepeda Award honors Penn State alumni who devote their time, talent, and leadership to helping students and fellow alumni grow professionally. Radomski will be formally recognized at the Alumni Association Leadership Conference in August.
Friends and colleagues say Radomski brought urgency, strategic thinking, and relentless energy to helping the Collegian navigate a rapidly changing media landscape. Under her leadership, the AIG expanded alumni engagement, strengthened mentorship efforts, and focused intensely on building long-term financial sustainability for the independent student newsroom.
Radomski credited former AIG board secretary Barbara Stack and current AIG vice president Jerry Schwartz—who secretly nominated her for the award—along with “the many friends and colleagues who have shared this journey with me over the years.”
“The Collegian has survived for generations because people before us cared enough to protect it,” she said. “I’m honored to have played a role in helping ensure it will be there for the next generation of student journalists.”
Her connection to the Collegian stretches back more than 50 years. As a student, Radomski (Journalism, 1975) worked as a copy editor, layout editor, and reporter, covering issues including the faculty unionization effort on campus.
“Like so many Collegian alumni, I learned lessons there that stayed with me for life: curiosity, resilience, teamwork and how to perform under pressure and deadlines,” she said.
Radomski graduated from Penn State a full year early after carrying an overloaded course schedule. She initially planned a traditional newspaper career, turning down an opportunity at the Pittsburgh Press to move with her husband, David, also a Penn State graduate, to northern Minnesota, where she became editor of two weekly newspapers.
A move to Chicago a little over a year later soon redirected her career toward business and marketing. After earning an MBA in marketing, Radomski rose through senior leadership roles at Playboy Enterprises and a major global public relations firm before becoming chief marketing officer for several large companies. Along the way, she made history as the first-ever chief marketing officer of a major corporate law firm anywhere in the world.
“But through every chapter of my career, Penn State—and especially the Collegian—remained part of who I am,” she said.
Radomski and her husband divide their time between Lake Forest, Illinois, and San Diego.
Because of term limits, she will step down from the AIG board presidency following the organization’s annual membership meeting in October. As immediate past president, she will serve as an adviser, helping the present board continue to position the Collegian for a more sustainable future.
PHOTO AT TOP: Robyn Radomski at the 2019 reunion of mid-1970s and early 1980s Collegian alumni at State College’s Holmes-Foster Park.
PHOTO IN THE TEXT: Robyn and Jim Kuhnhenn go over a story for the next day’s Collegian, probably in 1975.
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