Pennsylvania State University has announced a $26 million commitment from alumnus Peter Tombros and his wife, Ann.

To be awarded through the couple's estate and family foundation, the gift will create the Peter and Ann Cullen Tombros Endowment, which will support innovation and provide matching funds for gifts from other alumni and donors. The gift also will create two endowed positions: the Peter and Ann Tombros Dean's Chair, which will provide a pool of flexible funding for the leader of the College of Agricultural Sciences, from which Peter Tombros earned a bachelor's degree in 1964 and a master's degree in 1968, and the Peter and Ann Tombros Head Coach position for men's basketball.

In addition, the commitment will support the Peter and Ann Cullen Tombros Endowment for the Penn State Center for Medical Innovation and the Cullen/Tombros Early Career Professorship in the College of Medicine — in honor of Ann Tombros's father, the late State College physician and surgeon Esker W. Cullen — and provide additional funding for the Peter and Ann Tombros Musical Theatre Endowment in the College of Arts and Architecture.

"The Peter and Ann Cullen Tombros Endowment is a truly visionary investment in the future of Penn State, and it will help us to cultivate the philanthropic and volunteer leaders who will follow in the Tombroses' footsteps," said Penn State vice president for development and alumni relations O. Richard Bundy III. "Our institution is immeasurably stronger because Peter and Ann have chosen to devote so much of their time, their passion, and their personal resources to creating opportunities for our students and faculty, and their legacy will inspire countless others to support the university."

(Photo credit: Golaszewski/Pennsylvania State University)