Keynote Speaker: Dr. Larry D. Terry II
Dr. Larry D. Terry II is the vice president for Outreach at Penn State, where he leads efforts to amplify the University’s land-grant mission through connecting communities to Penn State. Outreach partners with every college and campus, and many units, centers, and institutes through programming, experiential learning, public impact research, and capacity-building to co-create meaningful impact across the Commonwealth for Pennsylvanians of all ages.
Since joining Penn State in January 2023, Dr. Terry has focused on increasing collaboration and visibility of community engagement across the University, as well as getting to know the people and places of Pennsylvania. He serves on President’s Council and represents Penn State through the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC), Consortium of University Public Service Organizations (CUPSO), and Big Ten Engagement Committee.
Prior to his position at Penn State, Dr. Terry served as the executive director for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service and as a professor in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, both at the University of Virginia (UVA) from 2018-2022. From 2014-2018, Dr. Terry was an assistant professor and founding program coordinator for the master’s in public leadership at University of North Texas at Dallas. He possesses additional higher education experience through professorships at Long Island University and Arizona State University.
His published research interests include police-community relations, criminal justice reform (including second chance communities/returning citizen assistance), restorative justice, community leadership, local government, and democratic governance.
Dr. Terry earned his Ph.D. in public affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas, a master’s in public administration from San Diego State University, and a B.A. in Black Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania with his wife Maria, son Larry III, and daughter London, where he can often be found listening to vinyl records, smoking meat, and watching sports, simultaneously.