Pennsylvania State University alumni

Samuel Preston Bayard (April 10, 1908, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – January 10, 1997, in State College, Pennsylvania) was an American folklorist and musicologist. He received a B.A. in English from Pennsylvania State University in 1934 and later earned an M.A. from Harvard University.
He collected fiddle and fife tunes in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia from 1928 to 1963. He is known for his interest in the melodies of traditional music at a time when often only the texts were collected. He introduced the concept of "melodic families", which are groups of tunes that appears to be structurally related. He traced the origins of many traditional American fiddle tunes back to the British Isles.
In addition to his work on fiddle tunes, he was the expert on the use of the fife in traditional American music. He is fondly remembered by former students for his large collection of snuffboxes, which he used regularly.
He established the folklore program at Pennsylvania State University, and taught there from 1945 to 1973
He was a fellow of the American Folklore Society, and its president from 1965 to 1966.
He died on January 10, 1997, in State College, Pennsylvania. An award in his name has been established at Penn State for graduate students in comparative literature.

Amos H. Funk (October 18, 1911 – February 14, 2010) was an American farmer and farm preservationist. He served on several national, state and local advisory committees designed to preserve farmland in Pennsylvania and the United States.

Alan Cochrane Strange (November 7, 1906 – June 27, 1994) was an American professional baseball player and manager. A shortstop, he appeared in 314 Major League Baseball games during all or parts of five seasons (1934–35; 1940–42) with the St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators. He was born in Philadelphia, and attended Northeast High School, alma mater of fellow big leaguers Benny Culp, Bill Hoffman, Bert Kuczynski, Jesse Levis and Eddie Stanky. He also attended Penn State University.
As a baseball player, he threw and batted right-handed, and was 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and weighed 162 pounds (73 kg). After five full seasons in the minor leagues, Strange made his Major League debut on April 17, 1934, at the age of 27 as a member of the Browns.
Strange would go on to hit .223 during a big-league career spent mostly with the Browns, although he did spend 20 games in 1935 with the Senators. He hit his lone Major League home run on September 2, 1934, against Phil Gallivan of the Chicago White Sox at Sportsman's Park. In the field, Strange had a .960 career fielding percentage.
Strange played his final MLB game on August 16, 1942, and served in the United States Army during World War II. Much of his minor league career occurred in the top-level Pacific Coast League for the Hollywood Stars, Seattle Rainiers and Portland Beavers. He managed the Rainiers for the final half of the 1959 PCL season.
On June 27, 1994, Strange died in Seattle, Washington. He is buried there at Calvary Cemetery.

Vance Oakley Packard (May 22, 1914 – December 12, 1996) was an American journalist and social critic. He was the author of several books, including The Hidden Persuaders and The Naked Society. He was a critic of consumerism.