Alumni Association Welcomes New Volunteer Leadership

The Penn State Alumni Association welcomes new volunteer leadership, with longtime leader Randy Houston beginning his two-year term as president on July 1. Fellow leader Kelley Lynch starts her two-year term as vice president on the same day.

Houston is the 81st president of the Penn State Alumni Association. His term as president runs through June 30, 2021.

Houston earned a bachelor of arts degree from Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts in 1991 and a juris doctor degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995.

Professionally, Houston is an intellectual property and entertainment lawyer with nearly 25 years' experience in private and in-house practice. He is also a formally-trained musician and a composer, playwright, filmmaker, and actor/improviser, with more than 35 years’ experience as a creative artist.

A lifelong contributor to the performing arts, Houston stepped away from his legal career in 2014 to return to his first love, music. Houston began a second career as a composer/librettist and music educator, developing the original musical romance 600 YEARS (formerly THIS TIME), for which he wrote book, music, and lyrics, and co-founded a performing arts school and professional non-union theater. In 2018, he returned to the practice of law full time as Senior Counsel, Business and Legal Affairs, with Complex Networks in New York City.

Houston’s volunteer service to Penn State began 15 years ago, serving on the board of directors of the College of the Liberal Arts Alumni Society. His service on Alumni Council began in 2012 as president of the Liberal Arts Alumni Society. He was elected to the Executive Board in 2014 and later chaired the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Houston proudly mentors high school, college, and law students. In addition to his volunteer leadership roles at Penn State, Houston has volunteered with many non-profit organizations, including the Wright House Wellness Center, Austin Community College, The Long Center for the Performing Arts, the Austin Music Commission, and the Leadership Team of Create Austin.

Houston lives in Englewood, N.J. with his wife, Kori.

“The Penn State Alumni Association is lucky to be led by Randy Houston—a lifelong, ardent volunteer who has provided exemplary service to Penn State in a variety of roles over the years,” Alumni Association CEO Paul Clifford said. “His vision to deliver the Alumni Association that all Penn Staters deserve will continue to build upon our legacy as an open and inclusive organization.”

Houston succeeds Steve Wagman ’82, who will serve a two-year term on the Penn State Board of Trustees as the immediate past president of the Alumni Association.

“I am humbled to succeed a great Penn Stater like Steve Wagman and become the 81st president of the world's best and largest dues-paying alumni association,” Houston said.

“I intend to devote my term to, among other things, establishing once and for all that ours is an organization that exists for all Penn Staters, without regard to age, ethnicity, creed, preference or identity, ability, national origin or geography, or campus affiliation.”

Lynch was elected to the Penn State Alumni Council in 2016 and served on the Alumni Engagement Committee, prior to being appointed to Executive Board and becoming the chair of the Budget and Finance Committee in 2017.

Lynch is also significantly involved with the Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus. Lynch is on the campus’s Advisory Board and on the Executive Board. She is also co-chairing the ‘Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence’ campaign for the campus.

Lynch earned a bachelor of science degree in finance from the Penn State Business School, now the Smeal College of Business, in 1987 and her MBA from Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business in 1994.

Learn more about Lynch on our website.