This is a list of notable individuals associated with the Pennsylvania State University, including graduates, former students, and professors. Alumni Art and literature Diane Ackerman, poet and naturalist Steve Alten, author, MEG series, Domain series, and The Loch John Balaban, author, poet, Words for My Daughter and Locusts at the Edge of Summer John T. Biggers, African-American muralist who came to prominence after the Harlem Renaissance Caroline Bowman, Broadway actress Dale Brown, bestselling author, Act of War, Battle Born, and Plan of Attack Erica Cho, artist Jeanne Clemson, theater director, stage actress, and teacher; preserved the Fulton Opera House Geffrey Davis, poet Richard Diehl (M.A. 1965, Ph.D. 1969), Mesoamerican archaeologist and academic, expert on the Olmec civilization Kathleen Frank, Artist Alan Furst, novelist Jean Craighead George, Newbery Medal-winning children's author Aaron Gilbert (A.S. 2000) painter Chip Kidd, book-jacket designer Norris J. Lacy, expert on the Arthurian legend Paul Levine, novelist, Jake Lassiter crime fiction series, screenwriter, JAG and First Monday Jerome Loving (BA), professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin Steve McCurry, photojournalist; most known for photograph of the "Afghan Girl" in National Geographic Magazine Susan Miller, playwright, My Left Breast, two-time Obie winner, Eugene O'Neill Contest winner, Emmy nominee David Morrell, novelist, First Blood James Morrow, author Robert Neffson, artist Lynne Rae Perkins, Newbery Medal-winning children's author John Pielmeier, playwright, Agnes of God Dianne H. Pilgrim, art historian and museum professional; held research and curatorial positions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Finch College Museum of Art, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art Davis Schneiderman, writer and professor at Lake Forest College Oliver Smith, ten-time Tony Award-winning scenic designer David Wagoner, poet; former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets Henry Wessel Jr., photographer; recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships Sophia Wisniewska, university administrator Robert Yarber, artist Business and industry Louis D'Ambrosio, former CEO of Sears Holdings Corporation Donald W. Davis, former CEO of Stanley Black & Decker; taught at MIT Sloan School of Management for over 20 years Robert E. Eberly, Chairman of Eberly Natural Gas Co.; Penn State benefactor Herman Fisher, co-founder of Fisher-Price toy company Kenneth Frazier, chairman and CEO, Merck & Co., Inc. Jacqueline Hinman, former CEO of CH2M HILL Lloyd Huck, chairman emeritus of Merck & Co., Inc. and former CEO of Nova Pharmaceutical Corp. Richard T. James, inventor of the Slinky Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, President and CEO