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Volunteer Spotlight - Wayne Martenas

Planting a Future Through Volunteerism

In 1863, Penn State was designated as the Commonwealth's sole land-grant institution, dedicated to education, research, and public service in many academic disciplines. This land-grant mission continues to serve as a foundation for the University today.

Not knowing the future that awaited him at the University, Wayne Martenas ’74 Engr, remembers one day as a young child when a Penn State Extension educator came to his family’s farm in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania to lay out the farm for strip cropping. 

“As the county agent helped my father measure and lay out the fields, they let me carry the flag markers that they used to mark the edges of the fields. As we did this, the educator explained to us why this was important,” Wayne recounts. 

It was at this young age that Wayne saw firsthand how the dissemination of research findings to the public could be impactful for farmers across the Commonwealth – a passion that would spark his career and volunteerism. However, it was not until an academic counselor at Penn State Hazleton suggested the Agricultural Engineering major that Wayne saw how his desire to pursue something new – engineering – could be matched with his past – agriculture.

“My wife and I believe that many of the world’s problems that exist today and will in the future, are related to the specific areas of teaching and research that are part of Penn State in general, and the College of Agricultural Sciences specifically,” Wayne said. “Being able to contribute in a small way to the betterment of humanity through our philanthropy is important to us.”

Being able to contribute in a small way to the betterment of humanity through our philanthropy is important to us.”

— Wayne Martenas

Wayne attended Penn State Hazleton before graduating from University Park with a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering — a degree that launched a thirty-eight-year career with Case New Holland (now CNH Industrial) and its predecessor companies, the second largest global designer and manufacturer of farm equipment.

He is a named inventor on sixteen US and European patents and in 2008 received the Sid Olsen Engineering Executive of the Year Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers.

Wayne served as the vice president of engineering of CNH from 2004-2009 and retired as vice president of security and facilities in 2012. During this time, he reconnected with his alma mater by serving as a member of the Industrial and Professional Advisory Council (IPAC) from 2005-2010. 

Wayne has continued his volunteerism and currently serves on the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Entrepreneurship & Innovation Advisory Board, the Volunteer Development Council, the Ag Council board of directors (president 2017-2018), and the Lancaster County Extension Council (chairman since 2013). In 2010, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award at Penn State, and in 2018, he was honored with the College of Agricultural Sciences Outstanding Alumni Award.

“The biggest thing I got out of joining a University volunteer board was exposure to all of the things made possible because of the philanthropy that Penn State receives,” Wayne said. “It was not until I got more involved and started making contributions that I started seeing the breadth of opportunities for philanthropy – there really is something out there for everyone – and the effects that gifts have on people and the University.”

In 2014, Wayne and his wife, Marian ’92 Law, endowed the Martenas Family Trustee Scholarship in the College of Agricultural Sciences and have since added to it. Each year the Martenases have the opportunity to attend the Scholarship Award Dinner and meet many of the students who have benefited from their scholarship.

“It is very inspiring to talk to these students and understand how our philanthropy has helped them reach their desire for a better education,” Wayne said.

In addition, the couple has made future commitments through their estate which will support the Agricultural Engineering building, the Penn State Extension Director’s Excellence Fund and the creation of a new endowment, the Penn State 4-H Excellence Fund.

For Wayne, being a volunteer means being an advocate for the college across all facets and “having an ear to the ground” to help identify potential donors while at Penn State events.

This May, Wayne will have the opportunity to share his story, from growing up on a farm to receiving the Penn State degree that launched his global career, to inspire the College of Agricultural Sciences Class of 2019 as the Commencement Speaker.