Menah Pratt earned five degrees and became a leader in higher education.
She impacted thousands of high school students through a leadership program for those interested in the African-American experience.
She played tennis professionally and entertained as a classically trained pianist.
Now, Pratt, most recently vice president for strategic affairs and professor of education at Virginia Tech, will lead regional Penn State campuses through change.
Pratt became the regional chancellor for the Hazleton, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre campuses in August.
“I moved here. I packed up all my boxes. I unpacked all my boxes, so I'm here to stay. I'm here to do the work,” she said Tuesday. “I'm committed to the region, and I'm committed to the mission of a land-grant university. I'm committed to actualizing the potential of the region.”
Meeting the community
Pratt takes over as the Wilkes-Barre campus prepares for closure in the spring, and as Penn State hopes to grow both the Hazleton and Scranton campuses. The university’s board of trustees last year had also considered closing those campuses, but decided to focus on growth instead.
Elizabeth Wright, named regional chancellor in 2024, stepped down in August 2025. Durell Johnson, and then David Callejo Pérez, served as interim chancellor over the last academic year.
The new chancellor hosted community members at a breakfast on Tuesday at the Hazleton campus. Similar events are scheduled for Scranton and Wilkes-Barre later this month.
Many of those gathered Tuesday had also come together last year, to urge the university to keep the campus in southern Luzerne County open.
“There was the phase to save the campus. Now we have to build the campus,” said Joseph Clifford, chairman of the Penn State Hazleton advisory board. “Were it not for the community, I'm going to tell you, I don't think we'd be here.”
In the last 50 days, Pratt has hosted or attended 350 meetings, hearing from many of those who vehemently opposed closing campuses and worked to keep it open.
“She's working really, really hard to not only understand Penn State regional campuses, but the community, and that's what that's the part I really like,” Clifford said.
Leadership academy
Over cups of coffee and muffins on Tuesday, Pratt outlined some of her goals.
The Hazleton campus opened in 1934, in the midst of the Great Depression, when most people were barely surviving and could not afford college, Pratt said. The college had to come to the people. Pratt envisions greater community involvement both on and off campus.
“Higher education has always been a powerful partner in helping our communities adapt to the evolving challenges in society,” she said. “As we think about the complexity of today's society, I feel like this moment requires a new type of leader — a leader that understands the power of both technology and humanity.”
She unveiled her vision: the Penn State Northeast Regional Leadership Academy, with the goal of developing “lifelong leaders at the intersection of technology and humanity by engaging high school students, college students and professionals in the workforce.”
That could look like a pre-college program in the summer for rising juniors and seniors, or dual-enrollment courses for high schoolers on campus. It could also be an adult leadership program, Pratt said.
The academy will focus on STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, art and math), and have tracks in business and healthcare, all with a focus on shared humanity and responsible leadership.
“This moment requires developing leaders and learners at all levels who understand technology and AI and other complex intelligence systems. Equally importantly, we must understand each other, our humanity and how to work and live together as human beings,” Pratt said. “We must understand that leadership in this increasingly complex and polarized world requires experts in the art of compassion, empathy, collaboration, compromise and communication.”
The Hazleton and Scranton campuses, and the Penn State LaunchBox in downtown Wilkes-Barre, are uniquely positioned to support a regional "learning ecosystem," she said.
"I'm looking forward to talking with you, learning from your experiences and building relationships with many of you in the months ahead,” she told those gathered.
Penn State has always contributed to the local economy, and the idea of strengthened partnerships and more workforce development excites area leaders, said Mary Malone, president of the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce.
“Menah was the perfect pick for our community. She has hit the ground running, has great ideas,” Malone said. “The announcement of the Leadership Institute I think really shows that they heard our feedback about the potential and possibilities that can happen here when a community connects to an asset like a Penn State regional campus.”
Helping through grief
The Penn State Board of Trustees voted last month to sell the Wilkes-Barre campus to a developer who wants to expand an adjacent golf club, create an event center and offer academic buildings to Misericordia University.
The campus will close after the spring 2027 semester.
Pratt understands the feeling of the closing of a program or campus. When a program she founded closed at Virginia Tech, she saw the trauma and the grief that came with it.
“I felt that I had healed enough from that that I could help this community go through that experience,” she said.
Pratt has served in executive leadership roles at Virginia Tech, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Vanderbilt University.
She served as vice president for strategic affairs at Virginia Tech starting in 2016 and previously as vice provost for inclusion and diversity. She holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in sociology and a law degree from Vanderbilt University, as well as a master’s degree in literary studies and a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Iowa.
Pratt is also a published author, studying race and gender and reflecting on issues of spirituality and feminism.
Continuing a journey
Forty-five miles, nearly all on busy Interstate 81, separate the Scranton and Hazleton campuses.
Pratt, born in Pittsburgh and raised in Illinois, will make that drive regularly. On her travels, she wants to learn about what makes the region unique — and how Penn State can strengthen its role in it.
She’s already gone underground for a tour of a coal mine, watched WVIA’s “The Secrets Beneath Hazleton” and learned about the impact of local nonprofits. She has spoken to school principals, business leaders and alumni.
“I want to understand this region's history, its people and what makes it such a unique place to live, work and build communities,” she said.
