Vice President for Penn State Outreach

Larry D. Terry II became the vice president for Penn State Outreach in January of 2023. Prior to his position at Penn State, Dr. Terry served as the executive director for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service and as a professor in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, both at the University of Virginia.

During his time as executive director, Dr. Terry led efforts focused on making a difference in the commonwealth of Virginia through public impact research and leadership development, managing a team of more than 50 and a $7.5 million annual budget across five different units — the Center for Survey Research, the Demographics Research Group, the Center for Economic and Policy Studies, the Virginia Institute of Government, and the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. He was also appointed to the Virginia State Crime Commission in 2020 by former Governor Ralph Northam to address criminal justice reform policy.

Dr. Terry also currently serves as the president of the Consortium of University Public Service Organizations (CUPSO), which supports university-based public service institutes in their efforts to assist state and local governments by facilitating networking, information exchange, and collaboration among its member institutions.

His research interests include police-community relations, criminal justice reform (including second chance communities/returning citizen assistance), restorative justice, community leadership, local government, and democratic governance.

His work has been published in several professional and academic journals, including Leadership and Management: Emerging, Contemporary, and Unorthodox Perspectives; Journal of Leadership and Management; International Journal of Public Administration; and Public Administration Review.

Dr. Terry earned his Ph.D. in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas, a master’s in public administration from San Diego State University, and a B.A. in Black Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

Contact Dr. Terry at outreachvp@psu.edu