Ali Krieger Elected to Penn State Board of Trustees

The professional soccer player and two-time World Cup champ received the most votes in the alumni election. Jay Paterno wins re-election.

Ali Krieger, a former Penn State All-American soccer player and two-time World Cup champion, was elected to the university's Board of Trustees as an alumni member. Krieger received 12,141 votes, most among the three alumni-elected trustees announced Friday. Former Penn State assistant football coach Jay Paterno and Anthony Lubrano were re-elected.

Krieger, a professional soccer player with the NY/NJ Gotham FC franchise in the National Women's Soccer League, has played in three Women's World Cups for the U.S., winning gold medals in 2015 and 2019. She also played for the U.S. Women's National Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Krieger appeared in 108 matches for the U.S.

A 2007 Penn State graduate, Krieger was a two-time All-American, the 2003 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the 2006 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Krieger returned from a broken leg during her junior season to captain Penn State to Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles as a senior in 2006.

Krieger, 38, announced in March that she will retire from professional soccer following the 2023 season. She was among the first U.S. women to play for a leading professional team in Europe, spending six seasons in Germany's top division and another in Sweden's top division before returning to the U.S. She has played 10 seasons in the NWSL for Washington, Orlando and NY/NC.

According to her trustee biography and position statement, Krieger ran as a Penn State Forward candidate on four primary platforms: climate action, educational equity, transparent and democratic governance and workers' rights. Krieger was part of the 2016 USWNT wage-discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, which the parties settled for $22 million in 2022.

Paterno received 11,745 votes, and Lubrano received 10,281. A total of 25,620 alumni voted in the election. Nine alumni-elected trustees serve three-year terms on Penn State's board.

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