An Indiana University of Pennsylvania alumni couple from Mechanicsburg who had life-long careers in education has established a scholarship for IUP education majors.
Colonel Michael and Karen Focht Zang
Colonel Michael and Karen Focht Zang, both 1973 elementary education graduates, have established the Karen Focht Zang Education Scholarship at IUP, in recognition of “the advantages of a college education and the significance of educating future generations of children to the continued growth and viability of the United States of America.”
The Karen Focht Zang scholarship is available for students enrolled in an early childhood education or early childhood-special education degree program. Preference will be given to students from Cumberland or York counties who have a high school grade point average of 3.0 or for IUP students with a 3.0 grade point average.
This scholarship follows the couple’s 2015 establishment of the Col. and Mrs. Zang Military Science Scholarship in recognition “of the importance of the IUP ROTC program to the defense and security of the nation,” and the “the opportunity to invest in the future by assisting today’s IUP students.”
“IUP is very grateful for alumni like the Zangs, who value their IUP education and the impact that it has made on their lives, and the potential that it promises to current and future students,” IUP Vice President for University Advancement Jennifer DeAngelo said. “Our alumni are incredible in their generosity and their loyalty to IUP. Scholarships like these can make all the difference in a student’s ability to pursue and continue their education and their career goals,” she said.
Karen Zang, a native of Mechanicsburg who grew up in Dillsburg, attended two one-room schoolhouses for her first four years of schooling in the Northern York County School District, first at “Little Northern” in Franklin Township and then at the Beavertown School in Carroll Township before beginning fifth grade in the Dillsburg Elementary building. While in high school, she participated in the color guard, chorus, and National Honor Society. She graduated from Northern High School in 1969. She met Col. Zang during her freshman year, and the couple married in 1973.
The couple first made their home in Camp Hill, while she began her teaching career in the Northern York County School District. Her first assignment was a fifth-grade class in Dillsburg Elementary; her classroom was the same one in which she was a fifth-grade student during the 1961–62 school year.
In December 1976, she completed coursework at Pennsylvania State University and received her master of education degree. She continued to teach full-time in the Northern School District until the birth of her third child in 1986, when she took a hiatus from teaching for the next seven years. She returned to the classroom first as a teacher’s aide and then as a substitute teacher for the next 20 years in the Cumberland Valley School District, retiring from her education career in 2013.
After retiring, the couple traveled extensively throughout the United States, visiting all 50 states and every Major League Baseball stadium by the end of 2018.
The Colonel and Mrs. Zang Military Science Scholarship is available to students who are IUP ROTC members with an IUP grade point average of 2.7 and military science grade point average of 3.5. Scholarship recipients also must author an essay about their military goals and be recommended for the scholarship by a member of the Department of Military Science faculty.
Col. Zang is originally from western Pennsylvania. He was an active-duty officer in the US Army and then a member of the US Army Reserves for 30 years, retiring in 2003 at the rank of colonel and as the chief of staff of the 99th Regional Support Command in Pittsburgh.
In his civilian career, he worked in four school districts in central Pennsylvania as a teacher and administrator. He culminated a 38-year education career in 2011, retiring as an elementary principal.
During his time in the military, he commanded units at the company, battalion, and brigade levels and was involved in Operation Desert Storm (1990–91), operating seaports throughout the eastern seaboard of the United States, Europe, and Saudi Arabia.
In 1998, Col. Zang graduated from the United States Army War College in Carlisle. In retirement, he continues to serve the military community as a volunteer docent at the Army Heritage and Education Center, through his involvement with the Carlisle Barracks Retiree Council, and as a member of the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Retired Soldier Council.
In 2009, the couple’s youngest son, Patrick, graduated from IUP and, like his father, received his commission as a second lieutenant from the IUP ROTC program.
Annually, IUP provides more than $26 million in scholarships from the university, a combination of university funds and private donations. A total of 89 percent of fall 2024 new, first-time students were offered renewable merit scholarships, averaging $3,494.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. As IUP celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025, the university honors a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, leadership in healthcare education, and public service.