Sept. 25, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - When Penn State announced the funding for Pegula Ice Arena on Sept. 17, 2010, the Nittany Lion family knew they had just the person to oversee the planning and development of the project.
Just three days after the announcement of Terry and Kim Pegula's historic $88 million gift to fund the state-of-the-art ice arena and the establishment of both a men's and women's Division I hockey programs, Joe Battista assumed the role of Associate Athletic Director for Ice Arena and Hockey Development.
A Penn State hockey icon, Battista played club hockey at Penn State and led the Icers to six American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championships. In his new capacity, Battista oversaw every step from groundbreaking to frozen ice of the Pegula Ice Arena project.
Click here to read some notes and watch a video with Battistan about seeing a lifelong dream come true.