Our Mission
The William Kory Foundation for Geography Education is Pennsylvania Non-Profit Corporation with 501 (c)(3) organization dedicated to continuing the life's work of Dr. William Kory. We connect interested students to resources, including scholarships, to allow them to continue their education in the fields of Geography. We also are outspoken advocates for the importance of Geography and Geography Education for every individual across their entire lives.
The William Kory Foundation is asking for your help and support to raise awareness and funds to help continue the work of Dr. Bill Kory. Your support will allow us to generate resources for students, such as scholarships for students in Geography and related fields, seeking to further their education on the undergraduate or graduate level.
Your support through donations allows us to provide those resources to students looking to continue their Geography Education.
Our Board of Directors
Matthew Sernell
President and Board Member
Matt Sernell is a Graduate of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown with a degree in Geography. He also holds a Masters of Business Administration.
Matt owns and operates his own business and serves on the faculty at the Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. His duties at Pitt-Johnstown include teaching Introduction to Geography courses. He also serves as Co-President of the Pitt-Johnstown Alumni Association.
Matt has been awarded several times for his work including Young Distinguished Alumni for Pitt-Johnstown, twice recognized by the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, and the Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Excellence and was recently appointed a Kentucky Colonel by the Kentucky Governor.
Ola Johansson
Vice-President and Board Member
Ola Johansson is a Professor of Geography at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He has been at Pitt-Johnstown since 2002, where he worked with Bill Kory for 20 years. He came to Johnstown from Knoxville, where he received a PhD from the University of Tennessee and was a research assistant at the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Ola teaches courses on urban planning, sustainability, energy, population, resource management, and many other topics. His research emphasizes music, including entertainment districts, music scenes, touring patterns, and environmentalism in music.
Publications include numerous journal articles and the books Sound, Society, and the Geography of Popular Music; Songs from Sweden; World Regional Geography; and New Geographies of Music.
His research has been widely featured in media, including Netflix. Ola has also been a visiting scholar at Linnaeus University in Sweden and at the University of the Philippines.
Carrie Law
Secretary/Treasurer and Board Member
Carrie is a 2014 Pitt-Johnstown graduate. Dr. Kory convinced her to stick around for a 5th year so she could complete a third major in geography.
She went on to study Public Health with a focus in global and maternal health at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her MPH in 2017.
Carrie worked on an NIH funded project that helped research cigarette warning labels as a graduate research assistant at Cornell University.
Carrie has dedicated lots of time to organizing community events. She now works for an education tech company in Pittsburgh.