You are here:
Elizabeth Holtzinger

Elizabeth Holtzinger

Assistant Teaching Professor of English
117 Burrowes Building
Mailroom: 430 Burrowes Building

Mailroom: 430 Burrowes Building

Elizabeth Holtzinger

Spring 2024 Office Hours

Mondays 10:00 AM-12:00 PM EST and Fridays 12:00-1:00 PM EST

Education

Bachelor of Arts, English, The Pennsylvania State University, 1995.
Master of Education, Curriculum and Instruction with emphasis in Language and Literacy Education, The Pennsylvania State University, 2000.

Professional Bio

Penn State is in my bloodline. If you are a Holtzinger, it is nearly an expectation that you attend Penn State at some point in your life. This history began with my grandfather, Ted Holtzinger, who had a vision for his fellow townspeople in Altoona, PA.

After the second world war, my grandfather yearned for Altoona veterans to be able to return to their hometown and pursue an advanced education. It is with this notion that he and a group of local businessmen initiated the idea of a Penn State campus in Altoona.

Originally located in downtown Altoona, enrollment became so large that the school needed more room. Thus--Penn State Altoona at Ivyside Park was berthed, one of Penn State's first commonwealth campuses.

Probably some fifty years later, I was faced with the dilemma of choosing a college. In spite of my family's history, I wanted to rebel. I threatened Pitt and Ohio State, but when my parents informed me that I would have to foot the bill for those applications, I quickly changed my mind and settled upon Penn State's Altoona Campus.

I spent two years there before heading to the main campus. I graduated in 1995 with a bachelor of arts in English. But I had no clear vision of who or what I wanted to be when I grew up. So I spent the next three years trying to "find myself." That lead me to the graduate program at Penn State in the College of Education. Here, I would earn my teaching professor wings and a Master of Education in 2000. I became a Professor in the English department a short time after graduating.

My 22-years experience in the university opened up the opportunity to work alongside other academics, business people, and entrepreneurs on several start-up projects. To name a few, I helped build a publishing company; launched a resume-writing company; and developed workforce training materials for a group of teachers of a large nationally-franchised preschool. More recently, I dipped my toe in the healthcare space and helped to build a platform of ambulatory infusion centers in center and western Pennsylvania. The business was sold in November 2022 to a national healthcare company. "Writing" and the creation and editing of "copy" and "reports" has been a large component in all of these pursuits.

I enjoy having one foot in the academic door and the other in the business door: it is in the academy where I have the opportunity to think, postulate, and develop and share with students. It is in the business world where I am able to apply, assess, and proceed with care or reiterate and try again.