Dr. William Lear - Overall Chair, 1973

Thon originator Dr. William Lear graduated from Penn State in 1973 and went on to attend medical school at Temple University. A practicing gynecologist, Lear lives in Indiana, Pa., and has three children, two of whom attended Penn State and participated in Thon.

Cris Guenter - Independent dancer, 1973

Cris Guenter, who says the Nittany Lion is still in her heart, moved away from Pennsylvania to work as a professor of education at California State University at Chico. She is the president of the California Art Education Association and chairs the organization's national committees. Her niece currently attends Penn State, and she said she might be able to talk her into dancing for Thon sometime.

Donald Mains - Overall chairman, 1977

Mains, who chaired the first Thon to donate to the Four Diamonds fund, currently splits time living in Washington, D.C. and Louisiana. Mains has worked for both Bush administrations in Washington, D.C., and recently left his position as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Development to go to New Orleans and help with Hurricane Katrina relief.

"I've been involved with Katrina from the beginning - it's the same concept of the dance marathon," Mains said. "I'm going to get a big bunch of people together, I'm going to get them to agree on what's important to us, and then we're going to accomplish miraculous things."

Mains will be speaking at this year's Thon.

John Ferenchak - Overall chairman, 1992

John Ferenchak works and lives in midtown New York City with his wife, Melissa, and 11-month-old son, Hudson. He is now employed by the financial media and software division of Bloomberg, the New York City mayor's company, and said he still remembers Thon vividly.

"It's something you never forget," Ferenchak said. "Every time you speak about it, your thoughts drift back and put your right back in that room at 7 p.m. on Sunday and still gives you a chill."

Stacy Bingler Forbes - First female overall chairwoman, 1995

After creating history by being chosen the first female overall chair in 1995, Bingler Forbes became a stock and equity research analyst at an investment bank for eight years. Currently, she is a stay-at-home-mom to three children, Jack, 3, Emma, 2, and Katie, 3 months, in Littleton, Colo. She is the vice president of the Dance Marathon Alumni Interest Group.

Evan Jacobs - Overall chairman, 2006

As the overall who put in the most effort to move Thon to the Bryce Jordan Center, Jacobs has moved on to helping other philanthropies and cites Thon as a shaping of his career path since he is still doing fundraising. Currently, Jacobs resides in New York City, working as the associate director for Changing Our World, Inc., a philanthropy services firm aiding non-profit companies. His current project involves working with St. Vincent's hospital's development office.