There are over 645,000 living Penn State alumni. Those thousands of people are doing incredible things, including, but not limited to space travel, winning the Women’s World Cup, and winning Emmys for Best TV Comedy.

We’ve decided to reach out to these alumni to learn a little bit more about their interesting and exciting lives. This is the first installment of Meet A Penn State Alumni. This week, we’re not going far from University Park. In fact, this alum is now a professor at Penn State. We’d like to introduce you to Dr. Pete Bordi, the man behind Dr. Pete’s Recovery Drink.

Peter Lawerence Bordi Jr. grew up in the small town of Dunmore, PA with his parents and two older sisters. His dad owned a bar in Scranton, so Bordi learned the ways of business and food service from a young age. With no plan going into his senior year of high school, his father suggested he go to college. Bordi applied to one school without any expectation of being accepted. But low and behold, Bordi started at Penn State Worthington Scranton in the fall of 1972. He received his B.S. in Food Science and Administration from Penn State in 1976. He left Pennsylvania to train at the Culinary Institute of America, where he received an Associate in Occupational Studies in the Culinary Arts. Bordi then returned to Penn State to get his master’s degree and PhD in 1981 and 1996, respectively.

Bordi has been teaching at the university since the 1980s, and it’s the thing he loves to do most. But recently, Bordi has expanded to other ventures at Penn State. Take his protein drink, for example. Bordi worked with Joe Paterno and James Franklin to develop the product. Dr. Pete’s Recovery Drink hit the shelves on campus in April, and it’s only grown from there. Bordi said his team is developing a line of protein bars, so keep you eyes peeled for those.

By the way, the drink actually isn’t Bordi’s namesake– it’s his father’s. “The name ‘Dr. Pete’s’ was not my idea,” Bordi said. “It stemmed from its code name which was ‘Pete’ for my father, who passed away. He was the influence for all of this because he’s the one who planted the seed for me to come here and for his ability around the time of his death. His body couldn’t recover like normal, so that’s what ultimately made me want to do this.”

Bordi’s father was a huge influence on not only his career, but his character. “Being open and honest is probably the biggest lesson that I learned from him,” said Bordi.