WVU Foundation Honors Three Philanthropists
By Pam Fronko and Cathy Goffreda
The West Virginia University Foundation has established three annual awards that will recognize philanthropists for exceptional generosity, commitment, and leadership and for their proven records of outstanding civic and charitable devotion to the University.
The inaugural recipients, selected in commemoration of the Foundation’s 50th anniversary, are: Outstanding Philanthropist, Milan “Mike” Puskar; Outstanding Volunteer Philanthropists, W. Gerald and Carolyn Eberly Blaney; and Outstanding Philanthropic Organization, the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust.
“These awards give us the opportunity to honor exceptional donors and to express our gratitude for their continual support,” said Stuart M. Robbins, chairman of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors.
The awards will be presented annually at the Woodburn Circle Society induction ceremony and dinner. The Society is the Foundation’s most prestigious giving group. Mr. Puskar, Mr. and Mrs. Blaney, and George Farmer, a trustee of the McQuain Charitable Trust, received their awards June 4 at the joint Woodburn Circle induction and 50th anniversary celebration dinner.
MIKE PUSKAR, of Morgantown, was honored for his benevolence, which has provided unprecedented support for the University as well as the community.
Cofounder and chairman of Mylan Laboratories Inc., Mr. Puskar’s personal commitment of $20 million designated $5.5 million for academic purposes and $14.5 million for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. It is the largest gift ever made to the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University and in support of WVU athletics.
A portion of the gift has endowed the Milan Puskar Deanship in the College of Business and Economics. It also created the Puskar Athletic Scholarship Endowment and provided funds for extensive athletic facility enhancements.
To recognize his continued and unparalleled generosity, WVU’s football stadium was named Milan Puskar Stadium, home of Mountaineer Field. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 2000 and in 2003, was inducted into the Order of Vandalia, WVU’s highest honor recognizing service to the University.
GERALD and CAROLYN EBERLY BLANEY, of Chalk Hill, Pennsylvania, were honored for their exceptional service and commitment to the advancement of the University.
They have made major contributions to numerous WVU programs and projects over the years, including funds for renovations in the Creative Arts Center and furnishings for the Life Sciences Building. In addition to their personal contributions to the renovation of the WVU President’s home, the Blaneys played a key role in acquiring additional private support for the project. The president’s house is named Blaney House in their honor.
Mrs. Blaney is a member of the Eberly College Advisory Board and served on the WVU Foundation Board for eleven years. She also served on the Building Greatness Campaign National Committee. She was named WVU’s 1992 Most Loyal Mountaineer and was inducted into the Order of Vandalia in 1995. A 1946 WVU alumna, Mrs. Blaney was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University in 1998.
Mr. Blaney received the 1999 WVU Shining Star Award for exemplary service to the University.
The HAZEL RUBY MCQUAIN TRUST, a renowned WVU and community benefactor, was established by Mrs. Hazel Ruby McQuain, who died in 2002 at the age of 93. The retired president of Ruby Enterprises, Inc., Mrs. McQuain engaged in philanthropic endeavors of benefit to the University and local organizations for more than 20 years.
Her generosity endowed four chairs in the WVU School of Medicine, created the Hazel Ruby McQuain WVU College of Law Dean’s Endowment Fund, and generously supported various University programs and recreational facilities. She also made an $8 million gift toward the construction of Ruby Memorial Hospital, which was named after her late husband, J.W. Ruby. She served as an eleven-year member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors.
Hazel Ruby McQuain’s legacy will continue to be honored by future generations of WVU students.
Geology and Geography Receives $4.8 Million Grant
By Jane Donovan
The Department of Geology and Geography in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at WVU has received a three-year educational grant valued at $4.8 million from Landmark Graphics Corporation, a part of Halliburton’s Digital and Consulting Solutions Division.
As part of Landmark’s University Grant Program, WVU will be equipped with various exploration, development, and modeling software, while being provided with continued maintenance and support. Additionally, Landmark will provide training on the software at reduced prices to faculty and students.
The software will be under the supervision of Dr. Tom Wilson, who applied for and received a $1.2 million grant from Landmark in 2003.
This year’s grant, which was also applied for by Wilson, is a significant extension of the 2003 grant. Dr. Alan Brown, a WVU geology alumni and former Landmark employee, was also a great help in moving this grant forward.
“This software grant, several months in the making, allows us to make significant advances in our abilities to work with increasingly complex data sets, to integrate increasingly multidisciplinary data, and to build on our long-term commitment to future students to provide challenging and timely training in the energy sciences,” says Wilson.
The main resources provided by the grant include a state-of-the-art seismic processing, modeling, and interpretation package, the type of software that several major oil and gas exploration and development companies employ to locate reservoirs and assess reservoir potential.
“Back in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, we used to write our own codes to process 2-D seismic data. Our interpretations were all paper-based in those days. Recent grants have dramatically increased our capability to undertake routine post-stack processing and interpretation,” said Wilson.
Landmark, part of Halliburton Digital and Consulting Solutions, is the leading supplier of software and services for the upstream oil and gas industry. The company’s software solutions span exploration, production, drilling, business decision analysis, and data management. Landmark offers a broad range of consulting services that enable customers to optimize their technical, business, and decision processes.
The grant was made through the WVU Foundation.
WVU Foundation Creates Four Distinguishd Doctoral Fellowships
Continuing a West Virginia University Foundation tradition, the Board of Directors has created the WVU Foundation Distinguished Doctoral Fellowships. Four $5,000 fellowships will be awarded annually by the University beginning in the 2005–06 academic year.
At major milestones in its history the Foundation traditionally establishes awards that benefit the University. The Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. For its 30th anniversary in 1984–85, the Foundation created the Foundation Awards for Outstanding Teachers and for the 40th anniversary in 1994–95, established the WVU Foundation Outstanding Senior Awards.
“These postgraduate students are the future generations of researchers and teachers who will help shape what West Virginia and the nation become,” said F. Duke Perry, Foundation president and CEO. “The fellowships also will help to fulfill the WVU Foundation’s mission to enhance the overall well-being of West Virginia University.”
Teachers Give Back to Their Alma Mater
By Deborah Miller
As educators themselves, Clarence and Eunice Hatfield McKinley (’54, ’57, and ’57, respectively) appreciate the education they received at West Virginia University.
They met in Morgantown while earning their master’s degrees and now have three children, two of whom also became educators. One of the couple’s six grandchildren is currently enrolled at WVU.
Clarence, a Harrison County native, recalls that his respect for education came from his parents. “They experienced the Great Depression and were conservative on spending money, but were totally committed to education and stressed that to my brothers and myself,” he says. “My wife and I had the opportunity to go into the teaching profession and feel that we want to pay back.”
In addition to current support, they’ve chosen to include a gift provision in their wills that will benefit the College of Human Resources and Education and its future students. “We’re really proud of the University and feel fortunate that we’re in a position to put back some of what was given to us,” says Eunice.
Eunice, from Harrisville, West Virginia, was a classroom teacher in Maryland for 31 years, mostly with kindergarten students. Clarence taught high school physics in suburban Washington, D.C., for eight years and was then recruited to serve as the county supervisor of instruction (mathematics and science) in Wicomico County. During his early career, he received nine fellowships at five major universities, which enabled him to improve the content and quality of the math and science curriculum.
Over the years, both have remained connected to their Mountain State heritage. The Stewart and McKinley families in Clarence’s lineage owned property during the late 1700s in the Morgantown area. Eunice’s family settled in Ritchie County in the mid-1800s.
The McKinleys look forward to the value their estate gift will provide to education majors in the future. “When we were students, it cost so little to get a great education. We want to leave something behind so that other students going to college will have the same benefits that we did,” says Clarence.
Both agree, “WVU is #1 with us!”
WVU Foundation Board Profiles
By Cathy Goffreda
Members of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors are leaders in business, the professions, and civic affairs, and hail from West Virginia and across the nation. All serve without compensation. They volunteer their time and energy, contribute their considerable expertise, and give of their own resources to support the University they so love and respect.
Meet Board members Sue Seibert Farnsworth, David W. Hampstead, and Stuart M. Robbins.
SUE SEIBERT FARNSWORTH has served on the WVU Foundation Board of Directors since 1995, including a past term as chair.
The Wheeling resident is a partner in the law firm Seibert and Kasserman, where she specializes in estate planning. During her dedicated years of service on WVU’s Board of Advisors, she held the offices of secretary, vice chair, and chair. She is a lifetime member of the WVU Alumni Association, a College of Law Visiting Committee member, and a past president of the West Virginia Board of Regents. She also chaired the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and was a member of the Building Greatness National Campaign Committee. In recognition of her loyalty and devotion, Farnsworth was selected as the University’s Most Loyal Mountaineer in 1995 and inducted into the WVU Order of Vandalia in 1999.
The accomplished WVU alumna earned a BA in Spanish in 1962, a JD from the College of Law in 1967, and studied abroad at the National University of Mexico. Her husband, Carlyle Farnsworth, and both her parents are also WVU law alumni.
DAVID W. HAMSTEAD joined the WVU Foundation Board of Directors in 1995. He is the current Board chair and has previously served as vice chair.
The retired CPA experienced a distinguished career at Price Waterhouse and Company. In addition to being a firm audit partner, he spent two years in Hong Kong with the World Firm’s Partner International Program. His leadership has spanned from chairing the College of Business and Economics Visiting Committee, to presiding over the Mt. Lebanon School Board, to overseeing the Allegheny County Republican Committee. He also is affiliated with Pittsburgh’s Civic Light Opera Association and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Hamstead earned his BS in accounting from WVU in 1963. He resides in Pittsburgh with his wife, Nancy, also a WVU graduate.
STUART M. ROBBINS completed his term as chair of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors in August. A distinguished member since 1991, he has been key in developing a comprehensive investment policy.
A native of Parkersburg, he is retired from leading Wall Street investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, where his leadership as director of global equities and a board of directors member helped establish one of the security industry’s most thriving equity businesses. He previously served as vice chair of the Building Greatness National Campaign Committee, is a member of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board, and is a lifetime member of the WVU Alumni Association.
Robbins graduated from WVU with a BA in history in 1965, completed graduate work in law at New York University, and took advanced business courses at the University of Pittsburgh and Pace University. He and his wife, Joyce, with whom he established WVU’s first Department of History chair, reside in Connecticut.
Woodburn Circle Society is the premier philanthropic recognition society of the WVU Foundation and West Virginia University. The society honors donors who demonstrate extraordinary commitment to the University’s advancement.
Recognition is reserved for those who contribute a minimum $100,000 initial gift or pledge, and a donor’s level within the society is determined by his/her cumulative giving to benefit the University. The society’s three recognition levels are Woodburn for those who make gifts and pledges of $1 million or greater, Martin for gifts and pledges of $250,000 to $999,999, and Chitwood, $100,000 to 249,999.
New members are inducted at an annual black-tie dinner and ceremony.
Woodburn Circle Society • Class of 2005
Individuals
Ralph L. Ballard - M
James A. & Marsha Blair - C
Stephen J. & Lori Callen - C
S.J. “Dick” & Rosalie Dlesk - M
James S. & Kim Dobbs - C
W. Taylor Fithian III - C
Walter J. & Margaret B. Fitzgerald - C
Bernard J. Folio - C
Lee S. Good III - C
Hazel A. Johnson - C
Earl G. Kendrick - M
William J. & Sharon H. Maloney - C
Patrick E. McFarland - C
Eric G. Suder - C
James R. & Joan Waggy - C
Organizations
DGB - USA - C
March-Westin Company - C
O.C. Cluss Lumber Company - M
Permco, Inc. - C
Precision Coil, Inc. - C
Schenk Family Foundation - C
Spilman Thomas & Battle - C
Sungood Company Ltd. - C
UGS - W
W.M. Keck Foundation - M
WV Coal Mining Institute - C
Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories - C
W - Woodburn
M - Martin
C - Chitwood