Sometimes, finding your place is the first step to finding your purpose.
Just ask Parkersburg native Alia Ott. In December 2025, Ott will graduate from West Virginia University with a Supply Chain Management major and an International Business minor.
"In higher education, we often think of years in terms of the academic calendar, which begins and ends in the warmer months. December, however, is the perfect time to reflect on the past 12 months and remember our challenges and successes alike.
"Some of 2025’s biggest moments in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics are gathered here, ranging from academic improvements to sweeping service projects. They’re emblematic of many things: the hard work of our students, the diligence of our faculty and staff, and the achievements of our alumni. More than that, they’re emblematic of the fulfillment of our land-grant mission.
“I love golf – everything about it.”
With that, you know Weston White.
When it comes to helping students stay in school, Retention Specialist Marlenea Brand knows honesty is the best policy.
“I was on academic notice as a freshman,” Brand said. “I had a 1.7 GPA. I’m more than happy to say that out loud for anyone to hear.”
Chambers alumnus Aidan Priest knows what it means to be a Mountaineer. In fact, he was once a finalist to serve as the University's mascot. It’s about more than buckskins and coonskin caps: it’s about the shared identity that unites generations under the WVU banner.
Thanks to that Mountaineer mindset, Priest is connecting students, alumni, and communities as outreach events program coordinator in the University’s offices of Corporate Relations and Government Relations.
One of the cornerstones of a West Virginia University business education is a strong ethical framework. Now, thanks to the support of one of the largest grantmaking foundations in the United States, the business leaders of tomorrow are becoming its philosophical leaders too.
In September 2025, the John Templeton Foundation, which supports interdisciplinary research centered on morality, inspiration and purpose, bestowed a grant of $2.49 million upon the University’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics. The Templeton Foundation grant was made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.
WVU alumna and Morgantown native Damia Dobbs has been an academic advisor for Chambers College undergraduates for more than 7 years. During her time in this role, Dobbs has guided countless students through their college journeys – even when those journeys varied dramatically.
“Everyone's story is different, and you don't know where they're coming from," said Dobbs. “For me, right after high school, I moved to northern Virginia and was a nanny for eight years. When I started at WVU, I was already an adult with a life, and my everyday looked different than a traditional college student’s.”
When you hear people talk about their internship search, you might hear something like, “I got mine in early September!” or “I got mine before classes even started!”
That certainly wasn’t my story.
On August 26, 2025, the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame inducted four leaders in the fields of investment, construction and manufacturing as members of its 2025 cohort:
C. Lynch Christian III – president of Oakwood Holdings Inc.
West Virginia is known as the Mountain State, but one day, it may be known as the Mountain Bike State.
In 2024 alone, the state invested over $5 million dollars in mountain biking infrastructure, and more people are hitting the trails on two wheels than ever before – among them, Chambers College professors.
