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Four West Virginia University women have been awarded the Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State, recognizing their commitment to language learning and personal growth. The awardees will participate in fully-funded virtual intensive language and cultural immersion programs this summer.

Valerie Browne, a rising senior from Martinsburg, will spend this summer studying Russian. Browne is a Russian studies and English double major with a minor in political science in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.  

(Editor’s note: A comprehensive  photo gallery is available and will be updated with additional images.) 

Following a year of missed milestones, celebrations and traditions,  West Virginia University’s first in-person commencement ceremony since December 2019 ushered in a renewed sense of optimism for the nearly 4,500 graduates who walked across the stage to receive their diplomas in four ceremonies this weekend (May 15-16).

In Fall 2017, West Virginia University freshmen entered Milan Puskar Stadium for the traditional “Monday Night Lights” event during Welcome Week to form our state’s outline in the middle of the field.

On Sunday, May 16, our 2021 graduating class is the first group to end their college career where it all started. 

West Virginia youths feel pretty passionate about their communities. And they are improving their hometowns by developing ideas and opportunities to make their communities even “cooler.”

Through the “My Hometown is Cool!” competition, four teams from four West Virginia counties – Greenbrier, Marshall, McDowell and Nicholas – will have an opportunity to implement their innovative ideas to make their towns cooler. WVU Extension Service and WVU Chambers College of Business & Economics have created a statewide initiative aimed at increasing youth voices in community development.

An international student who has immersed himself in the “cultural heartbeat” of his new community, a first-generation student graduating with a cumulative 4.0 grade-point average who had no access to high school college-prep courses and a Black woman who aspires to bridge the gap between research and clinical care to improve health disparities are among the graduating seniors to receive West Virginia University’s highest student honor, the Order of Augusta. 

These eight students are among 50 named WVU Foundation Outstanding Seniors. 

The Chambers College team is doing big things, and we want to know about them! Share through this form to see them in a future edition of Let’s Talk Business and/or our other communications vehicles. Want to recognize your colleagues for their accomplishments? Click here .

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I am grateful for the opportunity to lead the Chambers College in my new role of Associate Dean for Outreach, Innovation and Engagement. This opportunity allows me to leverage my passions into one role that will create synergistic relationships across the Chambers College enterprise, while also enabling opportunities for growth among our programmatic and outreach efforts through strategic resource development. I am a mission-driven and student-centered academic who believes wholeheartedly in the value of enabling our faculty, staff and students to study, live, and innovate through activities that serve our state and community.

Six years ago, I began the process of building an outreach center, the Center for Financial Literacy and Education, which promotes financial literacy and education in the state of West Virginia through experiential learning opportunities, faculty engagement in research initiatives and collaborations, and the promotion of better financial decision making. From a basic concept of delivering skills to those that need them the most, I was able to build the framework for a large program that is now working with national and international industrial partners to improve the lives of the less fortunate and train our finance students to succeed in the competitive, global marketplace, all while tying the Finance Department at the Chambers College to our land-grant mission. Through the process of building an outreach center, I was able to see first-hand the incredible impact that our centers have on our state and internal and external constituents.

APRIL 13, 2021

While spring is the perfect season for a fresh start, we cannot move forward unless we appreciate where we came from. 

This time last year, our campus had shut down, sports events were canceled, and classes were moving online for virtual learning. 

I am honored to step into the role of Associate Dean for Research. There are three primary areas of importance in terms of research: intellectual contributions, external research funding, and Ph.D. production.  I have spent the last three months taking stock in these areas and I am happy to report that all three areas have never been stronger in the Chambers College.

Intellectual contributions are the first thing people think of when they hear the word research. Previous financial investments in research activity through summer support and research grants – combined with strong junior hiring and strategic senior hiring - have greatly increased the number and quality of intellectual contributions coming out of the College. During our last AACSB review period, College faculty averaged 140 peer-reviewed journal publications annually. That’s more than one per faculty member per year!  And these aren’t just in any journals. During the average year our faculty publish more than 10 A+ publications.