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.
Are you ready for your first year at the Chambers College? Starting a new chapter of your life can be scary, but our student leaders have put together some advice to help you get in gear and hit the ground running. You've got this!
Most college students would tell you they're scared to think about their next steps. Not West Virginia University business students.
In June 2025, the post-graduation placement rate for undergraduate students in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics reached 78.1% – an all-time high – following 10 consecutive years of growth.
Meet Ali Bobalik, vice president of human resources at Synchrony. She’s the best.
No, really. She is. A corporate workplace is only as good as its human resources team, and in June 2025, Synchrony’s New York City hub – whose talent Bobalik helps manage – was named the city's #1 workplace by Fortune and Great Place to Work.
