WVU Parkersburg Spring Commencement to be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 17, 2008.

CONTACT:   Leslie Sims, interim registrar, 304-424-8220.
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Virginia University at Parkersburg's 37th annual Commencement exercises will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday (May 17) in the College Activities Center.

The Class of 2008 includes nearly 270 area residents who will receive approximately 300 degrees and certificates.

Commencement speaker will be Robert H. Foglesong, retired four-star general and founder of the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation.

WVU Parkersburg President Marie Foster Gnage will preside over the ceremony.  Serving as grand marshal will be Gary Waggoner, professor of biology.  Faculty marshals will be Dianne Davis, assistant professor of business technology, and David Lancaster, assistant professor of education.

A native of Williamson, WV, Foglesong is founder of the Appalachian Leadership and Education Foundation, a non-profit operating to identify the next generation of leaders in Appalachia and to support their academic, leadership, and character excellence. ALEF has operating arrangements with several universities to help sponsor leadership honors programs and sponsors needs-based fellowships for extraordinary young men and women across a spectrum of academic majors.   Foglesong serves as president and executive director of the foundation.   He is a graduate of West Virginia University.

Foglesong attained the rank of four-star general in the U.S. Air Force, retiring from active duty after 33 years of service. His last post was as Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe; Commander, Allied Air Component Command Ramstein; Air Component Commander, U.S. European Command, Ramstein Air Base, Germany; and Director, Multinational Joint Air Power Competence Center, Kalkar, Germany.

Most recently, Foglesong served as the 18th president of Mississippi State University during a period of unprecedented growth in student enrollment, research and development contracts, and economic development across the state of Mississippi.

A reception for all of the graduates and their families will follow the Commencement exercises in the cafeteria concourse.

On Friday (May 16), Nursing candidates for graduation will participate in the college's annual Pinning ceremonies at 7 p.m. in the College Activities Center.  Featured speaker will be Duane Napier, executive director of the West Virginia Center for Nursing, who will speak on "The Present and Future of Nursing."  A reception will follow the ceremony.

cd05/12/08