Eberly News

Moderated by the Director of the Humanities Center and Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Sharon Ryan, the panel will discuss “Artificial Intelligence: Shaping Futures, Impacting Lives”. Panelists from Eberly College of Arts and Sciences are Jennifer Sano-Franchini from the Department of English and Megan Vendemia from the Department of Communication Studies.

WVU undergraduate student Sam Stalnaker and faculty member Thomas Steinberger use lasers to study gases and predict how they’ll behave in outer space. Mentoring relationships like this one help students graduate and thrive.  Stalnaker reflects, “Watching everything happening in the lab and having that guidance from the grad students and postdocs is really cool. I’m helping them with their work, but I’m also asking questions and learning about the science behind what they’re doing. They’ve helped me understand how our experiments work and to develop the skills I’ll need in grad school.”

WVU maintains a site license for ArcGIS software, managed by the Department of Geology and Geography and the West Virginia GIS Technical Center. “This is a phenomenal step forward in giving our students access to the same technology used by leading researchers and industry professionals,” said Aaron Maxwell, director of the West Virginia GIS Technical Center. “Students can now build critical geospatial skills that will give them a competitive edge in their future careers.”

West Virginia University undergraduates Shelby Cavender and Tyler Jeffries started small, collaborating to sell fashion finds on social media — WVU gear, graphic tees, sneakers and more. Then their resale operations grew. And grew. And grew.

Gregory Dunaway will conclude his tenure as dean of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at the end of this academic year. The 2025–26 academic year will mark the final chapter of his leadership of the Eberly College, the largest academic unit at the University, serving more than 5,000 students across over 60 undergraduate and graduate programs, which span disciplines in the humanities, mathematics, natural sciences, and the social and behavioral sciences.

The West Virginia University Higher Education in Prison Initiative (WVU HEPI), operated within Eberly College's Dept. of English, has been awarded a $30,000 subgrant from the Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education in Prisons (PA CHEP). 

Dr. Eric Horstick, a faculty member in West Virginia University’s Department of Biology, is advancing our understanding of how the brain adapts to the world around it. His research focuses on how environmental and sensory experiences shape neural circuits and influence behavior, uncovering fundamental principles of brain plasticity that extend across species.

In all, McKown and Meuser have contributed nearly $100,000 to WVU, providing scholarship support for nearly 30 students within the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences and the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. They have also committed to generous planned gifts that will provide additional support for scholarship and research upon their passing.

“MARS was created because there was a lack of STEM opportunities for youth in West Virginia. It started out locally and now has grown statewide, so the focus is to provide, through competitive robotics, hands-on learning for K-12 students throughout the state,” said Earl Scime, Oleg D. Jefimenko professor of physics and astronomy in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and MARS director. “We are able to reach these students because of the strong support of our partners, including WVU, K-12 schools, private foundations, companies like Boeing and EQT, and others who want technically trained employees. MARS is preparing our kids to meet those needs.”

West Virginia University scholarship recipients Ben Golden, Jayla Boyd and Reese Allen could never have imagined how philanthropic support would lead to unexpected opportunities that would shape their college careers and professional goals. As a Neil S. Bucklew Scholarship recipient, Golden found he could study more than general business; he could fine-tune his studies down to a music business and industry degree. And, through donor support, Golden discovered he could do even more.