Eberly News

West Virginia University researchers are changing how college mathematics is taught by evaluating and sharing a model for problem-solving that supports what students learn in other courses like business or biology.

Every year, students from across Eberly College are selected as  Outstanding Seniors and  Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants.  Eberly Scholars are also chosen annually for a monetary award to help offset the cost of their education as they work to achieve their academic goals. Read about all three groups below.

Each year, Eberly College honors faculty members with its Outstanding Teacher Awards, Outstanding Researcher Awards and the Award for Outstanding Outreach or Public Service. Recipients in each category receive a stipend to help further their research, teaching and service efforts.

Eight remarkable members of the West Virginia University Class of 2025 who have distinguished themselves through academic excellence and by making significant contributions on campus, across the Mountain State and beyond have been honored with the Order of Augusta, the most prestigious University student award.

Renee LaRue, teaching associate professor in the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences, was named the 2025 College Level Mathematics Teacher of the Year during the West Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference held at Stonewall Resort.

For Amy Hessl, professor of geography at West Virginia University, the past can predict the future. Hessl is a dendrochronologist, a scientist who unravels climate histories and trends through the study of tree ring growth patterns. So when wildfires engulfed the Los Angeles, California area in January 2025, resulting in dozens of deaths and tens of thousands of destroyed structures, Hessl wasn’t taken aback. In fact, she said, ongoing warm air temperatures and variable precipitation – which can be presumed from her studies of climate history trends — will lead to even more extreme fires in the future.

Olgur Celikbas, Associate Professor of Mathematics in the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences at Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, is conducting research during this semester as part of an in-person fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics (MPIM) in Bonn, Germany.

Jessica Deshler, director of the School of Mathematical and Data Sciences, and Erin Goodykoontz, mathematics teaching associate professor, discuss the University’s responsibilities to its students and the state of West Virginia.

Faculty from the Eberly College gathered earlier this month to participate in the inaugural Foundational STEM Collaborative Symposium, a daylong event that provided many opportunities for collaboration, team building and peer learning.

Erin Goodykoontz, a Teaching Professor in Eberly College’s School of Mathematical and Data Sciences, has been named 2023 Professor of the Year by the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia.