West Virginia University executive officer and general counsel Jon Reed will return to one of first loves, teaching, when he trades legal issues for academic ones as a faculty member in the College of Human Resources and Education. The move is effective Aug. 15.

A WVU graduate in social work and law (BS71; JD74), the South Charleston native says its been a joy to work for his alma mater for the past 15 years.

He was recruited to WVU in 1986 by then president Neil S. Bucklew, who met him when Reed was working as legal counsel for the old Board of Regents. Before that, he was in the attorney generals office where he spent 10 years fighting for the rights of consumers in West Virginia and served as director of the consumer protection and anti trust division.

“Coming back home to WVU in the mid 1980s was wonderful,”Reed recalls. While I was enjoying my work in Charleston, theres nothing like coming back to serve your alma mater.”

As in-house counsel for the University, Reed has handled matters ranging from ever-changing higher education policies and laws, to building and operating practices, employee grievances and athletic issues. He is responsible for an office of three attorneys, two legal assistants and three legal interns.

Even with a busy agenda and a schedule that included many evening and weekend assignments, he managed to teach a class in business law or higher education law and policy most semesters.

“I taught at B&E occasionally over the years, but found a real fit with the students in my higher education law classes,”Reed notes.”Im really excited about teaching full-time this fall. Its been the part of my professional life in recent years that Ive enjoyed the most.”

Reed admits that the last 17 years have been heavily doused with major policy developments and shifts in higher education law as the state worked through a number of organizational and societal changes.”Now,”he notes,”were into another new governance structure, so it will be interesting to watch it develop and to see how it works.”

In recent years, the institution has also gone through the two largest building periods in its history and changes to many of its academic and administrative programs.

“The majority of what I do is behind-the-scenes work with the president, vice presidents, deans and directorshelping them through the major challenges that face them and determining the best way to navigate the rivers of the law to do what the University needs to do to move forward,”he says.

WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. said Reed is admired and respected within and outside the University community.

“Jon Reed has always been a loyal Mountaineer,”Hardesty notes.”All of us wish him luck in his new rolethat of teacher and mentor. We have every confidence he will do very well in that capacity.”

Reed says he keeps a positive outlook on life, crediting meditation for much of his reserve and calm.

“The general counsels office is really about supporting those people who are involved in the core mission of this Universityteaching, research and service. Its our students that are the heart of what were all about, so supporting the structure that serves them is something weve never lost sight of in this office,”he adds.

While his primary focus will be teaching higher education law and policy, Reed says he will”stay close”to the issues of higher education in West Virginia so he can assist University officials as needed.

He believes it will be”the best of both worlds,”and notes that the Universitys legal affairs are in”exceptionally capable hands”with professionals in the general counsels office that really know higher education law.

One of the things he has always taken pride in, he adds, is the philosophy of the two presidents he has worked forBucklew and since 1995, Hardesty.

“While their styles may be different, the guidance that each of these presidents gave me was literally the same thingand that was to `always do the right thing.Each of them has been outstanding to work with.”

He is also appreciative of the support that his wife, Elmaalso a WVU law gradhas given him over the years.

“The hours have been long and the work intense, but Elma shares my love for the University and has always been there to support me. And, in recent years, because she knows how much Ive enjoyed teaching, she has encouraged me to do it full time.”

Reed maintains WVU is a”special place,”with good people who adapt to change well and work as a team. He has enjoyed the variety and unpredictability of his challenging work.”No two days are quite the same,”he quips.

He looks forward to more new challenges this fall as a HR&E faculty member.

A search for Reeds replacement will get under way in the near future.