A couple who has provided distinguished support to the University, a successful real estate developer, a three-time interim dean of the University’s largest school, and a long-time Student Affairs employee are being honored as “Most Loyals” during the 63rd annual Mountaineer Week, a celebration of Appalachian Heritage, Nov. 5-13, on West Virginia University’s campus.

The 2010 honorees are Frederick and Joan Stamp, Most Loyal West Virginians; Parry Petroplus, Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer; Rudolph Almasy, Most Loyal Faculty Mountaineer; and Mike Ellington, Most Loyal Staff Mountaineer. The group will be honored during halftime ceremonies of Saturday’s (Nov. 13) WVU-Cincinnati football game.

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The Most Loyal West Virginian and Alumni Mountaineer awards have been presented since 1974, while the Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer award was created in 1994 and split into two separate awards in 2001. The award recipients are selected by a joint committee representing the WVU Foundation, WVU Alumni Association and the Mountaineer Week organizing committee.

Most Loyal West Virginians
The Most Loyal West Virginian exemplifies faithfulness to the ideals and goals of the state of West Virginia through business, professional and civic achievement as well as support for WVU.

Frederick and Joan Stamp of Wheeling, W.Va., have been dedicated supporters of the state and WVU for many years.

Judge Stamp has been a U.S. District Court Judge serving the Northern District of West Virginia since 1990. His outreach work has taken him beyond the bench to serve in the state Legislature and as a past president of the former state Board of Regents. He has served on the WVU College of Law Visiting Committee. Judge Stamp holds degrees from Washington & Lee University and the University of Richmond Law School.

Mrs. Stamp, who owns a jewelry design business, is a 1973 graduate of WVU, earning her degree in marketing. She currently serves on the WVU Foundation Board of Directors, and is a member of several corporate and charitable boards, as well as a lifetime member of the WVU Alumni Association. She is a former member of the WVU Rosenbaum Family House Board of Advisors, and twice chaired the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center Gala. Mrs. Stamp’s father, the late Louis Corson, is still revered for writing the WVU Alma Mater.

The Stamps are members of the Woodburn Circle Society, the WVU Foundation’s highest level of donor recognition.

Most Loyal Alumni
The Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer exemplifies faithfulness to the ideas and goals of the University and exhibits support for WVU activities and operations through leadership and service.

Parry Petroplus is the president of Petroplus and Associates Inc., a Morgantown commercial real estate firm and the managing member of Platinum Properties, LLC, a commercial real estate developer. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from WVU in 1973. He has been involved with a number of community and statewide organizations over the years, including the WVU Board of Governors (2002-08); Centra Bank, West Virginia board of directors; Linsly School board of trustees; WVU Alumni Association; The Foundation of Monongalia General Hospital’s board of trustees (1993-2001); West Virginia Roundtable; Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce; Harrison County Chamber of Commerce; and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

Petroplus has received several honors, including Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau Edith Barill Award, SBA Small Business Person of the Year and the Association of Builders and Contractors Excellence in Construction Award. In 2009, he was named to the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame.

Mr. Petroplus is a member of the WVU Foundation’s Woodburn Circle Society.

Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineers
The Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineers exemplify faithfulness to the ideals and goals of WVU and exhibit support for University activities and operations through leadership and service.

Rudolph Almasy of Morgantown has given more than 40 years of service to WVU, serving in many roles at the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences. He is currently a professor of English and served as chairman of the Department of English during the 1980s. Dr. Almasy has served as interim dean of the Eberly College on three separate occasions, associate dean for development from 1997-2009, and associate dean for academic affairs from 1992-95.

A native of the Chicago area, Dr. Almasy earned his doctorate degree in English renaissance literature from the University of Minnesota. He holds a master’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in English from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill. He publishes regularly in the field of 16th century English reformation studies, and enjoys working with future high school and middle school English teachers.

Michael Ellington of Grafton, W.Va., is in his 25th year at WVU where he currently serves as assistant vice president of Student Affairs. He earned both his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from WVU. In his current role, Ellington develops and supports WVU’s goal of providing a safe haven for its students through standard, integrative and alternative programs, generated and supported through the entities he oversees including the Mountainlair Student Union, The Center for Black Culture and Research, Arts & Entertainment and WVU Dining Services.

Ellington currently serves on the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors. He is a past president of the Morgantown Rotary Club and is currently an assistant district governor with Rotary. He has served in numerous professional organizations including Main Street Morgantown, The Association of College Unions – International, past president of the ACU-I Committee on Multi-Ethnic Programs and is a current board member with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

-WVUF-

ts/bn/11/8/2010

CONTACTS: Bill Nevin, WVU Foundation
304-284-4056; wnevin@wvuf.org

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