Graduate Education

West Virginia University has released its Spring 2026 Dean’s and President’s lists, as well as the full list of spring semester graduates.

With a focus on investments in the future of West Virginia University, the Board of Governors approved a $1.3 billion operating budget for the coming fiscal year during a Friday meeting (June 19) that opened with the announcement of a first-of-its-kind research partnership with Johns Hopkins University and a celebration of the historic College World Series run for the WVU baseball team.

Tapping into the power of collaboration, Johns Hopkins University and West Virginia University are launching a new partnership to bring together researchers from both institutions to address complex challenges in health, science and society while positioning faculty teams to compete for future external funding.

Building on previous groundbreaking discoveries of rare earth elements in acid mine drainage from retired coal mines, West Virginia University is launching the WVU Rare Earth Elements Initiative, or WVU REE, uniting researchers who focus on rare earths and critical minerals as they explore and secure a domestic supply of these materials.

Accepting a charge from West Virginia University President Michael T. Benson to boldly carry forward the University’s land-grant mission of service and leadership, thousands of graduates crossed the Commencement stage at the Hope Coliseum May 15-17.

The four West Virginia University students — Daniel Campa, of Morgantown; Colin Krisulevicz, of Salisbury, Maryland; Rebecca Ozbolt, of Akron, Ohio; and Samuel Stalnaker, of Atwater, California and Cowen — have joined the ranks of the nation’s top emerging researchers after earning National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

Syd Peng, a retired faculty leader at the West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, is honoring his family’s academic legacy with a pledged $3 million in his will to establish endowed chair and professor positions at the WVU Statler College.

PE Limited, also known as Petex, is extending its partnership with West Virginia University to ensure students and faculty in the University’s geology and engineering programs have access to the company’s advanced energy production modeling tools with an in-kind software gift valued at more than $6.5 million.

Eight West Virginia University graduate students are pursuing research and discovery to solve real-world challenges with support from WVU Foundation scholarships. The merit-based scholarship awards help students defray education and research costs as they complete their theses and dissertations.

Clayton Thyne, an experienced administrator, researcher and educator will join the West Virginia University leadership team as the inaugural Linda and Don Brodie Dean of the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest academic unit.