The WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors welcomed four new members — Kevin Ellis (clockwise from top left), Abigail Browning, Abe Key and Denise Workman — during its annual business meeting. (WVU Graphic)
Three West Virginia University alumni and one current student were elected to the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors during the Alumni Association’s annual business meeting.
Kevin Ellis, Abe Key and Denise Workman will each serve six-year terms, and student member Abigail Browning will serve a one-year term. Their terms were effective June 2024.
Kevin Ellis of Bridgeport currently serves as Antero Resources Corporation’s regional senior vice president, Appalachia. Prior to being appointed a senior vice president in 2022, he held various roles at Antero from 2011 to 2022. Before joining Antero, Ellis served as in-house counsel to Bluestone Energy Partners and practiced law at Steptoe and Johnson PLLC within the firm’s energy practice group.
Ellis is the past president of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia and the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association, a past board member of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association, and a current member of the WVU Alumni Association. Ellis holds a bachelor of arts degree in political science from The Citadel and a doctor of jurisprudence from the WVU College of Law.
Abe Key, a one-time player in the Washington, Pennsylvania Pony and Colt Leagues, assumed the presidency of PONY Baseball and Softball in January 1995. After a five-year stint as a part-time employee while he was in high school and college, he joined the staff on a full-time basis following his graduation from what is now the Reed School of Media and Communications and the John Chambers College of Business and Economics in 1981. In addition to his responsibilities at PONY, Key currently serves on the USA Baseball Board of Directors and has served several other terms starting in 1995 and was a member of the executive committee as vice president-treasurer from 2000-2008.
Active in his community in Washington, Key is an advisory Board member of the Washington Greene County Sports Hall of Fame and received the Youth Service Award in 2014. He also received the Humanitarian of the Year award from the Washington County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 2013. Key is married to Susan Mondik Key, a retired partner in the Washington law firm of Peacock Keller. They have a daughter Casey, who graduated from John Carroll University, and a son Lincoln, who graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder.
Denise Workman of Charleston is an experienced educator who holds a master’s degree in special education for the gifted from WVU. She is a teacher for the gifted in Kanawha County Schools and specializes in student identification, advocacy, enrichment and talent development. She is the past president and a current member of the West Virginia Association for Gifted and Talented.
Workman is active in her community as a volunteer and has held leadership positions for various civic and nonprofit organizations. She is a member of the Leadership West Virginia Class of 2016, an alumna of the Beta Upsilon Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma and currently serves as a board member for the Charles and Mary Fayne Glotfelty Foundation. She is also a past president of the Boone County Alumni and Friends chapter and continues her work there as an alumni leader focusing on the annual pig roast and student scholarships.
Abigail Browning is the WVU student body vice president for 2024-25. She is a senior psychology major from Hurricane minoring in law and legal studies and criminology. Her campus involvement also includes director of alumnae relations for the Alpha Xi chapter of Delta Gamma, and a member of the Pre-Law Society and the Mental Health and Addiction Studies Club. Browning is serving a one-year term as the student representative of the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“We are excited to welcome our newest directors to the Board,” Kevin Berry, vice president of Alumni Relations and CEO of the WVU Alumni Association, said. “Their unique backgrounds and dedication to our mission will strengthen our community and help us to continue moving toward a future filled with growth, collaboration and meaningful achievements.”
During the annual business meeting, new members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors Executive Committee were elected to serve one-year terms. Marilyn McClure-Demers of Columbus, Ohio will serve as chair of the Board of Directors. In addition, Sharon Flanery of Charleston will serve as vice chair; Zach Mendelson of Pittsburgh as secretary; Gabrielle St. Léger of Philadelphia as treasurer; Kamau Brown, of Marina del Rey, California, at-large; and Tracy Schoenadel of Stamford, Connecticut as past chair.
The WVU Alumni Association was organized in 1873 and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 1977. This year, the organization celebrates its 150th anniversary. It is the oldest University affiliate serving its largest constituency.
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