The WVU Alumni Association will honor alumni whose leadership and service continue to strengthen the University and communities during WVU Homecoming Oct. 12-18. (WVU Graphic)
As Mountaineers return for West Virginia University Homecoming, Oct. 12-18, the WVU Alumni Association will honor alumni whose leadership and service continue to strengthen the University and communities near and far.
Each of the 2026 Homecoming and Alumni Service Awards recipients has found different ways to carry the Mountaineer spirit forward through public service, philanthropy, mentorship, innovation, and an enduring commitment to WVU.
Homecoming Parade Grand
Marshal
WVU women’s basketball standout Jordan Harrison (’26), the 2026 Big 12 Defensive
Player of the Year, will serve as the 2026 Homecoming Parade Marshal.
Harrison closed her Mountaineer career with a standout senior season. Along with earning WBCA Honorable Mention All-America honors, she was selected to the All-Big 12 First Team and All-Big 12 Defensive Team. She led the conference with 110 steals, the second-highest single-season total in program history. She also recorded a career-high 178 assists and averaged 13.1 points per game.
The Oklahoma City native also excelled off the court. A general business major in the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics, Harrison earned Academic All-America and Academic All-Big 12 honors in addition to recognition on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.
Harrison represents the drive, discipline, and pride that define Mountaineer student-athletes.
Outstanding Alumni Award
Three-time WVU graduate Anitra Hamilton (’00, ’01, ’04) has spent
her career serving others through healthcare, education, public leadership, and
community advocacy.
Hamilton earned WVU degrees in psychology, biology, and nursing, and has remained deeply connected to the University throughout her career. A longtime healthcare professional, Hamilton represents Monongalia County’s 81st District in the West Virginia House of Delegates. She serves as minority chair of the House Education Committee and minority vice chair of the House Health and Human Resources Committee.
Hamilton is also a past president of the Morgantown-Kingwood Branch of the NAACP and serves as an external advisor to the 100 Black Women at WVU student organization. She also serves as vice chair of the WVU Council for Gender Equity, having previously served as its chair, mentors students, supports scholarship initiatives, and continues her work through Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. to strengthen the community.
Whether caring for patients, developing future leaders, or representing her constituents, Hamilton has built a record of service to WVU and the people of West Virginia.
Paul B. “Buck” Martin Award
John Dowling (’89) has devoted more than four decades to
military service, student mentorship, and the traditions that connect
generations of WVU Army ROTC cadets.
A retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel and graduate of the WVU Army ROTC Mountaineer Battalion, Dowling has served as recruiting operations officer for ROTC since 2013. In this role, he guides prospective cadets through scholarship opportunities, enrollment requirements, military benefits, and the path to commissioning. His long tenure has also provided important continuity as military personnel rotate through the program.
Dowling also helped to establish Friends of WVU Army ROTC, a nonprofit organization that engages alumni and raises support for the battalion. He coordinates campus traditions including the annual 9/11 vigil, dining-out ceremonies, and commissioning events, while preserving the program’s history as its unofficial historian. Through his additional service with Operation Troop Appreciation, Dowling continues to support deployed military members.
His commitment to students, veterans, and University traditions reflects the loyalty and service at the heart of the Mountaineer experience.
James R. McCartney Community Service Award
Two-time WVU graduate Marilyn T. McClure-Demers (’88, ’91) has
used her experience as an attorney and Fortune 100 executive to create
opportunities for others and strengthen communities in West Virginia and
beyond.
McClure-Demers recently served as national co-chair of the Tiffany Circle National Council within the American Red Cross, becoming the first WVU graduate to serve in that role. She helped to lead efforts to raise $1.3 million for the American Red Cross’ sickle cell initiative, which included education and awareness that engages women philanthropists in the Red Cross mission.
Her service extends across organizations focused on education, economic development and opportunity, civil rights, human trafficking, and domestic violence. She has held leadership roles with United Way of Delaware County and currently serves with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, The EdVenture Group, and Coalfield Development.
At WVU, she has served as chair of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, helped launch a WVU College of Law mentoring program, and endowed a scholarship for first-generation students in the Mountaineer Marching Band.
Her wide-ranging service reflects an enduring commitment to helping communities and individuals thrive.
Margaret Buchanan Cole Young Alumni Award
With four WVU degrees — in mathematics, philosophy, applied mathematics, and business data analytics — Joshua Meadows (’17, ’19,
’21) is using data, technology, and experiential education to create
opportunities for students while addressing real challenges across West
Virginia.
Meadows serves as a service assistant professor in the WVU Chambers College and executive director of Data Driven WV. The outreach center connects students and faculty with businesses, nonprofits, and public agencies that need technical expertise and data-driven solutions.
Through Data Driven WV, students have helped small businesses and nonprofits improve their operations through technology and data solutions. His work also supported the state’s implementation of $1.2 billion in federal broadband funding aimed at expanding access and digital opportunities.
Meadows is also creating new pathways for students in applied artificial intelligence, analytics, and cloud technology while mentoring students and colleagues across the University. His contributions have been recognized with the Travis Stimeling Award for Mentoring Undergraduates in Research, the Ethel and Gerry Heebink Award for Distinguished State Service, and the WVU Impact Award.
Through his work, Meadows demonstrates how a WVU education can become a powerful tool for strengthening the state and preparing the next generation of Mountaineers.
John F. Nicholas Jr. Award
Mechanical engineering graduate Heather Dishman
(’08), a native of Cumberland, Maryland, works for Superior Energy Services, and brought her values of leadership, compassion, and service to Houston.
She joined the WVU Alumni Lone Star Chapter in 2008, finding mentors, friendships, and a Mountaineer family. Now chapter president, she helps nearly 1,000 Houston-area Mountaineers connect through game watches, tailgates, scholarship fundraising, student recruitment, and service projects like beach cleanups, food bank shifts, Memorial Day flag placements, and toy drives. After Hurricane Harvey, she coordinated supply collections and meal deliveries for displaced families.
She championed Bears and Blankets, now a nationwide WVU Alumni Association campaign providing stuffed animals and blankets to children at WVU Medicine Golisano Children’s. Her commitment to children extends beyond WVU; she volunteers with and advocates for children who have experienced abuse, helping ensure they’re safe, heard, and supported.
By sharing the chapter’s service model and mentoring alumni leaders, Dishman shows how Mountaineer compassion thrives beyond West Virginia.
David W. Jacobs Lifetime Service Award
Two-time WVU graduate Richard “Rick” Pill (’74, ’77) has spent more than five decades serving the University as a volunteer leader, donor, and steadfast Mountaineer.
Pill’s service has reached nearly every part of WVU. He served on the WVU Board of Governors, including as chair during the search for the University’s 27th president. He also served on the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors, WVU College of Law Visiting Committee, WVU Health System Board of Directors, and WVU Chambers College Visiting Committee. He also led the Alumni Association’s Eastern Panhandle Chapter and served as board chair for WVU Medicine’s Eastern Division.
Pill has established endowed scholarships supporting WVU student-athletes and College of Law students. WVU recognized him with the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2005 and inducted him into the WVU Greek Alumni Hall of Fame in 2023. His loyalty also shows in a remarkable personal tradition — he has not missed a WVU home football game since 1963. Additionally, all three of his daughters are WVU graduates.
Through decades of leadership, generosity, and unwavering support, Pill has made service to his alma mater a lifelong commitment.
The WVU Alumni Association Homecoming honorees will be recognized during the Homecoming Parade on Friday, Oct. 16, and at halftime of the WVU football game against Cincinnati on Saturday, Oct. 17. Kickoff is at noon.
Find more information about Homecoming 2026.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Shauna Johnson
Executive Director of Strategic Communications
WVU Strategic Communications and Marketing
304-293-8302; sjohns13@mail.wvu.edu