Ryan Turek, a junior at West Virginia University majoring in sport management, is experiencing what most baseball fans only dream of — working during the Major League Baseball Playoffs. When the Cleveland Guardians hosted the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs, Turek, originally from Mayfield Heights, Ohio, was in the thick of it all as a ballpark runner, making sure operations behind the scenes ran smoothly.
Andrew Solt and Aidan Priest had no intention of joining Greek life as undergraduate students at West Virginia University, let alone building a fraternity from the ground up; however, a few conversations with Paul “PJ” Malafronte, the former director of expansion for the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, changed the trajectory of their lives.
When Ian Frease was a student at West Virginia University, he recalls a scolding from a voice on a speaker he received for bouncing a basketball at a PRT station. Never did he consider he would end up working in the PRT control room, playing a crucial role in operations of the primary mass transit system for the University.
The West Virginia University Mine Rescue Team has evolved from the seed of an idea born out of determination to a highly respected competition team earning accolades around the world for its performance. Built by students from multiple disciplines on campus and industry experts with a passion for safety and rescue, the team already has two international and four national champion titles under its belt.
Developing a new kind of rechargeable battery — zinc-ion batteries, a cheaper, safer alternative to today’s lithium-ion batteries — is the goal of West Virginia University graduate student and postdoctoral fellow Xiujuan Chen.
Matthew Richardson and Akeya Simeon of the West Virginia University Center for Fraternal Values and Leadership are on a hazing education mission, focusing on how to continue creating a safer and more inclusive community on campus where such destructive behaviors have no place.
More than 13 years after his death, the legacy of Dr. James Boland, longtime chairman of the Department of Surgery at the West Virginia University School of Medicine Charleston Campus, still looms large. Generations of alumni cite Boland as an instrumental influence in their careers and continue to celebrate his memory through charitable gifts to support a lectureship and professorship established in his name.
First Ascent, a program designed to cultivate and retain local talent within West Virginia by supporting new graduates from West Virginia University and Marshall University, is seeing success one year after its launch. Parker Surface and Landon Lambert are two current participants seeing benefits from the program’s mix of professional development, outdoor recreation and community engagement.
From old floorboards, tree roots and driftwood, West Virginia University professor Nina Assimakopoulos handcrafts flutes in the Native American tradition, then “woos the voice of the wood” into being through improvisational performance. She recently won a Best Solo Native American Flute CD award from the World Flute Society for her recordings with these unique flutes.
Seven current and former West Virginia University students are gaining valuable experience while serving local communities thanks to the WVU College of Creative Arts and Media’s Internship Alliance which provides paid internships, allowing students to begin their professional careers early.