spotlight

Growing up in rural McDowell County, Dr. Nicholas Baker, associate professor of thoracic surgery with the West Virginia University Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery in the School of Medicine and the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute, saw few options for his future. He chose college — encouraged by his mother — a path that led him to medical school, then robotic thoracic surgery and, eventually, back to his home state.

A West Virginia University connection comes full circle this week when Fairmont-based painter Lauren Adams returns for her second year as a juried artist at the WVU Mountaineer Week Arts & Craft Fair.

Despite being in just his second year on campus, Aidan Forget is already a junior in the West Virginia University College of Applied Human Sciences and has immersed himself in research in his field of study — sport, exercise and performance psychology.

It’s not just any song played by the West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band at Milan Puskar Stadium. “Simple Gifts” is a cue that game day is officially underway, a clarion call that pulls the attention of Mountaineer Nation directly to “The Pride of West Virginia” with an arrangement crafted more than five decades ago by alum David McCullough.

For West Virginia University undergraduate researcher Kasia Jaczynska, who grew up in Morgantown, “WVU has always felt like home.” Now a senior, she came to the University fascinated by chemistry and the access that discipline gave her to the invisible world of molecules and atoms.

Lauren Fitzgerald, a senior from Fanwood, New Jersey, grew up surrounded by sports through her father’s career and her brother’s interest in the field. From her experience with the New Jersey Jackals to her internship with West Virginia University Athletics in Operations and Facilities, she has turned her family’s influence into a foundation for her own career path.

Whinston Antion, director of identity and access management with West Virginia University Information Technology Services, has served as a key leader in the University’s digital security efforts for nearly two decades. “I have the privilege of leading a team of experts who serve as the University’s digital gatekeepers,” he said.

Before he became a national champion or a doctoral candidate, Casey Orndorff was just a high school kid trying to keep up. When he walked onto the campus of West Virginia University Institute of Technology, he had big dreams for his future which now include making the 2028 Summer Paralympics team.

West Virginia University senior Sam Stalnaker arrived on campus with limited physics knowledge. But thanks to strong mentors and faculty relationships, he’s become a trusted member of the undergraduate physics and astronomy research team and is on his way to reaching his full potential.

Though she used to be one, Madison Clayton, West Virginia University Mountaineer Athletic Club director of donor relations and communications, says she will have no problem rooting against the Pitt Panthers in the “Backyard Brawl.”