A longtime public servant, a caring healthcare professional, an accomplished educator and a dedicated employee in the West Virginia University College of Business & Economics are being honored as “Most Loyals” during the 67th annual Mountaineer Week.
The 2014 honorees are Kay Goodwin, Most Loyal West Virginian; Dr. Larry Schwab, Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer; Paul Lewis, Most Loyal Faculty Mountaineer; and Jo Morrow, Most Loyal Staff Mountaineer. The group will be honored during halftime ceremonies of Saturday’s (Nov. 1) WVU vs. TCU football game.
The Most Loyal West Virginian and Alumni Mountaineer awards have been presented since 1974. The Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer award was created in 1994 and split into two separate awards in 2001. Award recipients are selected by a joint committee representing the WVU Foundation, WVU Alumni Association and the Mountaineer Week organizing committee.
Most Loyal West Virginian
The Most Loyal West Virginian exemplifies faithfulness to the ideals and goals of the state of West Virginia through business, professional and civic achievement, as well as support for WVU.
Kay Goodwin was appointed Cabinet Secretary for the Department of Education and the Arts in 2001 by Gov. Bob Wise and reappointed by Govs. Joe Manchin and Earl Ray Tomblin.
She serves on many state commissions and boards, including the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission, West Virginia Humanities Council and West Virginia Film Commission. She is co-chairman of the Center for Professional Development Board, chair of the Commission on the West Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, chair of the Early Childhood Advisory Council and is the governor’s designee to the Educational Broadcasting Authority.
Goodwin, who earned two degrees from WVU, is a longstanding supporter of her alma mater. She is a former president of the WVU Alumni Association and a 2008 inductee of the WVU College of Education and Human Services Hall of Fame.
Goodwin and her husband, Joseph, reside in Charleston.
Most Loyal Alumni
The Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer exemplifies faithfulness to the ideas and goals of the University and exhibits support for WVU activities and operations through leadership and service.
Dr. Larry Schwab is a nationally known ophthalmologist, whose efforts to prevent and cure blindness span the globe.
Schwab graduated from WVU with a bachelor’s degree in 1962 and a medical degree in 1966. After serving as a medical officer and surgeon in Vietnam, he returned to WVU to complete his residency in ophthalmology.
For more than 40 years, Schwab has worked with the International Eye Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention and cure of blindness worldwide. He has held more than a dozen appointments with the IEF, assisting developing nations in creating ophthalmic training courses and curricula, designing national blindness prevention strategies and developing outreach programs. He later returned to Morgantown to begin practice locally with Regional Eye Associates, but still remains involved in eye care projects in Africa and Latin America.
Schwab, who is a passionate lover of music and the arts, spent two stints as a trumpet player for the WVU Marching Band. First as an undergraduate, then returning to march from 2000-12.
Among his many honors and awards include induction into WVU’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni.
Schwab and his wife, Martha, live in Morgantown.
Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineers
The Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineers exemplify faithfulness to the ideals and goals of WVU and exhibit support for University activities and operations through leadership and service.
Paul Lewis is the assistant director for outreach and community affairs in WVU’s Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design, and a professor in the college’s Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences.
Lewis has been involved with West Virginia agriculture for nearly 50 years, serving as an ambassador for WVU to the sheep and beef cattle industries in the Mountain State. He has played a major role in establishing positive relationships with producers, and enhancing the visibility of the University among those groups. He has played a major role in promoting the successful adoption of current production technologies, particularly those related to reproduction. Lewis has worked tirelessly to address questions and solve problems related to the sheep and beef cattle industries.
Lewis earned both his master’s and doctorate degrees from WVU before joining the faculty in 1978. He has made major contributions and impacted the lives and careers of numerous undergraduate and graduate students at WVU as an adviser and instructor.
For his efforts, Lewis received WVU’s Heebink Award for outstanding service, as well as certificates of merit from the West Virginia beef industry. He is an inductee in the West Virginia Agriculture and Forestry Hall of Fame, and has been honored by Gamma Sigma Delta, the national honorary for agriculture.
He and his wife, Sandy, live in Morgantown.
Jo Morrow has more than 45 years in service to WVU, and is currently serving as a program assistant II for the Department of Management in WVU’s College of Business & Economics. In this position, she works with the undergraduate student program and provides assistance to management majors.
Morrow’s leadership and service to her alma mater go beyond her day-to-day position. She spent more than 20 years as a member of the WVU Classified Staff Council, including two terms as chair. She also served one term as a member of WVU’s Board of Governors.
Morrow has served on several University and college-wide committees – including a presidential search and several dean searches. She also served as the staff representative on numerous standing and ad-hoc committees, and is involved in many community organizations.
Morrow earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WVU. She is a past recipient of the College of Business and Economics annual staff service award.
Morrow and her husband, Wes, reside in Morgantown.
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bn/10/27/2014
CONTACT: Bill Nevin, WVU Foundation
304.284.4056, wnevin@wvuf.org
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