2003 Recipients

• William D. Barnhart, M.D.
  Program Director, Internal Medicine, Weiss Memorial Hospital of the University of Chicago Hospitals
  
  William D. Barnhart has had a distinguished career as a physician and a teacher. In 2001, Chicago magazine named Barnhart one of the Chicago area's top doctors in the field of geriatric medicine. A native of Wheeling, West Virginia and a 1967 graduate of WVU with a pre-medicine degree from the College of Arts and Sciences, Barnhart traveled to Chicago to attend Northwestern University where he earned his M.D. degree in 1971.
  He then completed an internship at Wesley Memorial Hospital in the city, and later completed a two-year residency at Emory University Affiliated Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Barnhart served a stint at the U.S. Army Hospital at Fort Stewart, Georgia, from 1974 to 1976 and then returned to Chicago to serve as an attending physician at Northwestern Hospital. He completed an MBA at the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in 1988, and because of his interests in religion, studied at Garret-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
  Currently, Barnhart is program director for internal medicine and director of medical education at Louis A. Weiss Memorial Hospital of the University of Chicago Hospitals, and a clinical associate professor of medicine, University of Chicago. He is a member of several hospital committees and is a clinician and educator in the fields of preventive medicine, geriatrics, and critical reading.



• James R. Gabriel
  Co-Founder and President, Gabriel Brothers, Inc. and Rugged Wearhouse, Inc.
  
  James R. Gabriel earned his Master's in political science from WVU in 1958. James Gabriel and his brother, Arthur, founded Gabriel Brothers while Jim was teaching at WVU. Throughout an outstanding business career, he has continued his enthusiasm for the study of American government and society. Gabriel Brothers, Inc. began in the early 1960s with stores in Uniontown, Morgantown, and Fairmont. The company has expanded to 30 locations in five regional states.
  Always looking forward with retail acumen, Gabriel Brothers, Inc. moved to establish the company Rugged Wearhouse, which now has more than 40 stores in five states. Because of the Gabriel commitment to the area, their corporate headquarters has remained in Morgantown. Gabriel Brothers, Inc. and Rugged Wearhouse, Inc. are family owned and operated corporations that strive to promote good citizenship in their employees, and appreciate workers who speak and write well, solve problems, and adapt well.



• Jay A. Garner
  Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Development Officer, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, Chattanooga, Tennessee
  
  A native of Martinsburg, West Virginia, Jay A. Garner received his B.A. in political science and a master of public administration degree from WVU in 1978 and 1979 respectively. He returned to the state's Eastern Panhandle for his first professional position, accepting the executive directorship of the Jefferson County Development Authority, in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1980. He has directed award-winning economic development and chamber organizations for 23 years, including positions in Dalton, GA, Mobile, AL, Asheville, NC, and Tampa, FL.
  He recently served as the President of the Economic Strategy Center, Inc. in Atlanta, GA where he strategically assisted communities in their economic development initiatives. Garner, at the time of this recognition, was the Executive Vice President and Chief Economic Development Officer for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1989, while leading the economic development program in Mobile, Al, Garner was selected as one of ten outstanding leaders in economic development in the United States by Site Selection Handbook magazine The same publication recognized him for running one of the ten best development organizations in the U.S. for six consecutive years.
  In his various positions, Garner has led more than 25 trade and business missions to Asia, leading to the creation of thousands of jobs and more than $12 billion in capital investment in the Unites States.