2004 Recipients

• Maggie Anderson
  Professor of English and Director of the Wick Poetry Program, Kent State University
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor Maggie Anderson by naming her a recipient of the College's Alumni Recognition Award for 2004. Maggie graduated in 1971 with a BA in English, in 1973 with an MA in English, and in 1977 with an MSW in Social Work, all from West Virginia University. Since graduation, she has become a nationally recognized poet, editor, and educator.
  The Eberly College celebrates Maggie's talent for writing poetry which delights the ear and inspires the mind and spirit. She has also made her writing and that of others available to broad audiences. Maggie is the director of the Wick Poetry Program at Kent State University and the originator and editor of several series of books associated with that program. She has taught in a wide variety of educational settings: prestigious colleges, public schools, prisons, and rehabilitation centers.
  Maggie inspired and coedited two anthologies to honor people's lives. A Gathering of Poets memorializes, through poetry by some of the world's best poets, the 1970 deaths of students in an anti-war protest at Kent State University. Learning By Heart: Contemporary American Poetry About School was a culmination of Maggie's years working with and honoring classroom teachers. She is also the author of Cold Comfort, published in 1986, and most recently. Windfall: New and Selected Poems, published in 2000.
  A resident of Kent, Ohio, since 1989, Maggie was awarded the Helen and Laura Krout Memorial Ohioana Poetry Award in 2003, the nineteenth Ohio poet to receive this prestigious award. Maggie has also received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the MacDowell Colony. She was a Distinguished Visitor at WVU as part of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences' Distinguished Visitors Program.
  The Eberly College salutes Maggie Anderson for her deep commitment to social justice and for fulfilling the responsibilities of the intellectual in public discourse. The College celebrates this well published poet who has reached significant heights in her professional life and who is contributing to the intellectual and cultural life of our country.



• Thomas E. Potter
  Attorney and Partner of Jackson Kelly
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor Thomas E. Potter by naming him a recipient of the College's Alumni Recognition Award for 2003. Mr. Potter graduated in 1955 from West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and gained bar admission in 1957 after attending law school at WVU. Since graduation, Mr. Potter has remained active with the Alumni Association at WVU, with the WVU School of Law, and with the WVU Foundation, where he served on the Board of Directors. Because of his continuing interest in higher education in our state, Mr. Potter also served West Virginia by accepting an assignment on the WVU Board of Governors.
  Mr. Potter has a love for learning which he illustrates through his work on various statewide committees and through his concern for education in the State of West Virginia. Furthermore, he has an abiding interest in history and in economic development. For decades, Mr. Potter has demonstrated a commitment to civic leadership, especially through his work with public service organizations and his volunteer activities. He also has served the state and nation by remaining politically involved. He has served the Republican Party within West Virginia as well as being selected for the Republican National Committee. Mr. Potter has also been elected to the WV House of Delegates.
  An Arts and Sciences education encourages students to develop themselves fully for their profession and for their role in society. Mr. Potter has unselfishly served the citizens of West Virginia in a number of ways, including board memberships for the Center for Arts and Sciences in Charleston, the Charleston Area Medical Center, the YMCA, and the West Virginia state bar association.
  The Eberly College salutes Tom Potter for his success as an attorney, for his continuing commitment to his community, for his longtime efforts on behalf of higher education in West Virginia, and for his civil and social involvement as an educated servant citizen.



• Honorable Larry V. Starcher
  West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Justice
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor Larry V. Starcher by naming him a recipient of the College's Alumni Recognition Award. Through the tireless commitment he has made to his professional life, Judge Starcher exemplifies the social values and intellectual excitement characterized by a broad-based arts and sciences education. Justice Starcher earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences in 1964 and his Doctor of Jurisprudence in 1967 from the WVU College of Law. He has served as Director of the North Central West Virginia Legal Aid Society, WVU Vice- President for Off-Campus Education, and as a practicing attorney.
  The citizens of Monongalia County first elected Justice Starcher to a circuit judgeship in 1976. Throughout the twenty years he served the court, Starcher gained experience and a reputation as a fair and impartial justice. For eighteen years he held the position of chief justice. During his tenure, Justice Starcher presided over the trial of 20,000 asbestos injury cases and a six-month state buildings asbestos trial. In 1996, Justice Starcher was successfully elected to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Twice he has led the court as chief justice in 1999 and 2003. At the completion of his current Supreme Court of Appeals term in 2008, Justice Starcher will have served thirty-two years as an elected judicial official in the State of West Virginia.
  Because of his skills and wide judicial knowledge, the justice is a highy sought after instructor at judicial conferences and continues to serve as an adjunct lecturer at the WVU College of Law. Justice Starcher is a proud father of three, all of whom have degrees from WVU. Mollianne received a B.A. in Interdepartmental Studies, M.A. in Foreign Languages, and a J.D. from the College of Law. Victor received a B.A. in Biology and a M.D. from the School of Medicine. Amy received a B.S. in Social Work and a M.A. in Public Administration.
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences salutes The Honorable Larry V. Starcher for his dedication to his profession and to his state. Throughout an extensive judicial career, Justice Starcher has retained the support of the citizens of our state while maintaining an important judicial career with integrity.



• G. William Whitehurst
  Kaufman Lecturer in Public Affairs, Old Dominion University
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor G. William Whitehurst by naming him a recipient of the College's Alumni Recognition Award. Dr. Whitehurst has a long and distinguished academic and political record as a public servant, supporter of the liberal arts, fine scholar, and teacher of great standing.
  Dr. Whitehurst has been affiliated with Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia for many years. He began his career in 1950 at the Norfolk Division of William and Mary (the forerunner of Old Dominion) where he taught history. He eventually earned a doctorate in American diplomatic history in 1962 from West Virginia University and soon became the Dean of Students at Old Dominion. He served from 1963 to 1968. While he was the Dean of Students, he also worked as a news analyst for WTAR-TV (1962-1968). He left Old Dominion to pursue a political career after being elected to the House of Representatives in 1968.
  Dr. Whitehurst had a distinguished career in the House of Representatives, serving the Second Congressional District of Virginia for nine terms. While in the House of Representatives, his principal congressional committee assignment was the House Armed Services Committee, but he also served a six-year term on the Select Committee on Intelligence, two years on the Ethics Committee, and as a Delegate of the North Atlantic Assembly. Following Dr. Whitehurst's retirement from Congress in 1987, he worked as a news analyst for another year, this time at WVEC-TV.
  During the same year, Dr. Whitehurst was appointed the Kaufman Lecturer in Public Affairs at Old Dominion, a significant academic appointment based on one's teaching skills, publications, academic work, and civic involvement. Dr. Whitehurst is a highly respected educator teaching both history and political science courses to thousands of students. Furthermore, he has published two volumes of his congressional diaries: The Diary of a Congressman, Vol. I and ABSCAM and Beyond, The Diary of a Congressman, Vol. II, and contributed a chapter on lobbies and interest groups to a forthcoming book by former members of Congress pertaining to the work of the House of Representatives. To honor a frequent public speaker, popular teacher, and important member of both the campus and community, Old Dominion named a student resident hall after Dr. Whitehurst.
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences salutes Dr. G. William Whitehurst and his commitment to the value and importance of a liberal education. Through an extensive and widespread academic and political career, Dr. Whitehurst has touched the lives of many through his work as an educator, as a member of the House of Representatives, as a news analyst, and as the Kaufman Lecturer at Old Dominion University.



• Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey
  Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Wright State University
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor Dr. Mary Ellen Mazey by naming her a recipient of the College's Alumni Recognition Award. As the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Wright State University, Dr. Mazey embodies the principles of an arts and sciences educational philosophy on a daily basis. In 1970, Dr. Mazey graduated with honors from WVU's arts and sciences college with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. She continued her educational pursuits at West Virginia University by receiving a Master's degree in Geology in 1972. Dr. Mazey completed her college education with a PhD in Urban Geography from the University of Cincinnati in 1977.
  Dr. Mazey embarked on her long association with Wright State University in 1979 as an assistant professor. Between 1983 and 1994, Mazey's ideas would influence the direction and focus of urban affairs and geography disciplines from her roles as Director of the Office of Urban Affairs, Chair of the Department of Geography, Director of the Center for Urban and Public Affairs, and Chair of the Department of Urban Affairs.
  Dr. Mazey's managerial abilities led to her selection as the Director for the Office of the University Partnership under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1996, a position she held for a year. As director she managed a $25 million budget and five significant grant programs: the Community Outreach Partnerships Center Program, the Joint Community Development Program, the Community Development Work Study Program, the Hispanic Serving Institution's Work Study Program, and the Doctoral Dissertation Grant Program.
  Dr. Mazey's love of academics drew her back to Wright State University where she accepted the position of Chair in the Department of Urban Affairs and Geography in 1998. During the same year, Dr. Mazey was asked to serve as interim dean for the College of Liberal Arts. Because of her outstanding work as interim, Mazey received the appointment of Dean in April of 1999.