2006 Recipients

• James P. Zacny
  Professor, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care
  University of Chicago
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University is pleased to honor James P. Zacny with the College’s Alumni Recognition Award. Dr. Zacny has led a distinguished career as a professor and researcher of human behavioral pharmacology and is widely regarded as an expert in the field of psychopharmacology.
  Dr. Zacny is a 1978 cum laude graduate of Saint Joseph College, Rennselaer, Indiana, where he earned a B.S. in psychology. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in psychology from WVU in 1981 and 1983, respectively. Dr. Zacny completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University and then went on to the University of Chicago in 1987. Currently, he is a professor in the University of Chicago’s Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care.
  Over the past twelve years, Dr. Zacny has studied the psychopharmacological effects of intravenous and oral opioids in recreational drug users. He is one of the few psychopharmacologists in the country to examine the specific behavioral effects of opioids in a non-drug- abusing population. His work in this area has filled a critical void in the scientific knowledge base about this group of drugs.
  Dr. Zacny has published 105 scientific papers, 86 abstracts, and five book chapters on the subjective and psychomotor effects of drugs used in medical settings and other related topics. His research has been supported by federally funded grants totaling over $3 million.
  The significance of Dr. Zacny’s work may be measured not only by the considerable federal funding that it has generated, but also by his election to and participation in prestigious professional groups. Dr. Zacny was elected to membership in the Behavioral Pharmacology Society and the Association of University Anesthesiologists and to the status of Fellow in two divisions of the American Psychological Association. He is also the recipient of the National Institute for Drug Abuse’s MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award.
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences commends Dr. Zacny for his academic and professional achievements, and for his commitment to lifelong learning, discovery, and intellectual engagement. As an expert in the area of psychopharmacology, his contributions to the field will be recognized as important and influential for years to come.



• Cheryl Ware
  Children’s Author
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor Cheryl Ware with the College’s Alumni Recognition Award. She is a 1991 M.A. graduate of the Department of English and the author of four well-received children’s novels.
  Ware’s delightful Venola May series, which first saw publication in 1996 with Flea Circus Summer, immediately won national attention, and it was selected as one of the outstanding books for boys and girls that year by the Junior Library Guild. Catty-Cornered, her second book in the series, was released in April of 1998 and joined Amazon.com’s 1998 top 20 list of best new books for older readers. In July of that year, her first book also was released in paperback, a sign of its continuing importance as a children’s novel. A third book, Venola in Love, published in 2000, gave us Venola on the internet; her unique epistolary form continues with e-mails and journal entries. A fourth book, Roberta Price Has Head Lice!, released in 2004, is illustrated by West Virginia artist Cyndy Collins. This book, which Ware says offers a way for teachers to approach a delicate subject, also serves another purpose. “With the emphasis on character education and anti-bullying in the schools, teachers can use the book as a lead-in to these discussions.”
  In October 2005, Ware participated in the English Department’s annual Alumni Career Forum, where she recounted her experiences through her various occupational paths. Punctuated by humor and grace, Ware discussed her journey from ten years as a banker and accountant to her new life as a children’s author and K-8 school writing consultant. From her experiences as a graduate student at WVU, she credits teacher and writer Gail Adams with having a significant influence on her teaching style.
  Professor Adams remembers Ware with great affection and respect for her craft. “It’s wonderful to see the success that Cheryl has achieved as a writer. For those of us who first read her stories when she was a student at WVU, this will come as no surprise. She wrote wonderful stories about a big family in West Virginia and often her protagonist was a young, spunky girl who observed and reported on all that she saw. These stories were funny, poignant, and true. How lucky we are to have her as part of WVU’s history.”
  Ware lives in Elkins and continues to write for a national audience. She also channels her energies into her home state, conducting workshops with students and teachers to improve the writing skills of West Virginia’s children. Ware’s favorite protagonist Venola May Cutright, might write to those children, “Didn’t I ask you for some exciting and heart-wrenching times? And I guess there’s still time for learning to rock climb, to scuba dive peacefully with sharks, and to play the bongos with aborigines in some far, far distant land from Belington.”
  The Eberly College recognizes Cheryl Ware for her accomplishments in education and in the field of children’s literature.



• Peter S. Kalis
  Partner, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor Peter J. Kalis with its Alumni Recognition Award. Mr. Kalis has continued to serve West Virginia University and the Eberly College well after graduation as a founding member and chair of the Eberly College Advisory Board. He has continually been an outspoken advocate for WVU, the Eberly College, and for the value of an arts and sciences education.
  Mr. Kalis graduated from WVU in 1972 with a BA in Political Science. He served as student body president and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was also WVU’s 17th Rhodes Scholar, and he went on to earn his doctor of philosophy in politics from Brasenose College at Oxford University in 1976. Mr. Kalis received his law degree from Yale in 1978, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law Journal.
  After law school, Mr. Kalis served as law clerk to the late J. Skelly Wright, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and for the late Byron R. White, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. While working for Justice White, he became associated with the Pittsburgh office of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP, and was elected to partnership at the firm in 1985. Currently, he serves as chairman of the firm’s Management Committee. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, and Lawdragon Magazine’s “500 Leading Lawyers in America.”
  Mr. Kalis is a member of the American Law Institute. He has served on task forces of the American Bar Association, and he routinely addresses professional groups on both practice and law firm leadership topics. He serves as the ABA’s National Law Day chair and serves ex-officio on the ABA’ s Commission on Civic Education and Separation of Powers, as well as the Standing Committee on Public Education. He is on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors and chairs the Finance and Investment Committee of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute at WVU and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Pancreas Foundation. He is a past director of the Duquesne Club, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the Children’s Center of Pittsburgh, and the Three Rivers Young People’s Orchestra.
  Mr. Kalis has published more than 50 articles in professional journals and in academic law reviews, has authored a book on insurance law, edited Tobacco Litigation and Insurance, and served as the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of insurance Coverage.
  The Eberly College recognizes Mr. Kalis for his achievements in the field of law and for his commitment to the University and his community. Through both his professional and volunteer work, Mr. Kalis truly exemplifies the values of an arts and sciences education, and we are honored to recognize him as an outstanding alumnus.



• Dwight B. Billings
  Professor of Sociology, University of Kentucky
  
  The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences is pleased to honor Dr. Dwight B. Billings with the College’s Alumni Recognition Award. He is a nationally-recognized sociologist & the Appalachian region and its economic history.
  Dr. Billings earned his BA. with Highest Honors in sociology from the Eberly College in 1970. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973 and 1976, respectively. In 1976, he was hired by the University of Kentucky, where he is currently a professor of sociology.
  Dr. Billings is truly a multidisciplinary scholar. His experience and knowledge not only of sociology, but also of history, religion, geography and other disciplines make him a widely-regarded author, teacher, and researcher.
  He is the author of several award-winning books on Appalachia, including Planters and the Making of the New South, which won the Distinguished Scholarly Achievement Award of the North Central Sociological Association in 1980, as well as his co-authored The Road to Poverty: the Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia, which won the Appalachian Studies Association’s Weatherford Prize for the best book on Appalachia in 2001. Currently, he serves as editor of the Journal of Appalachian Studies.
  His research has been supported with major grants from a number of foundations and agencies, including the Ford Foundation, the Appalachian Regional Commission, the U.S. Economic Research Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to external funding, Billings has been recognized by his own institution as College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor and University Research Professor. He has also served as Research Coordinator and Director of the Appalachian Center, the only major center of its kind in the United States.
  The Eberly College commends Dr. Billings for his commitment to lifelong learning, discovery, and intellectual engagement. Through his professional and academic work, Dr. Billings truly exemplifies the values of an arts and sciences education, and we are honored to recognize him as an outstanding alumnus of the College.



• John E. Ferling
  Author and Historian
  Professor Emeritus at the University of West Georgia