FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2017

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Glenville State College
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GLENVILLE, WV – Alumni and friends of Glenville State College gathered on campus for Alumni Day on Saturday, April 22. In addition to other events throughout the weekend, visitors enjoyed the annual alumni banquet which saw several alumni and friends of the college honored by the GSC Alumni Association.

John Westfall

John Westfall received the Community Service Award. After three years at GSC, he was accepted to the West Virginia University School of Dentistry and received his D.D.S. degree in 1975. After graduation, Westfall returned to Glenville to practice dentistry and retired in May 2016 after 41 years of service. He is a lifetime member of the American Dental Association. During his time in Glenville, Dr. Westfall has remained active in the community and has made significant contributions through his time, actions, talents, and dedication. John and his wife Pat reside on a farm in Glenville, where he enjoys taking on new projects. They have two children; Chad, an orthodontist in Abingdon, Virginia, and Lauren, an oncologist in Houston, Texas who will be returning to work in West Virginia in July.

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Janet (James) Bailey (left) with Katie (Murray) Ogle (right)

Katie (Murray) Ogle received the Outstanding Young Alumna Award. She graduated from GSC with honors in May 2008 and earned a Juris Doctorate from the Appalachian School of Law in May 2011. Ogle is a member of the Knoxville Bar and is a contributing editor for the Knoxville Bar Association magazine. She is currently an associate with McDonald, Levy and Taylor Law Firm of Knoxville, Tennessee. Her prior legal employment includes three years with Haynes, Meek and Summers, PLLC, also of Knoxville, as well as a year in that city in private practice. While at GSC Katie was involved with the educational sorority Kappa Delta Pi and other volunteer organizations, all of which honed her desire to make positive community contributions. She currently serves on the greater Knoxville CASA Executive Board, the Knox County Foster Care Review Board, and Susannah’s House Executive Board. Katie is the daughter of Bob and Janet Murray of Ripley. She and her husband Nathaniel Ogle, JD reside in Knoxville, Tennessee and are the proud parents of an infant daughter, Alexandra Claire. Katie, her mother, and two of her aunts are all proud alumni of Glenville State College. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without Glenville State College. Glenville is truly amazing because of the people and the one-on-one education program,” she said.

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Chris Owens (left) with Justin Griffith (right)

Justin Griffith received the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award. Griffith, a native of Christiansburg, Virginia, received his Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioral Science from Glenville State College in 2006. While at GSC, he was active in the community and played varsity football. Griffith was GSC’s WVIAC Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2006. He attended the Thomas M. Cooley Law School where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. Griffith was admitted to the Virginia State Bar in 2010. He has made his life’s work serving and protecting his community. Griffith is currently in his fifth year as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Pulaski County, Virginia. He has successfully prosecuted numerous violent felonies from indictment through jury trials, thus keeping the commonwealth of Virginia safe. Justin and his wife Rebecca have a year old daughter, Genevieve. They recently relocated to Radford, Virginia.

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Ralph Holder (left) with Dr. Gary Gillespie (right)

Professor Emeritus Dr. H. Gary Gillespie received the Alumni Chapter Award. After graduating from GSC in 1959, Gillespie taught English and civics at Green Bank High School from 1959 to 1962. He married Anna Belle Sheets ‘60 in 1961 before the pair moved to Logan, Ohio. In 1963 he completed an MA in English at WVU, and in 1973 he earned a Ph.D. in Comparative Arts at Ohio University. Dr. Gillespie returned to GSC in 1967 where he taught English and fine arts from 1967 to 2000. He chaired the GSC Division of Fine Arts from 1978-1996. In 2001 Gillespie completed an MA in art history at WVU. He was interim chair of the Art Department in the College of Fine Arts at Marshall University during the 2004-05 academic year. The Gillespies’ have a son, Daniel Sheets ‘Fritz’ Gillespie ‘93, who is a fire marshal in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dr. Gillespie is a volunteer recruiter for GSC in a five county area surrounding Milton, where he currently resides. He has helped organize a GSC Alumni Chapter for grads living in the Greater Teays Valley area which includes Cabell, Wayne, Lincoln, Mason, and Putnam Counties, in addition to parts of Kanawha County.

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Kristee Allen (left) with Maureen (Kraus) Gildein

Kristee Allen received the Outstanding Alumna Teacher Award. After graduating from St. Johnsbury
Academy in Vermont, she spent several semesters at community college before applying to schools around the country and finally choosing Glenville State College as the place to finish her teaching degree, and graduating in December 1996. Allen has worked in classrooms from kindergarten through high school in her years of teaching, although teaching high school holds a special place in her heart. She is a member of the Texas Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for the Social Studies. Allen was awarded Teacher of the Year in 2016 by the Texas Council for the Social Studies, a statewide honor. She was also recognized by her coworkers by being selected as the North Crowley High School Teacher of the Year for 2016. Allen currently makes her home in Fort Worth, Texas.

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John Brown (left) with Dr. David O'Dell (right)

John M. Brown received the Outstanding Alumnus Teacher Award. Brown graduated from
Glenville State College in 2011, earning a bachelor’s degree in Math/Science Education 5-9. He taught seventh grade science and eighth grade math for two years at Robert L. Bland Middle School in Lewis County before taking a position at John Adams Middle School in Kanawha County in 2013. Now, in addition to teaching seventh grade science, he leads a Technology Explorers class which focuses on engineering, electronics, robotics, programming, and app design. Outside the classroom he coordinates an after-school hands-on science program at Oakwood Terrace Apartments in Charleston. In 2014, WSAZ News Channel 3 designated Brown as a Home Town Hero for his work coordinating this program. Also in 2014, he was recognized as a V-100 Modern Woodsmen of America Teacher of the Month. In 2014 and again in 2015 he was a Top 10 Finalist for Kanawha County Secondary Principals’ Teacher of the Year. Brown is currently working on a Masters in Special Education from Concord University. He is a member of the National Science Teachers Association and an honorary lifetime member of the WV Academy of Science. During the awards banquet Brown commented, “I get to wake up and do what I love, and that’s being a teacher.”

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Dr. Gary Gillespie (left) with Betty (Wagner) King

Betty (Wagner) King received the Alumna Achievement Award. As a student at GSC, King did work-study in the music department for Dr. Gary Gillespie ‘59, formatting programs and coordinating senior recital receptions. In May of 1985 she was awarded Student Teacher of the Year after completing elementary and secondary music placements in Roane County Schools with former GSC Professor Ed Vineyard and Stephanie Poole ‘78. Her lifelong love of playing for musical theater productions began while working with Ed ‘61 and Linda ‘62 McKown on ‘The Music Man’ and ‘Hello, Dolly!’ She graduated from GSC in 1985 and has since played flute in over 60 different musicals as a volunteer with the Charleston Light Opera Guild and other Charleston-based theater groups. This spring, she celebrates ten years with the West Virginia Symphony where she served as Education Manager before being promoted to Vice President of Education and Operations. One of two flutists/educators born to Bill and Mary Wagner of South Charleston, she met Kirk King at GSC when they were freshmen. She accepted his proposal on the Danube River just before her senior year and married him in July 1985. They are proud parents of Billy who lives in San Francisco.

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Dr. Jack Albert, Jr. (left) with Dennis Carpenter

Dr. Jack H. Albert, Jr. received the prestigious Alumnus of the Year Award. Albert is currently serving as the 16th president of St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy, in Delafield, Wisconsin.  Dr. Albert has more than 30 years’ experience leading secondary military schools and has been president of St. John’s Northwestern since 2004. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in history and social studies from Glenville State College in 1970 and a Master of Education in counseling degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He also holds a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia and a Doctorate of Ministry for Educational Leadership from the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria. Dr. Albert is a United States Army veteran with service from 1970 through 1976. He is a direct descendant of Revolutionary Soldier, Jacob Allen Albert, Sr. and is a member of the Society of the Descendants of Washington’s Army at Valley Forge. He serves on several boards, was recognized as a Distinguished Mountaineer by then-Governor Joe Manchin, and has also written several educational articles. Dr. Albert and his wife, Betty, have two adult children, both of whom are graduates of military academies. Albert stated, “I came to Glenville because I wanted to. I was told that it was a suitcase college, though I never went home.”

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During the banquet retiring professor of English Wayne de Rosset, retiring college President Dr. Peter Barr, and National Coach of the Year Dave Walker ‘88 were all given special recognitions. Additionally, former GSC First Ladies Dora (Morgan) Heflin ‘34 and ‘53 and Dolores (Hutton) Simmons ‘61 and Rev. William E. Richards ‘51, were all honored in memoriam.

Nominations are being accepted for next spring’s Alumni Association awards which will be presented at the 2018 Alumni Banquet, on Saturday, April 28. Contact Debra.Nagy@glenville.edu for additional information.