Outstanding Alumni Award
In mid-April, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences honored alumni at its Alumni Awards Banquet — these alumni are making important contributions in their community and within their professions. The honorees represent the change agents who have graduated with degrees in the liberal arts and sciences and gone on to find success professionally, through civic engagement and through their intellectual and cultural pursuits. The Outstanding Alumni are handpicked by their home departments.
Chemistry
David Bem | Class of 1990
Chief Technology Officer and Vice President | Science and Technology for PPG Industries
David Bem is chief technology officer and vice president, coatings science and technology for PPG Industries.
David started his career with UOP (currently Honeywell) in 1995 where his work centered on the synthesis and applications of zeolites and microporous materials. In 2000, he became R&D director of Torial, a subsidiary of UOP, and developed and commercialized high-throughput tools for heterogeneous catalysis. He then joined Celanese Corporation in 2002 as the R&D director for acetyls, oxygenates and acetone derivatives. He eventually became a member of the Celanese corporate executive committee and R&D director for Engineering Polymers/Ticona. In 2007, David joined Dow as global R&D director, core R&D, Dow and eventually became vice president, R&D consumer solutions and infrastructure solution. David most recently joined PPG Industries in November 2015.
His external recognition includes two Edison Awards, an ACS (American Chemical Society) Green Chemistry Award and an R&D 100 Award. David is a member and co-chair of the Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology (BCST) of the National Academy of Sciences. He has nine U.S. patents and has authored more than 20 publications.
What professional advice would you give your younger self?
Some of the most important learning comes from failure. When I look back, the
most challenging experiences have resulted in critical insights and skills that
have led to successes. Don't fear failure, it's a critical part of innovation.
Communication Studies
Carter Snider | Class of 1977
Media Sales and Consulting Adjunct Professor | Trine University and Hilldale College
Carter Snider is an independent media sales and consulting professional and adjunct professor at Trine University and Hillsdale College teaching business and communications. He earned his B.A. in Speech Communications/Business and M.A. in Speech/Human Communications from West Virginia University.
Active in his community, he has served on the board of directors for Lake Cities Broadcasting Corporation and is active in his community, serving as the Board Director of the Stuben County REMC and a member of the McClue Reserve. He has also served on the board of directors for Operation Roundup Steuben County REMC, Steuben County Tourism Bureau, and other community organizations.
What professional advice would you give your younger self?
“You think you know it all? Well, you don’t! To prove my point, just wait — time
is a wonderful teacher.”
Criminology
Heather Washington | Class of 2006
Assistant Professor of Sociology | West Virginia University
Heather Washington joined the faculty in the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany, SUNY in fall 2012. Her research focuses on two broad areas of interest. Washington is primarily interested in understanding the consequences of incarceration for individuals and those who are connected to them by familial ties, with an emphasis on racial and ethnic variation in the outcomes. She explores these issues by integrating perspectives from the disciplines of criminology and family sociology to provide a more complete understanding than previously available as to how and why incarceration detrimentally affects offenders’ families and children.
What professional advice would you give your younger self?
“Run your own race. So many times we can get distracted by what others are doing.
It is important to stay true to yourself while setting the pace and agenda for
your academic career.”
History
Jack Grimm | Class of 1964
Owner | Grimm, Kellmeyer, Garlow & Associates Insurance Agency, Inc.
Jack Grimm has been building his career in the insurance industry since 1965. After graduating from WVU in 1964, he served in the Army National Guard and Air National Guard until 1970, finding his first insurance position in 1965 with Travelers Insurance. Since then, he has served as the regional group manager for Hartford Insurance Group, vice president at Diversified Brokerage and president at Johnson & Higgins of West Virginia.
Grimm, Kellmeyer and Garlow & Associates Insurance was formed in 2007 with Grimm as an owner.
Grimm has four children, two of which also earned B.A. degrees in history from WVU.
What professional advice would you give your younger self?
“Be authentic!”
Mathematics
The Hon. Russell Clawges, Jr. | Class of 1971
Chief Judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit
Former Governor Gaston Caperton appointed The Honorable Russell Clawges, Jr. Circuit Judge in 1997. Clawges was elected in 1998 and re-elected in 2000 and 2008. He served as chief judge from 2000 to 2012 and 2016.
Clawges served four years in the JAG Department of the United States Air Force, implemented West Virginia’s first Teen Court program and is one of seven Business Court Division judges.
He served as president of the West Virginia Judicial Association and is chairman of its judicial education committee and law clerk education committee. He is an ASTAR Science and Technology Fellow and frequent presenter at continuing education programs.
What professional advice would you give your younger self?
“Look at the big picture when making decisions. Do not let your decision-making be too dependent on immediate concerns.”
Philosophy
Raquel Spencer, JD | Class of 2009
Assistant General Counsel at the Office of Management and Budget | Executive Office
of the President of the United States
Raquel Spencer is an assistant general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget in the Executive Office of the President of the United States, where she is responsible for legal matters concerning healthcare programs, public health and the federal budget.
Before joining the Executive Office of the President, Spencer was a presidential management Fellow and attorney with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources and Office of the General Counsel. Spencer graduated from the University of Illinois College of Law in 2012 and is a member of the Illinois Bar.
What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve been given?
“During my time as a WVU undergraduate philosophy major, I learned that sometimes
the best opportunities are the ones you create yourself.
In my case, extracurricular activities have opened up a lot of opportunities for my career and have been important developmental experiences. For example, at WVU, I co-founded an undergraduate philosophy conference and journal and served as Philosophy Club president. Those experiences enabled me to start a new Health Law Society while I was in law school, which led to a summer internship with the HHS Office of the General Counsel.
As a presidential management Fellow at HHS, I developed and led a lunch-time Appropriations Law Book Club (inspired by the WVU Department of Philosophy “Coffee Hour”), which I believe ultimately created an opportunity that led to my current position in the Executive Office of the President.”
Physics and Astronomy
Michael Jopling | Class of 1976
Clinical Anesthesiologist
Micheal Jopling is the chief medical officer of a medical device startup and a clinical anesthesiologist in private practice. These positions leverage his knowledge in physics, engineering and medicine.
Jopling is an active anesthesiologist with a sub-specialty in cardiovascular anesthesia, an area rich in clinical monitoring and new pharmaceuticals. He has more than 30 years of experience in medical device development as a consultant to several companies, primarily all early development.
He is also skilled in mathematical modeling of complex systems using JSim and Mathematica. He has participated in multiple animal and human subject investigations for medical device development and pharmaceutical trials.
When did you realize you had found the right career path?
“The 1970s was not a great era for the STEM disciplines — I was heavily considering
medicine as a career path since late high school. As a third-year medical student
you rotate through all the medical specialties. Once I had exposure to anesthesiology,
within a week or two I knew this was the best place for me as it was an unusual
intersection of medicine with physics, engineering and technology. The 1980s was
a time when there was rapid advancement of technologic innovations directed to
improve patient safety.”
Political Science
The Hon. Robert King
United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth Circuit
Judge Robert Bruce King was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit by President Clinton and entered service in October 1998. After earning his B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences at WVU in 1961, he entered active duty as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. While attending the WVU College of Law, he was a member of the West Virginia Law Review, served as President of the Student Bar Association, and graduated Order of the Coif in 1968. Judge King served as a law clerk in Charleston to the Honorable John A. Field, Jr., then as Chief U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia, and later as a judge on the Fourth Circuit. He worked in private practice in Greenbrier County from 1969-1970, as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Charleston from 1970-1974, and at a Charleston law firm from 1975-1977. In 1977, King was appointed by President Carter as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. King was instrumental in founding King, Betts, & Allen, where he practiced from 1981-98.
Psychology
Thomas Spencer | Class of 1992
President and CEO | Aubrey Daniels International, Inc.
Tom Spencer was appointed president and CEO in January 2014. Spencer joined ADI in 2000, initially serving as director of strategy integration and chief operating officer. In these roles, Spencer consolidated internal initiatives and product offerings, directed new product development, developed and standardized internal processes, worked with business unit leaders to grow their lines of business while providing exemplary customer service and partnered with the marketing department to showcase ADI’s unique expertise in the marketplace.
His approach to consulting is pragmatic and grounded in the science of behavior, creating positive change in management practices, organizational systems and critical business results.
What’s the best piece of professional advice you’ve been given?
“I was given the best piece of professional advice in graduate school when told,
“If you consistently do what you say you will do, you will set yourself apart from
most other people.” While success requires much more than that, following this
advice provides a substantial head-start on earning the respect and trust of others.”
Social Work
Laura Jones | Class of 1987
Executive Director | Milan Puskar Health Right
Laura Jones is currently the executive director at Milan Puskar Health Right in Morgantown, West Virginia. Laura began her work at MPHR in 2000 and started a full-time counseling program at the facility to address the need for mental healthcare for many of MPHR’s patients.
Jones has been working in healthcare for 30 years. She worked with people with disabilities as a VISTA volunteer in West Virginia, a psychotherapist at a Community Mental Health Center in Preston County, West Virginia, and has volunteered as a board member and camp social worker at Camp Kno-Koma, the diabetes camp of West Virginia.
When did you realize you had found the right career path?
“I have been very lucky. I knew from a young age that I wanted to help others even
before I had a name for it: social worker.
I was a child in the 60s and 70s and was influenced by the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. My parents boycotted foods in support of the migrant workers and meat packers, so I understood from a young age that there were injustices in the world. My maternal grandparents were also heavily involved in volunteer work in the community, as my mother is now.
When I finally took my first introduction to social work class with Dr. Barry Locke in 1982, I knew that I had found my path. I am incredibly proud of the social work profession. Proud of what we believe in, what we fight for and what we accomplish as a profession. I wouldn’t have any other career.”
Sociology
Lori Daff-Siggins. | Class of 1988
Financial Advisor, President | Lions Gate Wealth Management
Lori Daff-Siggins spent the first half of her career in healthcare and was responsible for new business development, strategic planning, and market research. She worked at two community hospitals and a specialty hospital. The second half of her career has been spent in the financial services industry and on September 19, 2011, Daff-Siggns started her own private wealth management firm, Lions Gate Wealth Management, LLC.
She says in every job she held, the common process was to gather information by asking the right questions, analyze the information, turn this information into a plan, communicate the plan and monitor the results.
What professional advice would you give your younger self?
“During my high school and early college days, I felt myself to be a slightly above
average student. I really had little to no confidence in myself as a student and
only performed well in the subjects that I loved. As an athlete, I had always worked
hard, and I was good in whatever sport that I chose to be involved. “During my
high school and early college days, I felt myself to be a slightly above average
student. I really had little to no confidence in myself as a student and only performed
well in the subjects that I loved. As an athlete, I had always worked hard, and
I was good in whatever sport that I chose to be involved.
This perspective all changed for me when I took two summer school courses between my sophomore and junior years. I realized that I could do anything that I worked hard at, even school. In conjunction with my summer school experience I also had a coach who my took a personal interest in not only my volleyball skills but also in me. She taught me to write, became my tutor in all subjects and really cared about me. I credit her and my summer school experience with changing my views about my abilities and sending me off to graduate school with a newfound confidence that I only expanded upon at WVU.
I believe that the best advice that I could have given myself was to believe in myself. You can do anything if you just work hard. When things get tough, work harder. If you need help, ask. There are many people out there who will help you. Do not be afraid to ask.”
World Languages
Daniel Parisi | Class of 1988
Partner | Tocci, Goss, Lee, Shipley & Parisi
Daniel Parisi is a partner at Tocci, Goss, Lee, Shipley & Parisi in London, a law firm specializing in United States immigration and nationality law. Parisi has practiced immigration law since 2003 and has extensive experience with a wide range of business and employment-related immigration issues. His focus is on waivers of ineligibility for foreign nationals who are inadmissible to the United States for criminal/personal reasons. He has represented many foreign performing artists who have criminal issues that prevent them from performing in the U.S.
Parisi has spoken about inadmissibility to the United States at national and international conferences of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and other organizations.