Retirees Honored at Reception

Twelve Fairmont State employees were honored during the annual Retiree Reception on April 17.

"We thank these dedicated employees for their years of service to Fairmont State," said Dr. Daniel J. Bradley, FSU President. "They will be missed, but we wish them much happiness in their retirement."

The following faculty members were honored during the reception: Gary Bennett, Associate Professor, Senior Level, School of Business (1980-2008); Lana Cheri Bradley, Assistant Professor, School of Education (2001-2008); Dr. Robert Cameron, Professor, Department of Social Science (1972-2008); Dr. Dwight Harris, Chair and Professor, Department of Computer Science, Mathematics & Physics (1991-2008); Dr. Judith Kreutzer, Professor, School of Education/Department of Consumer Science (1983-2007); Dr. Roger Wilson, Assistant Professor, School of Business (2002-2008); James Young, Associate Professor of Geography, Department of Behavioral Science (1967-2008).

The following staff members were honored during the reception: William Harbarger, Campus Service Worker, Physical Plant (1986-2007); Larry Lawrence, Assistant Vice President for Facilities and Capital Projects, Physical Plant (1989-2008); Charles Manly, Director of Web & Media Services, Web & Graphic Communications (1968-2008); Charlotte Rohrbaugh, Campus Service Worker, Physical Plant (1979-2007); and James Walker, Program Assistant II, Registrar's Office (1980-2008).

Attending the ceremony were the following:

Gary K. Bennett

Gary K. Bennett came to Fairmont State in 1980. He earned his B.S. degree from Fairmont State and his M.B.A from West Virginia University; he is a Certified Public Accountant. A former Vice President and Secretary of Faculty Senate, Bennett has also served as Coordinator of Accounting and Finance and Associate Dean of the School of Business. As a member of the School of Business, he compiled self-study documents for the School of Business national accreditation. In 2005, he was one of the first Fairmont State faculty members to attain the rank of Associate Professor, Senior Level. Bennett is a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc., and the Community Foundation of North Central West Virginia. He has achieved many awards, including Outstanding Accounting Educator by the WV Society of Certified Public Accountants and the William A. Boram Award for Teaching Excellence. Students say that he brings the real world to the classroom every day, and for many years he has had accounting students help other Fairmont State students prepare income tax forms. Bennett sings with the Praise Team of his church.

L. Cheri Bradley

L. Cheri Bradley came to Fairmont State in 2001 and has been an integral part of the campus community ever since. She holds an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education, a Masters in Special Education and an administrative endorsement in regular and special education. Prior to coming to Fairmont, she worked in a variety of educational settings. Her most challenging was Rivendell, a therapeutic environment for children with emotional and behavioral problems. In the public school setting, she worked for 15 years with children in both regular and special education and helped develop programs for at-risk students. Her final teaching position was at Fairmont State, which she describes as her most rewarding. She says it was during these seven years she came to realize the influence and impact we have on the next generation of educators. She has spearheaded the creation of "Women of Fairmont State" a group that has provided financial support for non-traditional women attending Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College and has provided Christmas gifts to women being served by Hope, Inc. She says she is retiring from teaching, but not from learning, and hopes her new-found "freedom" will give her time to pursue new challenges: maybe write that children's book she's often thought about, devote more time to exercise and give back more to others as she continues to be part of the campus and local community.

Dr. Robert Cameron

Dr. Robert Cameron earned his Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of Kentucky and his undergraduate degree from Lewis and Clark College in Oregon. Coming to Fairmont State in 1972, Cameron has taught psychology courses for 35 years. He has an unusual background that cuts across two different areas of psychology. He originally began work in clinical psychology, but then he developed a great interest in perceptual deficit. He is the past President of the Marion County Council of Social Agencies and Coordinator of the Revenue Sharing Committee for Region Six. He was invited as the speaker at the Centennial Convention of the APA. Cameron has participated in several research projects, including research in cooperation with Japanese researchers.

Dr. Dwight Harris

After completing his Ph.D. at the University of New Hampshire in 1969, Harris worked at a small Engineering School in Milwaukee for about 20 years, the last two as Director of Academic Computing. In the fall of 1991, he started work at Fairmont State as a Full-time Temporary Professor at the "old" Clarksburg Center. His charge for that year was to set up a computer network at the center, set up a physics lab (located at the Gore Technical Center) and begin teaching physics that spring semester. Harris was offered a tenure track position (Professor of Physics/Technology) starting in fall 1992. He continued doing most of his teaching in Clarksburg. In January 1994, he was appointed Assistant to the Chair of the Division of Science, Math & Health Careers. Until recently, he continued to teach Physics at Clarksburg and a course in Linux/UNIX on the main campus. A few years ago he gave up his Caperton Center office to begin teaching only on the main campus. Since the formation of the College of Science & Technology, he has been Chair of the Department of Computer Science, Math & Physics.
When he retires in May, the first thing he intends to do is spend more time riding his horse, and getting some outside work done. Eventually he would like to do some digital photography work with his wife, possibly contributing some pictures to Google Earth.

Larry A. Lawrence

Larry Lawrence first came to Fairmont State (then College) in 1963 at the age of 18. Four years later he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, Cum Laude. He also had time to be President of his fraternity, TBI, and to serve as a Freshman Counselor. After graduation he started graduate school at WVU in Political Science but stopped out for two years to work for Gov. Arch Moore in Charleston. He returned to WVU and earned a master's degree in Public Administration in 1975. Before settling down at FSU in 1989, Lawrence worked for WVU, the State of West Virginia ABCC and finally for the City of Fairmont as Director of Public Works and Management Services. He came to Fairmont State as Assistant Director of the Physical Plant, becoming Director in 1988. In 2002 he became the Associate Vice President for Facilities. During all of this time he has also been in business for himself, owning a nursing home in Flatwoods among other businesses. Lawrence is an animal lover and is dedicated to the care of his own dogs and cats. He has been instrumental in the success of Fairmont State's multi-year $100 million facilities expansion and modernization effort.

Dr. Roger Wilson

Dr. Roger W. Wilson came to Fairmont State in 2002 as Assistant Professor of Information Systems. He holds his Ph.D. from The Union Institute, an M.Ed. from Wright State University, and undergraduate degrees from Cedarville College and Kettering University. At Fairmont State, Wilson has served as the Co-advisor of the Information Systems Students Organization (ISSO) and Director of the FSU/NASA Space Grant Programs. Before coming to Fairmont State, he worked as a Senior Project Research & Development Engineer with Buick Product Engineering and as a training manager for MICAH Information Systems in the FBI Complex. He has also taught and held administrative positions with Christian schools and community colleges. He will be participating in the phased retirement program for the next three years.

James Young

James R. Young, Associate Professor of Geography, graduated from Morris Harvey with a B.S. in Biology and from Marshall University with an M.S. in Geography. He taught at Dupont Junior High School and then came to Fairmont State in 1967. He is extremely well-liked and admired by his students. Young is known for his wild shirts, wild ties and tall tales. Not only is he a huge William & Mary football fan, he is also a walking encyclopedia of Fairmont State sporting facts. Driving from St. Albans every week, Young has put thousands of miles on his cars. He will be participating in the phased retirement program and will be teaching classes for the next three years during the fall semesters.