Beckley, W.Va. (WVDN) – WVU Tech’s homecoming preparations are in full swing, and the committee for nomination of alumni and faculty is excited to announce the winners of a variety of awards for athletics, academics and service.
Kelly Morton ‘04, is the recipient of the WVU School of Nursing Beckley Campus Alumni of the Year Award. Tim O’Neal ‘97, is the recipient of the Leonard C. Nelson School of Engineering Alumni of the Year Award. Dr. Bridget A. O’Brien ‘03 was named as the winner of the School of Arts and Sciences Alumni of the Year award. Danny F. Scalise II ‘02, rounds out the lineup as the Alumni of the Year Award winner from the School of Business.
This year, WVU Tech is also honoring two Nelson Distinguished Young Alumni awardees. Winners must be under the age of 35 and demonstrate substantial professional accomplishments early in their career, a commitment to service, a passion for their profession and support for WVU Tech through gifts of their time and talent.
Prince Idornigie ’18, a native of Lagos, Nigeria and Casey Orndorff ’13, Ph.D., a native of High View, West Virginia are this year’s recipients.
Idornigie came to Tech on a soccer scholarship and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. After completing his undergraduate studies, Idornigie signed a professional contract to play soccer in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He also began his professional career at a leading electrical engineering company, contributing to various projects in the energy and technology sectors. He now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Ornforff completed his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and went on to complete his master’s and doctoral degrees at Louisiana Tech University in computational analysis and modeling. After a time teaching in Louisiana, he transitioned to a career with the U.S. Government as a software developer and currently serves as a subject matter expert in math and computer science.
This year’s Golden Bear Empowerment Faculty Award is Steven Leftwich, Ph.D. Nominations for this award come current students and alumni who had Leftwich in class or advised by him. A native of Summers County, West Virginia, Leftwich graduated from WVU Tech in 1975 and went on to complete his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Virginia. He began his teaching career at Tech in 1987.
This year’s Tech Golden Bear Alumni Association Outstanding Alumni (TGBAA) Award recipient is John Jarrett ’84. Jarrett is the owner of Jarrett Construction Services in Charleston, West Virginia, which he founded in 1999.
The Presidential Award is being awarded to L. Zane Shuck, Ph.D. ’58. Shuck is a distinguished research scientist and engineer based in Morgantown, West Virginia. He holds 23 patents and his contributions to research have been honored by the establishment of the WVU L. Zane Shuck Nanobiotechnology Lab in his name. In 1975, he was also awarded the U.S. Department of Energy National Award for holding the most U.S. patents awarded to a federal government employee in a single year.
Complete biographies of the 2025 academic awardees are available at alumni.wvutech.edu/awards.
Winner photographs can be accessed here.
Award recipients will be recognized at a reception and dinner at The Resort at Glade Springs on Friday, January 24, 2025.
The complete homecoming schedule is at wvutech.edu/homecoming.
