LEWISBURG, WV [Greenbrier Independent] — Depending on whom you ask in the Greenbrier Valley, Lucie Refsland is a math professor, a college dean, a 4-H leader, a church trustee, or simply “the Recycle Lady.” As she turns 90, the answer is all of the above.
Her teaching career lasted 56 years and covered every level from third grade to doctoral-level courses. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics education from West Virginia University, a master’s in education administration from Duke, and a doctorate in mathematics education from Virginia Tech.
She began teaching at Greenbrier High School in Ronceverte, WV, in 1965, then moved to Greenbrier East HS. After 24 years with Greenbrier County, she began her college career in 1989 at the Greenbrier Valley Campus of Bluefield State College and served as interim dean of GCCC of Bluefield State College.
Her lessons traveled far beyond Lewisburg. She presented workshops on teaching mathematics in Norway, Australia, Japan and China, and spoke at 10 national conferences of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She also spent six months as an exchange professor at Hebei Teachers College in Shijiazhuang, China, where her assignment was to teach Math and English.
Summers were her favorite season. She led workshops for elementary teachers on how to teach mathematics with understanding and critical thinking. The workshops were paid for by more than $2 million in grants she wrote or helped write. Each teacher she trained went back to a classroom full of children, so her influence reached students she never met. The recognition followed.
She was named 2008 U.S.Professor of the Year for West Virginia by the Carnegie Foundation and CASE. Her other honors include the state’s Distinguished Service Award for Mathematics Education, West Virginia College Faculty of the Year, New River CTC Faculty of the Year, and Distinguished Mathematics Coach of the Year from the Atlantic Regional Math League.
When she retired in 2017, New River Community and Technical College named her Professor Emeritus. It also dedicated the Dr. Lucie Refsland Student Union, inside the Kyle and Ann Ford Building on its Lewisburg campus. Retirement was mostly a change of title. She chairs the Greenbrier County Solid Waste Authority, answers readers’ questions in her “Dear Recycle Lady” column, and talks with local clubs about keeping waste out of the landfill. In 2022, the Recycling Coalition of West Virginia named her a Recycling Champion, and the Association of West Virginia Solid Waste Authorities honored her as Volunteer of the Year.
She also chairs the SARA Board for HUD housing, is a trustee and active member of St. James Episcopal Church, and is president of the Richlands Ruritan Club. In years past, she served on Lewisburg’s Board of Zoning Appeals, the West Virginia State Fair audit committee, and Carniege’s TOOT committee and their Community Board of Advisors. She spent 25 years on the Greenbrier County Youth Camp Board of Managers and served in various positions in 4-H. She is married to Ron Refsland, a local artist, and has two children and four grandchildren.
Through it all, her aim has stayed the same: to help people become their best selves, personally, academically and professionally. For a mathematician, 90 years of that adds up to a sum that’s hard to calculate.
