David C. Hardesty

David C. Hardesty, Jr., is president of West Virginia University, a public, comprehensive, multi-campus, land-grant university. The main campus is located in Morgantown, West Virginia, and regional campuses and other offices are located throughout the Mountain State. The University has been designated a "doctoral, research university-extensive" by the Carnegie Foundation. About 32,000 students attend West Virginia University?approximately 24,500 of them in Morgantown. The University offers comprehensive health science education and is affiliated with WVU Hospitals and the West Virginia United Health System. The University's offerings are wide ranging and include law, engineering, journalism, and agriculture on the main campus, and technical and community college education on the regional campuses.

Related Topics:
West Virginia University - Morgantown, West Virginia

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Since becoming president of WVU in 1995, President Hardesty has fostered a more student-centered culture at WVU. A host of new programs, including the Mountaineer Parents Club (led by Mrs. Hardesty), Resident Faculty Leaders in the residence halls, a new math learning institute, a new student recreation center, investments in student-oriented technology, and enhanced advising efforts have resulted in enrollment growth in a state with declining high school enrollments.

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The Hardesty presidency has also been marked by significant growth in research and sponsored program activities, supported by new research centers, a new university library, efforts to advance technology transfer, a science building, and investments in research infrastructure and laboratories. The University completed a $250 million facilities master plan, and an additional $250 million building and renovation program is now under way.

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Service has been fostered through the addition of WVU Institute of Technology (1996), the creation of an affiliated hospital system (1997), the launching of a new medical campus in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, and the creation of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute on the main campus.

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The University launched a capital campaign to raise funds for scholarships and other institutional purposes. The campaign surpassed its goal and reached a total of $336 million.

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President Hardesty came to the University from the practice of law, where he specialized primarily in state and local taxation and corporate law. He was general counsel for numerous private and non-profit organizations. His legal career was spent with Bowles Rice, a law firm with offices in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia. Earlier in his career, he served in the governor's cabinet as State Tax Commissioner of West Virginia.

Related Topics:
Law - West Virginia

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The president is a graduate of West Virginia University, where he was student body president. He attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1973.

Related Topics:
Oxford University - Harvard Law School

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President Hardesty?s knowledge and leadership skills have been recognized at the state and national levels.

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He has served on committees and task forces for the state of West Virginia, the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, the American Council on Education, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and the Big East Conference.

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He has been an invited speaker to groups from the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Attorneys, the West Virginia Bar, the American Bar Association, the Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, and the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors.

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His leadership roles include chairing the board of the National 4-H Council, serving as the Big East Conference?s BCS representative, and chairing the University-Affiliated Health Care System and WVU Hospitals.

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He and his wife of 36 years, Susan, have two children. Ashley is a 2003 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law and is a lawyer in Morgantown, son Carter is a second-year law student at the WVU College of Law.

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