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Student Profiles
Cultivating inclusive spaces
Kassandra’s commitment to improving cultural representation in the classroom helped her become WVU’s 24th Truman Scholar, the nation’s top graduate fellowship award for aspiring public service leaders. She is one of 62 chosen from 840 candidates.
More About Kassandra
Growing a Business
Demitrus hopes to learn more about the global and Chinese markets — with an eye to strengthening the brand of clothing he has developed — while studying at Hong Kong Baptist University on a Gilman Scholarship.
More About Demitrus
Stopping the spread of fake news
As a 2019 Facebook Emerging Scholar, Claudia will work with Facebook Research for two years to help them improve their technological interventions to limit the spread of false information.
Video: WVU Fights Fake News More About Claudia
From ‘Warrior Culture’ to ‘Campus Culture’
The transition to college from Army Ranger hasn’t been an easy one for Ed. As president of the Veterans of WVU student club, he’s lending a hand to other student-veterans on campus who might need an E-5 sergeant in their college life.
Q&A with Ed
Investigating the calyx of Held
Ashley is studying how certain cells affect the development of the calyx of Held, the largest nerve terminal in the brain.
Her National Institutes of Health-funded research could apply to autism, Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that stem from how the brain is “wired.”
More About Ashley
Advocating for Prison Education Reform
WVU's 23rd Truman Scholar found her purpose in public service through an internship with the West Virginia Innocence Project at the WVU College of Law and the "Inside-Out Prison Exchange" class with prisoners at the Federal Correctional Institution in Hazelton.
More About Emma
A Flexible Future
"I love that there are so many applications of wood products, and it's a material that is strong, flexible and sustainable. I believe a bio-based economy is a part of the future, and wood products are a part of that."
Q&A with Savolia
Disrupting diabetes
Doctoral candidate Quincy Hathaway has received an American Heart Association fellowship to study the effect of PNPase (a type of protein) on heart-cell mitochondria. His work is relevant to the heart problems that often accompany diabetes.
More About Quincy
Changing lives and communities
Savanna knew she wanted to help individuals in her community who struggled with poverty and substance abuse, but she didn’t know exactly how to pursue that goal. “Majoring in Social Work was the very first step in helping me realize what I was truly capable of,” Savanna says.
“The Social Work program will educate you on what it means to look to a person or a community and truly see them for the sum of all their parts and to treat them with compassion and dignity.”
Designing the Perfect Career
A member of WVU Air Force ROTC, Brayden will enter the U.S. Air Force as a Second Lieutenant when he finishes his WVU degree. He hopes to start his own landscape architecture firm after serving in the Air Force.
Q&A with Brayden
Gateway to advocacy
Shaniyah first became interested in women’s and gender studies in high school because she wanted to work with and for women’s rights. She aspires to practice law and be an active advocate for marginalized individuals.
“My major is preparing me for this because I am more understanding of intersectionality and inclusivity, which is important in any type of work. Women’s and Gender Studies is a gateway to advocacy, which is why I matched my major with the law and legal studies minor.”
Beyond graphs and equations
“Mathematics is so much more than graphs and equations. Now that I am past the calculus classes, I am gaining a much deeper understanding of math in research and when paired with logic,” Olivia says. “There is a world of mathematics outside of calculus. You learn to look at math differently.”
Participating in WVUteach has exposed Olivia to different mathematics careers. “WVUteach confirmed that being a math major is exactly what I need to achieve the career I want in the future.”
Exploring the cosmos
As a child in Texas, Rodney Elliott dreamed of going to college and studying science, but it was a dream deferred because of family finances. He joined the Air Force and, after a 20-year career, enrolled at WVU and is the University’s latest winner of the most prestigious undergraduate scholarship in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering — the Goldwater Scholarship.
More About Rodney
Mending the nation’s infrastructure
Praveen’s doctoral research focuses on economical solutions to repair deteriorating infrastructure. Working with Hota GangaRao, director of the Constructed Facilities Center, Praveen has designed innovative, patent-pending fiber reinforced polymer composites – material that can be wrapped around existing concrete, timber and steel to strengthen structures.
More About Praveen
Charity challenge
When Jeevan enrolled at WVU, he decided to challenge himself — not only academically, but philanthropically. Each year of college, he plans to raise money for a different project, starting with his freshman-year fundraiser for an orphanage in India.
He chose to major in Public Health so he could combine his interests in science, government and community service.
Q&A with Jeevan