West Virginia University will confer honorary degrees upon three men who have had extraordinary careers in journalism, the pharmaceuticals industry and education during 131st Commencement exercises Sunday, May 14, at 1:30 p.m. at Mountaineer Field.

George J. Esper, best known for his coverage of the Vietnam War,is a special correspondent for the Associated Press. He will receive the Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

A native of Uniontown, Pa., Esper graduated from WVU in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education. He started writing while managing and tutoring the football team and working in the WVU Sports Information Department.

He joined the AP bureau in Pittsburgh in 1958, and in more than 40 years with the wire service, covered Americas last two major warsVietnam and the Persian Gulfand U.S. peace missions in Somalia and Bosnia.

He reported the Vietnam War from 1965-75 and was one of a handful of reporters who refused to evacuate and remained in Vietnam during and after the fall of Saigon in April 1975. He is there now covering the 25th anniversary of this historic event.

In 1993, the Communist government that forced Esper to leave Saigon allowed the AP to return permanently. Esper eventually returned to Vietnam to reopen the AP bureau.

In addition to his war reporting, Esper covered many major news stories, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the presidential primaries in 1980 and 1988.

Espers reporting has received worldwide recognition; AP special correspondent is a title less than 12 others can claim. Among his many other honors, Esper earned the AP Managing Editors Top Performance Award, the Overseas Press Club Citation, the Gramling Reporter Award and the Vietnam Veterans of America Media Award in Print Journalism. He is author of The Eyewitness History of the Vietnam War 1961-1975.

The School of Physical Education inducted Esper into its Hall of Fame and later named him an Outstanding Alumnus. In 1992, WVU inducted him into the WVU Alumni Association Academy of Distinguished Alumni. Most recently, Esper served a visiting appointment as the first recipient of the Shott Chair in Journalism for the spring 2000 term.

Milan”Mike”Puskar is chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Mylan Laboratories, Inc., one of the premier generic drug manufacturers in the world. He will receive the Doctor of Science degree.

Puskar co-founded Mylan in 1961. After leaving the company briefly in 1972, he returned as president in 1976, became president and vice chairman in 1991 and assumed his current position in 1993.

Puskar has played an active role in his community. He has focused special interest and generosity on higher education, especially at WVU and the WVU Foundation, but also at Duquesne University and Fairmont State College.

Between his personal contributions and that of his company, Puskar is responsible for gifts totaling more than $6.5 million to WVU . Recipients of these gifts have included the School of Pharmacy, WVU Hospitals, student athletic scholarships, the School of Medicine, the College of Business and Economics and the School of Journalism.

Puskars contributions have been recognized in a number of ways. He has been named the Honorary Italian-American of the Year at the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival, received an honorary doctorate of philosophy from Fairmont State College, was named Pittsburghs”Man of the Year in Technology”and Morgantowns”Distinguished Citizen of the Year.”He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Duquesne University.

At WVU , Puskar has been named Most Loyal West Virginian. The University also honored him by naming the football facilities building the Milan Puskar Center. He has served as a member of the WVU Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors, delivered a McDonough Caperton Distinguished Lecture at the College of Business and Economics, served as an adjunct associate professor in the WVU School of Pharmacy and served on the Ruby Memorial Hospital Campaign Committee.

Otis K. Rice has had a distinguished career in education covering almost a half a century. He will receive the Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

A native of Hugheston, W.Va., Dr. Rice earned a Bachelor of Science in elementary education in 1943 and an A.B. degree in English in 1944 from Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston). He earned an Master of Arts degree in education from WVU in 1945, and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Kentucky in 1960.

After serving in various teaching positions and principalships in Kanawha County schools, he taught from 1957-87 at West Virginia Institute of Technology, where he was chairman of the History Department and dean of the School of Human Studies. He also taught at Marshall University, Morris Harvey College and the West Virginia Graduate College.

Rice is a recognized scholar of West Virginia history. His contributions have affected the lives of most of the states citizens as the author of the states standard West Virginia history text for both the public and higher education curriculum.

As researcher, writer and author, Rice has published many journal articles. He has contributed entries to biographical dictionaries, historical encyclopedias and books of essays, as well as authored such monographs as The Allegheny Frontier: West Virginias Beginnings, 1730-1830; Frontier Kentucky; and The Hatfields and McCoys.

He has served as an officer of the West Virginia Historical Society and the West Virginia Historical Association, which he co-founded, and wrote a History of Greenbrier County for the Greenbrier Historical Society and Charleston and the Kanawha Valley: An Illustrated History for the West Virginia Historical Society.

In recognition of his contributions, the West Virginia Humanities Council in 1987 chose him as the recipient of its first annual Award for the Humanities. In 1999 he received the first Governors Award for Outstanding Contributions to West Virginia History or Literature.