Gregg Caruso of Creekside, Pa., ended his first year of graduate study at West Virginia University by being named the 2000 recipient of the Rebecca Mason Perry Award.

Established in 1983, the award is given annually to the outstanding first-year graduate student in English. The selection criteria is based on the student’s academic achievements, quality of writing, professional activities and faculty recommendations.

Brian McHale, an Eberly Family Distinguished Professor in English who wrote in support of Caruso, commented:”Gregg is a lively participant in classroom discussion and can always be counted on for a comment or question which will shift the conversation to a higher plane of sophisticationGregg seems to me to be one of our most promising students.”

After receiving his master’s degree, Caruso plans to pursue a doctorate in English.

The late Rebecca Mason Perry received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from WVU . Her parents, the late Kermit and Rebecca Mason, established the award in her memory shortly after her death in 1983.