West Virginia Universitys Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will dedicate the Stuart and Joyce Robbins Chair in History at 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1, in the Mountainlair Gold Ballroom.

The chair, the first established in the history department, was made possible by a $1 million gift from WVU alumnus Stuart Robbins and his wife, Joyce. The couples gift will also support the Stuart and Joyce Robbins Fellows to attract and retain top graduate history students and a library endowment for history materials.

WVU history Professor Ron Lewis, who has been named to the position, will give a lecture at 3:45 p.m. Lewis joined the WVU history faculty in 1985, chaired the department from 1989-95 and was named an Eberly Family Distinguished Professor of American History in 1993. He specializes in West Virginia and Appalachian history and has written three books. He was awarded the West Virginia Governors Award for History and Literature in 2000.

Robbins retired as managing director of global equities for Donaldson, Lufkin&Jenrette, a leading Wall Street investment firm. He is a member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors and chairs its Investment Committee. He also serves on the Eberly College Advisory Board.

The Parkersburg native graduated from WVU in 1965 with a bachelors degree in history. He also performed graduate work in law at the New York University and took advanced business courses at the University of Pittsburgh and Pace University.

Mrs. Robbins graduated from California State University of Pennsylvania in 1967, obtained a masters degree in special education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1970 and earned a masters degree in business from Pace University.

The Robbins endowment was created through the WVU Foundation in conjunction with Building Greatness Campaign: West Virginia University. The campaign is a $250 million fund-raising effort the Foundation is conducting on behalf of the University. Robbins is vice chair of the Building Greatness National Campaign Committee.