West VirginiaUniversity alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends will remember History Professor Wesley M. Bagby, who died earlier this year, at a memorial service from 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at Elizabeth Moore Hall.

Bagby was 79 when he died at his Morgantown home on June 7. He had been a mainstay of the Department of History for 45 years. Before joining the WVU faculty as an assistant professor in 1956, he taught at PfeifferJunior College, WakeForestUniversity, the University of Tennessee and the University of Maryland’s extension program in Newfoundland.

His outstanding achievements as a scholar and teacher had been recognized many times. He was selected by the graduating classes of 1965, 1966 and 1968 as one of the Universitys most effective teachers. At WVU s first Faculty Honors Convocation in March 1967, Bagby was one of 12 professors honored for teaching, research and service. He received the institutions outstanding teaching award in 1970-71, the Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Benedum Distinguished Scholar Award.

“Dr. Bagby’s steadfast service to West Virginia University and its Department of History has served to advance the institution and the educations and careers of thousands of students,”said WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr.”I enjoyed taking Dr. Bagbys courses when I was an undergraduate at the university in the 1960s, and my personal library is filled with biographies and other works of history that are in no small measure a reflection of his influence.”

Bagby established a reputation for outstanding scholarship when he published two significant articles and a book, The Road to Normalcy: The Presidential Campaign and Election of 1920, which stamped him as a leading authority on the election of 1920.

While continuing to focus much of his research on 20th century U.S. history, Bagby also turned increasing attention to U.S. foreign relations. This interest produced two major works: The Eagle-Dragon Alliance: Americas Relations with China in World War II published in 1992 and Americas International Relations Since World War I published in 1999.

Bagby also published several books aimed at filling the need for college level textbooks focusing on specific problems or issues. These included Contemporary American Economic and Political Problems , Contemporary American Social Problems , Contemporary International Problems and Introduction to Social Science .

“Dr. Bagbys many years in the classroom and his prolific scholarship in U.S. history, foreign relations and social problems have provided enormous benefits to the college, the university and the state,”said M. Duane Nellis, dean of the EberlyCollege. The magnitude of his influence, expressed through his numerous books and through the thousands of students he touched during so many years of dedicated service to his teaching and to his discipline, is staggering.”

The son of a high school history teacher and principal, Bagby grew up in the mountains of North Carolina. He received his A.B. and M.A. degrees from the University of North Carolina, and he earned a Ph.D. at ColumbiaUniversity in 1953.

“Wes was a good colleague, a man of great principle and a man willing to articulate and defend his point of view,”said History Professor John Super, a colleague of Bagbys for 27 years.”He always made a contribution to the department through his teaching and his research. He had a long, distinguished career and will be greatly missed.”

Donations in Bagbys memory may be made to the Wesley M. Bagby History Scholarship, in care of the WVU Foundation, P.O. Box 1650, Morgantown, WV26506 .