Three of West Virginia University’s most faithful Mountaineers will be honored as”Most Loyals”as part of the 56th annual Mountaineer Week.
The 2003 honorees include Edward Handy Maier of Charleston, Most Loyal West Virginian; Dr. Frank Stevens of Bridgeport, Most Loyal Faculty Mountaineer; and Margaret Lopez of Morgantown, Most Loyal Staff Mountaineer. The trio will be honored at halftime of the WVU -Pitt game, which begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at Mountaineer Field.
The awards are given by the WVU Student Foundation Board of Managers, which organizes the Mountaineer Week celebration. The Most Loyal West Virginian award has been presented since 1974, while the Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer awards were created in 1994.
Most Loyal West Virginian exemplifies faithfulness to the ideals and goals of the state of West Virginia through business, professional and civic achievement, and support of WVU .
Edward Maier, a Charleston native and 1969 Marshall University graduate, is president of the Sarah and Pauline Maier Foundation, whose primary focus is furthering higher education in West Virginia and supporting higher education of West Virginia residents. Through the Foundation and family gifts, the Maiers have contributed more than $3.2 million to the WVU Foundation to benefit the University.
Maier and his wife, Susan, established the Maier Marching Band Travel Endowment for the WVU Marching Band,”The Pride of West Virginia.”The Warren Point Endowed Chair of Internal Medicine at WVU ’s Charleston Area Medical Center, the William J. Maier Endowed Chair of Law and the Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. Chair of Law at WVU were, under Maier’s direction, created through the Sarah and Pauline Maier Foundation.
Maier has served as president of General Corp., Big Two Mile Gas Co., Dunbar Storage Co. and the W.J. Maier Storage Co.
Maier also serves as president of the boards of ABH Inc. and Edgewood Summit Inc. and is a member of BB&T’s West Virginia and Charleston advisory boards. He is chairman of the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority and vice president of Charleston Area Medical Center Foundation. He is also a board member of the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, Charleston Renaissance Corp., Camcare Health Education and Research Institute and Charleston Medical Housing Corp.
Along with contributions to WVU , the Maiers have supported Marshall University, Wheeling Jesuit College, Randolph-Macon Women’s College and established a scholarship fund at Harvard University that gives preference to West Virginia and Ohio residents.
Most Loyal Faculty and Staff Mountaineer awards exemplify faithfulness to the ideals and goals of WVU and exhibit support for WVU activities and operations through leadership and service.
Dr. Frank Stevens, a 1952 Ohio State University graduate and 1962 WVU Dental School graduate, retired as assistant dean of WVU ’s School of Dentistry in 2003. Stevens served as president of Harrison County and Monongalia Valley dental societies and served on several committees at the state level of organized dentistry. Nationally, Stevens served as a delegate to the American Dental Association for 15 years and was elected as the 6th District trustee, representing dentists from West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri.
Stevens worked in private practice for 23 years before he returned to WVU as a faculty member in the Department of Operative Dentistry. In 1989 he was appointed assistant dean of development, public relations and alumni affairs. He chaired the United Way campaign for the School of Dentistry for 17 years.
Stevens helped create the WVU School of Dentistry Alumni Association, where for 30 years he was a member of its board of directors. He also served as president of the Alumni Association and earned WVU School of Dentistry Distinguished Alumnus honors.
For 41 years Stevens has served as the public address announcer at WVU football and basketball games. He received the Curbstone Quarterback Award for outstanding service to WVU from the Morgantown Touchdown Club in 1993, was honored as WVU Homecoming parade marshal by the Alumni Association in 1994 and received Appreciation awards for outstanding service from the WVU band in 1994 and 1995. WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr. and his wife, Susan, presented Stevens with the Shining Star Award in 2000 for his many years of exceptional contributions to the University.
Margaret Lopez, the 2003 Most Loyal Staff Mountaineer, has contributed more than 50 years of service to WVU .
A WVU alumnus, Lopez began work with WVU Staff Council as a professional classified staff representative. She was elected to this position by a group of employees and served there for 20 years. She later became the Staff Council secretary and continued to represent the professional classified staff until she became a part-time employee.
As a Staff Council member, she is responsible for managing the Tuition Assistance Program, which has grown from 35 to nearly 300 classified staff employees yearly. Lopez also served as an adviser at Allen Hall.
She has spent many years of her life bettering higher education at WVU , working with the administration, student enrollment, funding and other areas of educational growth.