Cheryl W. Grisé , CEO of the principal operating subsidiaries of Northeast Utilities, will deliver the inaugural lecture in the Glen H. Hiner Distinguished Lecture Series at West Virginia University Friday, Sept. 15. Her topic will beEthics and Energy.

The lecture, free and open to the public, will take place at 11 a.m. in Room 113 of the Mineral Resources Building on the Evansdale Campus. A reception will follow.

As CEO of the principal operating subsidiaries of Northeast Utilities, Grisé is responsible for the companys gas and electric utility businesses. She earned her bachelors degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and her law degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California, and completed the Yale Executive Management Program. She is a member of the State Bar of California and the boards of directors of MetLife and the Dana Corporation. She joined Northeast Utilities in 1980.

Grisé is a member of the State Bar of California and the boards of directors of MetLife and the Dana Corporation. She is chair of the board of directors of the Greater Hartford Arts Council and a member of the boards of directors of the University of Connecticut Foundation, Kingwood-Oxford School, New England Council, Business Council of Fairfield County and MetroHartford Alliance. Grisé was inducted into the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in 2005. She is also a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum.

We are pleased to be able to bring Ms. Grisé to WVU to speak to our students and faculty on a topic that is so relevant in todays world,said Gene Cilento, the Glen Hiner dean of the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources,and we are excited to launch this new lecture series, which will bring distinguished business leaders to our campus each year to share their expertise and knowledge with our students and faculty.

The Glen H. Hiner Distinguished Lecture Series is named in honor of the outstanding alumnus who, in 2005, established an endowment to support the deanship of the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at WVU .

Glen Hiner graduated from WVU s Department of Electrical Engineering in 1957, then embarked on an outstanding 35-year career with General Electric. In 1992, he became chief executive officer of Owens Corning. He has served on several College of Engineering and Mineral Resources advisory committees, and as a visiting professor in the WVU College of Business and Economics, and is a member of the WVU Foundation Board of Directors.