AMost LoyalMountaineer received the 2007 Martin Luther King Achievement Award from West Virginia University and a student who is president and founder of the Black Student Union, received the MLK Scholarship at the Annual Unity Breakfast today (Jan. 15) in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

Robert Stitzel, Ph.D., director of WVU s Graduate Studies Program, picked up the prestigious achievement award, while WVU student Larisha Campbell received the $1,000 MLK scholarship. The annual breakfast is part of the WVU Center for Black Cultures annual celebration of the Martin Luther King national holiday.

Stitzel wins honor

The MLK Achievement Award is given annually to the nominee from the state who best fulfills Kings commitments of civil rights, human rights, humanitarianism, social action and advocacy, civility, improving the human condition, and acting as an agent for an inclusive and equal society for all people.

Barbara Howe, director of the Center for Womens Studies, said Robert Stitzel, director of WVU s Graduate Studies Program, is the perfect fit for this honor.

We based our nomination on Dr. Stitzels work to advance Dr. Kings mission within higher education and his profession of pharmacology,Dr. Howe said.In terms of acting as a change agent for an inclusive and equal society for all people and improving the human condition, Dr. Stitzel has encouraged students to pursue graduate school by participating in the McNair Scholars program, which helps first-generation college students succeed and, as appropriate, prepare for graduate school.

Katherine Bankole, Ph.D., former director of the Center for Black Culture, said Stitzel exemplifies many of Kings values.

Any campaign for civil and human rights begins with the day-to-day �€~direct actionof the individual. It is no small sacrifice to devote ones life to the service of students.

Todd McFadden, the CBC s acting director, agrees.

Dr. Stitzel understands something that King also knewthat education is a key component to both civil rights and human rights,McFadden said.We are lucky to have someone at WVU who brings this part of Kings vision to life on a daily basis.

Stitzel received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota in 1964. He has been with the WVU School of Medicine since 1965. He served as the associate chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and then as the associate chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.

He has been a member of the University Senate and is currently director of the Graduate Studies Program, serving as a mentor to students and faculty for generations.

He is also credited with securing an $11.79 million gift to the School of Medicine from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals for medical research in the fields of obesity, cardiovascular/pulmonary issues and womens and childrens health issues.

Last November, he also was honored as theMost LoyalFaculty Mountaineer during 59th annual Mountaineer Week activities.

Campbell receives student award

WVU student Larisha Campbell, the recipient of the MLK Scholarship Award, is a sociology junior and Promise Scholar originally from Inwood. She is also a work study student at the Center for Black Culture.

The $1,000 scholarship is awarded annually to the WVU student who best typifies the example of the slain civil rights leader. In her application, Campbell wrote,I do not have the bravery or the complete and utter selflessness that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exemplified throughout his life; however, I do have determination and goals that act upon furthering Dr. Kingsideals.

Campbell said her goal on campus is to unify people of all races based on Kings ideals. One way she has done that is through establishment of a Black Student Union to promote unity among students of African decent, who spread that unity throughout the campus.