Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the West Virginia University Academy of Distinguished Alumni will bestow its highest honor on two internationally known graduates who hail from West Virginia.

Dr. Patrice Harris, formerly of Bluefield, one of the medical professions foremost experts in adolescent and forensic psychiatry, and Peter Kalis, a native of Wheeling and one of the nations leading litigators, will be inducted into the 2007 Academy at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9.

Patrice Harris and Peter Kalis are held in the highest regard in their professions and both are extremely active in their communities. They are alumni whom our students and other graduates look up to and respect,said Stephen L. Douglas, president and chief executive officer, WVU Alumni Association.They exemplify the Mountaineer spirit of success and loyalty, and we are pleased to honor them with induction into the Academy.

Dr. Patrice Harris

Dr. Patrice Harris, a native of Bluefield, is a three-time graduate of WVU . She received a bachelors degree in psychology in 1982, a masters degree in counseling psychology in 1986, and her medical degree in 1992. She completed her residency and fellowship training at the Emory University School of Medicine. In addition to her general psychiatry training, she completed fellowships in child and adolescent psychiatry and forensic psychiatry.

Since 1998, Harris has been actively involved in the legislative process on both the state and national levels. From January 2001 to December 2004, she worked as a senior policy fellow for the Barton Child Law and Policy Clinic at the Emory University School of Law. In this capacity she was part of a multidisciplinary team addressing public policy for abused and neglected children, and her responsibilities include legislative advocacy and education.

Harris is a highly sought after lecturer on the topics of children’s mental health, juvenile law, addiction, health care disparities and advocacy for abused and neglected children. She has been featured nationally on television and radio programs, including an appearance on the Today Show where she was interviewed by Katie Couric on the topic of quality of mental health care.

She currently serves as the medical director for the Fulton County Department of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases and is in private practice. She is also a clinical associate professor in the Emory University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Dr. Harris is immediate past-president of the Black Psychiatrists of America and is a past member of the American Psychiatric Association Board of Trustees. She serves on the American Medical Association’s Council on Legislation. She is president and a member of the Legislative Committee of the Georgia Psychiatric Physicians Association and was selected as the 2000-2001 Psychiatrist of the Year in Georgia.

Dr. Harris serves on the boards of the Mental Health Association of Georgia and the Advisory Board of Skyland Trail and is immediate past member of the board of NAMI -Georgia.

As a student at WVU , she was active in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., the Black Unity Organization and student government. She also worked with WVU faculty to develop a comprehensive research study that eventually led to the universitys Personal Academic Support Service, orPASSkeymentoring program.

She is youngest WVU graduate and the first African-American woman to be inducted into the Academy during its 20-year history. Today, she continues her commitment to WVU by volunteering her time to the WVU Alumni Associations Black Alumni program, as well as mentoring future students.

Peter J. Kalis

Peter J. Kalis is chairman and global managing partner of K&L Gatesa firm with more than 1,400 lawyers working in 22 cities on three continents. After law school, Kalis served as law clerk to the late J. Skelly Wright, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and for the late Associate Justice Byron R. White of the United States Supreme Court. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers, The Best Lawyers in America, and Law Dragon Magazine’s500 Leading Lawyers in Americaand500 Leading Litigators in America.

Kalis is a member of the American Law Institute. He has served on task forces of the American Bar Association, and routinely addresses professional congregations on both practice and law firm leadership topics.

He served as the ABA s National Law Day Chair and served ex officio on the ABA s Commission on Civic Education and Separation of Powers and the Standing Committee on Public Education.

He provides strategic advice to many of the nations largest corporations. He has worked extensively with chief executive officers, boards of directors and general counsel in the development and execution of proactive or defensive litigation strategies and strategies to preserve and access corporate insurance programs in response to a variety of novel and substantial claims.

He serves on the boards of directors of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and National Pancreas Foundation. He served on the executive committee of the board of directors and chaired the finance and investment committee of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute. He is a past director of the Duquesne Club, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, The Childrens Center of Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras and National Kidney Foundation of Western Pennsylvania.

A native of Wheeling, Kalis received a bachelors degree from WVU in 1972. While a student at WVU , he served as student body president and was elected Phi Beta Kappa. In 1972, he was named WVU s 17th Rhodes Scholar. He attended the University of Oxford where received a doctor of philosophy in politics in 1976. He continued his education at Yale Law School, serving as editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and received his law degree in 1978.

Kalis has published more than 50 articles in professional journals and academic law reviews on a variety of subjects, and he is an author of Policyholders Guide to the Law of Insurance Coverage (with T. Reiter&J. Segerdahl), an editor of Tobacco Litigation and Insurance, and served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Insurance Coverage, a quarterly publication of Aspen Law&Business.

He has remained a loyal and committed Mountaineer. Kalis can often be found on campus sharing his knowledge and advice to students. He is a founding member of the Eberly College of Arts&Sciences Advisory Board, as well as the WVU Political Science Department Advisory Board. He established an endowment for the Eberly College to support and strengthen liberal arts education. In 2006, the college recognized his commitment and service to his alma mater with the Alumni Recognition Award.

The WVU Alumni Associations Academy of Distinguished Alumni was founded in 1987 by the WVU Board of Directors and held its first induction ceremonies in 1988. The Academy honors WVU graduates who have attained national or international distinction in their profession or discipline. During the past 20 years, this prestigious award has been bestowed on more than 70 West Virginia University alumni, including Jerry West, David Selby, Pamela Maphis Larrick, Rod”Hot Rod”Hundley, Sam Huff and Gen. Robert H. Foglesong.

For information about the Academy, visit:http://alumni.wvu.edu/awards/academy/.

The WVU Alumni Association, chartered in 1873, represents more than 170,000 University graduates residing in every county in West Virginia, every state in the union and approximately 60 foreign nations. With nearly 100 registered chapters and constituent groups, the Association’s 26,000 dues-paying members support Homecoming Weekend, the WVU Academy of Distinguished Alumni, Loyalty Permanent Endowment Fund, and dozens of other social and philanthropic programs.

For more information, visithttp://alumni.wvu.edu.