A $50,000 gift made through the estate of the late Stanley Wearden, of Morgantown, W. Va., will ensure continued support for recruitment and retention of top graduate students in the West Virginia University Department of Statistics.

Starting his career at WVU in 1966, Wearden served as a statistics professor, founding chairperson of the Department of Statistics and Computer Science, dean of Graduate Studies, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and associate provost for Research and Graduate Studies. Wearden’s WVU career spanned 27 years.

Wearden has supported WVU and the College of Arts and Sciences in many ways throughout his career, retirement, and now, by continuing his legacy through this gift.

Wearden pledged a portion of his estate to support the Department of Statistics in recruiting top-tier graduate students, ensuring growth for the department upon his passing. The $50,000 gift, made in conjunction with his wife, will support high-achieving graduate students. This incentive will allow the Department of Statistics to maintain a competitive edge in recruiting students who will excel in teaching and research.

In addition to the gift from his estate, nearly $6,000 was given in his memory by family and friends to be added to the Stanley Wearden Memorial Graduate Endowment.

“I am very pleased by the generous gift of Dr. Stan Wearden and his wife, Betty, to support graduate student education in our MS and PhD programs,” said James Harner, a colleague of Wearden’s and the current department chair.

“Stan was a renaissance man who touched many with his breadth of knowledge and sense of humor. He gave his time freely in mentoring graduate students beyond his retirement, until his death.

“His commitment to education will benefit graduate students in statistics for generations to come.”

This contribution was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The $750 million comprehensive campaign, which is being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University, runs through December 2015.

For further information on the comprehensive campaign, please visit http://www.astateofminds.com or http://www.eberly.wvu.edu.

For more information, contact Amanda Dymacek, at 304-293-9251 or Amanda.Dymacek@mail.wvu.edu.

-WVU-

bs/11/08/13

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