ALUMNI “WALL OF HONOR” The West Liberty University Alumni Board of Directors instituted a project in 1990 to demonstrate to current students, visitors, and friends that the college has some very successful graduates. This project, known as the “Alumni Wall of Honor,” is a dramatic way to honor some of the college’s most distinguished alumni and display pride in the accomplishments of its graduates. The concept was suggested by then Associate Professor of Physics Robert W. Schramm, who is a 1958 graduate of the college and a 2002 Alumni Wall of Honor inductee. The Alumni Wall of Honor is housed in the south end of the Union known as the Alumni Lounge.
Jeffrey V Kessler
Inducted 2014Senator Jeff Kessler earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Economics and Political Science at West Liberty, then went on to earn a Juris Doctor degree from WVU College of Law in 1981.
A founding partner in the Moundsville firm of Berry, Kessler, Crutchfield, Taylor and Gordon, he served as the city solicitor for the City of Benwood and as Municipal Court Judge for the City of McMechen.
Kessler also served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Marshall County from 1985 – 2000 and as a special prosecutor in Ohio and Wetzel counties. In 1997, he was appointed to the West Virginia State Senate for the Second Senatorial District.
He has been re-elected five times to the office and in 2011, was elected as the first and only Acting President in the history of the West Virginia Senate.
He was elected President of the Senate in November 2011 and January 2013,which bestows upon him the statutory title of Lieutenant Governor.
He was a major sponsor of tax increment financing legislation that led to the Highlands development and is author of the legislation creating the new Family Court system, Medical Malpractice legislation and Workers’ Compensation reform. He also spearheaded passage of the WV Future Fund to create an endowment from the oil and gas boom.
President Kessler assisted in designating “university” status to WLU and securing state funding for the Highlands Center campus.
A resident of Glen Dale, W.Va., he serves on the board of directors of both the Regional Economic Development Corporation and Reynolds Memorial Hospital.