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.
John A Zavalney
Inducted 2007John A. Zavalney graduated in 1977 with a B.A. in Secondary Education majoring biology and general science. He began his teaching career at Foshay Middle School in South Central Los Angeles in a classroom filled with illegally smuggled exotic animals from around the world donated by Fish & Wildlife. These animals became a focal point helping to transform Foshay from one of the worst schools in LAUSD into a K -12 learning center and a national model for school reform. The presence of animals leads to learning opportunities related to adaptations, habitat destruction and international importation regulations. After meeting renowned primatologist, Dr. Jane Goodall, Zavalney spent three months in Tanzania working for and promoting her environmental education program Roots & Shoots. He negotiated a bi-lateral agreement with the Minister of Education that was signed by the Tanzanian and U.S. government, making Tanzania a part of GLOBE Program. The GLOBE Program has students around the world collecting local environmental data and sending it to leading research scientists. In January of 2007, former Vice President Al Gore and his staff trained Zavalney to provide presentations about global warming based upon the movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. Zavalney has won several prestigious educational awards and honors including Disney’s American Teacher Award, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Education, the Presidents Council on Environmental Quality Teacher Professional Development Award and the Los Angeles County Teacher of the Year.