The West Virginia University Research Corp. has fulfilled a $1 million commitment to enhance the collection at the WVU Libraries.

John Weete, president of the Research Corp., announced that a
recent payment of more than $73,000 brought the total contribution from the Library Challenge Grant Program to $1 million.

“The West Virginia University Research Corp. has been proud to
contribute to strengthening the library resources and thus provide
additional support for WVU faculty and student researchers and scholars,” said Weete, who is also vice president of research and economic development.

In March 1997, the Research Corp. implemented a program to
spur internal support of the libraries. The Library Challenge Grant
Program promised to match $2 for every $1 contributed by staff or faculty to an endowment established by the WVU Foundation on behalf of WVU Libraries.

Because of the grant, rather than paying the full $5,000 for a library endowment, donors made a fiveyear pledge of $1,334. The remainder came from the Research Corp.

The incentive motivated more than 200 University employees to
step forward to create endowments.

“The Libraries are grateful for the Research Corp.’s support in building these book endowments,” Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien said. “We believe books are important, and library users want a current and useful on-site collection. Continuing journal cost inflation puts a lot of pressure on our budget. If we did not have these book endowments, we would be buying fewer books.”

The WVU Research Corp. is an independent not-for-profit corporation established under the laws of W est Virginia for the purpose of stimulating and supporting research and other scholarly activity at the University. Over the last decade the
corporation has invested several million dollars in supporting individual and team research projects at WVU and in assisting the faculty in acquiring the research equipment they need to execute a highly productive, leading-edge research program.

The WVU Foundation is a private non-profit corporation that generates and provides support for WVU.

BY PAM FRONKO
WVU FOUNDATION

The West Virginia University Foundation will dedicate 771 Scholarship Bricks to serve as the foundation of a Scholars Walk at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 15, at the Downtown Library Complex.

With the Scholarship Brick Walkway, the Foundation and West
Virginia University are recognizingthose donors who have invested inthe lives of WVU students. Each brick is engraved with the name of an endowed scholarship created at the University.

Speakers will include WVU President David C. Hardesty Jr.; WVU Foundation President F. Duke Perry; WVU Foundation Vice President D. Lyn Dotson; WVU student and scholarship recipient Mary Ballard; and scholarship donor Raymond Hinerman Sr.
Ballard, of Charleston, is a sophomorein the WVU Honors Program, majoring in biology. A Presidential Scholar, she is the recipient of the George W. Berry Scholarship, WVU Valedictorian Scholarship, WVU National Merit Scholarship and Charleston Area Medical Center Scholarship.

Hinerman, of Weirton, received his J.D. from the WVU College of Law in 1967. In 1993 he established the Raymond A. and Barbara J. Hinerman Law Scholarship Endowment. He is a partner in the
firm of Hinerman & Fahey. The event is open to the public.