INSTITUTE, W.Va. – West Virginia State University (WVSU) will host its spring commencement on Saturday, May 10, 2025, beginning at 10 a.m. in the D. Stephen and Diane H. Walker Convocation Center.

The ceremony will recognize the university’s approximately 240 graduates.  

The commencement speaker is WVSU alumni and Charleston area restaurant owner Chef Paul Smith. After graduating from Charleston Catholic High School, Smith immersed himself in learning the hospitality industry and the finer points of great cuisine. With his bachelor’s degree from West Virginia State University, he formally trained at New York’s prestigious Culinary Institute of America and CIA’s Greystone campus in Napa Valley, California, where he studied pastries and wine and graduated as Valedictorian.

Smith has worked around the country, from The Ritz Carlton Resort in Naples, Florida, to the world-renowned Biltmore Estates in Asheville, North Carolina, to The Windsor Club in Vero Beach, Florida. When the Mountain State pulled at his heartstrings, he returned to West Virginia where he served as the Executive Chef at the University of Charleston, and Corporate Chef for Buzz Food Service.

Today, he has multiple restaurants in Charleston: The Pitch Sports Bar & Grill, and 1010 Bridge Restaurant & Catering. He believes strongly that a rising tide will lift all boats, and has served as an advisor to multiple food and hospitality businesses in West Virginia. Smith’s ultimate vision is to give back to the state he has always considered home through his gifts of great food and warm hospitality.

Smith was named a Semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef of The Southeast Award in 2023, the first West Virginia chef to receive that honor. He was also named West Virginian of the Year in 2023.

In 2024, he was honored again with a nomination for the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef of The Southeast Award and on June 10, 2024, in a ceremony in Chicago he became West Virginia’s first James Beard Award winner. 

The event will be livestreamed on WVSU’s livestream channel https://www.youtube.com/c/WVSULiveStream.

WVSU holds commencement ceremonies in December and May of each year. 

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– WVSU –