The West Virginia State University (WVSU) College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the WVSU Foundation held a signing ceremony Tuesday, March 3, to formally establish the Dr. George E. Keller II Memorial Scholarship for students studying chemistry or chemical engineering. Participating in the ceremony were (from left): Patricia Schumann, president of the WVSU Foundation; Jack Dever, chief technology officer of MATRIC; Perry Keller, the son of the late Dr. George E. Keller II; and Dr. Naveed Zaman, dean of the WVSU College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
West Virginia State University Establishes Endowed Scholarship for Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Students
3/4/2020
Contact: Jack Bailey
(304) 766-4109
Jbaile19@wvstateu.edu
March 4, 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Virginia State University Establishes Endowed Scholarship
for Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Students
Dr. George E. Keller II Memorial Scholarship Honors Long-time Union Carbide Engineer
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University (WVSU) College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the WVSU Foundation have announced the establishment of a new endowed scholarship for students studying chemistry or chemical engineering at the University.
The Dr. George E. Keller II Memorial Scholarship has received gifts of more than $30,000 to endow the scholarship; $25,000 from an anonymous donor and $5,000 from the Mid-Atlantic Technology Research & Innovation Center (MATRIC).
The new endowed scholarship is named in honor of Dr. George E. Keller II, an accomplished chemical engineer, who worked at Union Carbide for 36 years and achieved national and international acclaim for contributions in separation science and catalysis. He held numerous patents and gave many talks before professional societies, and served as a lecturer in President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace Program” in 1958 and 1959.
After he retired from Union Carbide, Keller and others founded MATRIC and he served both on the board of directors and as chief engineer. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering and was recognized as one of the top 100 chemical engineers of the modern era by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In April 2017, Keller was awarded the Distinguished West Virginian award by Governor Jim Justice and in May 2017, he was recognized in the United States Senate with a resolution sponsored by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito. Keller passed away on Oct. 7, 2019.
Scholarships from the endowed fund will go to full-time WVSU students seeking a degree in chemistry or chemical engineering and pursuing an internship in the chemical industry.
For more information about the Dr. George E. Keller II Memorial Scholarship, contact Dr. Micheal Fultz at (304) 766-3106 or
mfultz@wvstateu.edu.
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West Virginia State University is a public, land grant, historically black university, which has evolved into a fully accessible, racially integrated, and multi-generational institution, located in Institute, W.Va. As a “living laboratory of human relations,” the university is a community of students, staff, and faculty committed to academic growth, service, and preservation of the racial and cultural diversity of the institution. Its mission is to meet the higher education and economic development needs of the state and region through innovative teaching and applied research.
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