Fairmont State Foundation surpasses campaign goal and welcomes new board members

Five new board members will take their seats on the Fairmont State Foundation Board of Directors, capping a milestone year that included finishing more than $700,000 over goal in The Every Gift Matters – Scholarship Campaign.

The Fairmont State Foundation serves as the non-profit organization that solicits and administers private donations on behalf of Fairmont State University. The 20-member Board of Directors, which governs the institution, embarked on a $1.3 million campaign for scholarships in July 2018. The new board members will be able to help celebrate achievement of that goal, having reached $2 million in new scholarships in less than one year.

“Our new Board members possess a diverse set of skills and relationships,” said Gary LeDonne, Fairmont State Foundation Board chair. “Their professional experience as entrepreneurs, financial professionals, and education will serve the Foundation Board well. I look forward to working with each of them to support Fairmont State University.”
New board members include Kim Del Greco, Michael Williams, Miller Hall, Kevin Wilfong, and Nicholas Oxley. 

Del Greco, a resident of Bridgeport, is the deputy assistant director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Del Greco, who is a graduate of Kent State University, began working for the FBI more than 22 years ago and brought swift exposure to biometrics, specifically fingerprints and latent technology.

Williams, director of revenue accounting for PDC Energy, lives in Buckhannon. Williams has more than 20 years of accounting and auditing experience and is a 1989 Summa Cum Laude graduate of Fairmont State with a Bachelor’s in accounting.

Hall, who lives in Beckley, West Virginia, is the vice president of the West Virginia State Board of Education.  At Fairmont State, he was a member of the football and track teams and graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor’s in education. Hall also received two Master’s degrees from Marshall University and has spent many years as an educator and coach in Raleigh County.

Wilfong, a 1977 graduate of Fairmont State, earned a Bachelor’s degree in engineering technology. Wilfong resides in Fairmont and is the president and owner of Middletown Properties and Wilfong Enterprises.

Oxley, a Wealth Advisor for Buckingham Strategic Wealth, is a 2001 graduate of Fairmont State with a Bachelor’s in finance.  He also received his MBA from West Virginia University. Oxley lives in Charleston, where he is active with many non-profits. He is also an advisory board member for the Fairmont State University School of Business.

“We are very excited to be working with such an outstanding group of individuals who are dedicated to Fairmont State University’s success,” said Julie R. Cryser, president of the Fairmont State Foundation. “We have a great team that will work hard to ensure students, faculty, and staff have those added resources that create the margin of excellence in education.” 

The new board members and successful campaign cap a year of transition for the Fairmont State Foundation. The board hired Cryser in April. Cryser served in development roles at West Virginia University for nearly 19 years before coming to Fairmont. 
The board also hired Vicki Glasow as the new Development Director. Glasow, a 1978 graduate of Fairmont State, comes to the Foundation after three years as Director of Development and Corporate Relations at Alderson Broaddus University.