Morgantown, WV (WOAY) – West Virginia University will honor five Mountaineers for their loyalty and service to the University.
Judge Irene Berger, Dr. John Brick, Tom Jones, Ken Kendrick and Carolyn Long will be inducted into the Order of the Vandalia during a ceremony on Friday June 6, 2025.
Judge Irene C. Berger is a native of McDowell County and is a two-time University graduate. She made history as the first Black female circuit judge in West Virginia when she was appointed to the bench in Kanawha County’s 13th Judicial Circuit in 1994. Judge Berger is also the first Black federal judge in the state with her appointment as U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia in 2009.
Dr. John Brick is a native West Virginian who has devoted his career to improving the care of West Virginia patients with neurologic diseases. The WVU School of Medicine graduate served as chair of the Department of Neurology for 19 years, started the Mountain State’s first epilepsy monitoring unit and statewide network of telestroke sites in rural hospitals, and established neurology outreach clinics across West Virginia.
J. Thomas “Tom” Jones is a West Virginia native and University alumnus who worked for 42 years in health care in the Mountain State, is a former president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System. He currently serves on the City National Bank Board of Directors and, in the past, has been a member and board chair for the WVU Board of Governors, West Virginia Ethics Commission, Arch Coal and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce among others.
Princeton native E.G. “Ken” Kendrick Jr. has been the managing general partner for the Arizona Diamondbacks for 22 years, is a University alumnus, co-founder of the Country Roads Trust, founder of the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics Kendrick Center for an Ethical Economy and namesake for Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Retired WVU Institute of Technology President Carolyn Long spent her career serving as a teacher and administrator in the West Virginia public school and higher education systems. After getting her start as a teacher at Big Chimney Elementary School in Kanawha County, she went on to become the first woman to serve as superintendent in Braxton County and chair of the WVU Board of Governors.
The ceremony will also pay tribute to two Vandalians who died in the past year — Mannon Gallegly, Class of 2018, and Thomas Potter, Class of 1998.
The Order of Vandalia is the highest recognition for service to WVU. The award dates back to 1960 when WVU President Elvis J. Stahr outlined his idea for a special honor to be bestowed on the University’s most loyal servants.
