Broadcaster, teacher and investment executive to receive WVU honorary degrees during Commencement with leading faculty presiding

Statler electrical engineering alumnus and software executive Nitin Kumbhani is one of this year's Presidential Honorary Degree recipients (Graphic illustration/Kaley LaQuea).

Alongside hundreds of graduates, West Virginia University will present two outstanding alumni and an educator with Presidential Honorary Degrees while also recognizing two leading faculty members during Commencement ceremonies, Saturday, Dec. 21, at the Coliseum. 

Story by WVU Today
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Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The three Presidential Honorary Degree recipients are Hoppy Kercheval, a longtime West Virginia broadcaster, David Riggle, a special education teacher in Tyler County, and Nitin “Nick” Kumbhani, a leading executive in software development and investment management.

Two Commencement ceremonies are planned.

The 9 a.m. ceremony will honor graduates from the WVU College of Applied Human Sciences, the College of Creative Arts and Media, the College of Law and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and will include Presidential Honorary Degree conferrals for Kercheval and Riggle.

The 2 p.m. ceremony will honor graduates from the WVU Davis College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, John Chambers College of Business and Economics, School of Dentistry, School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy and School of Public Health, and will include a Presidential Honorary Degree conferral for Kumbhani.

Considered the radio “dean” of West Virginia broadcasters with a career spanning more than four decades, Kercheval joined the staff of WAJR Radio, part of WVRC Media based in Morgantown, while he was a WVU student, and was hired as news director following his graduation in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from what is now the College of Creative Arts and Media.

A native of Summit Point who also earned a master’s degree in journalism, Kercheval serves as vice president of operations and is considered a “founding father” of MetroNews, a statewide radio network comprised of more than 60 terrestrial radio stations which has expanded into digital spaces in a changing media landscape.

Since 1993, Kercheval has hosted the popular statewide current events talk show, MetroNews “Talkline,” a signature daily network program that has become mandatory listening for state leaders, policymakers and others.

A member of the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame, he draws on his former experience with the Mountaineer Sports Network as co-host of the leading sports podcast, “3 Guys Before the Game.”

Continuing the University’s tradition of recognizing a teacher during December Commencement, Riggle was selected for his decade-plus of work as an educator in the Mountain State.

A graduate of West Liberty University with a passion for serving others, Riggle currently teaches world history and special education math at Tyler Consolidated Middle School in Sistersville where he also serves as head coach of the girls’ basketball team. 

Riggle previously taught a variety of subjects at Paden City High School, and was actively involved in the school community with roles as athletic director, boys varsity basketball head coach, boys varsity track head coach, leader of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports team and Faculty Senate president.

For 20 years, Riggle has also volunteered with the Marshall County Special Olympics as a coach for basketball, flag football and track, and is the recipient of the Earle and Una Geisel Service Award.

A proud WVU graduate originally from Mumbai, India, Kumbhani credits WVU with providing critical scholarship support to help him finish his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1971. Through connections made at the University, he was recruited to develop software for ATMs and other banking systems.

Kumbhani’s first company, Source Data Systems, pioneered ATM software in collaboration with more than 100 major banks nationally and globally. The company was later acquired by a Fortune 500 company.

In 1987, he founded the company that would become Apex Capital Management to follow his second passion — investment management, and pioneered the small- and mid-cap investment category in the U.S.

In 2023, Kumbhani was inducted into the Statler College Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Distinguished Alumni Academy.

See past honorary degree recipients.

Each semester, the University president will select faculty for the Commencement grand marshal position in recognition of their accomplishments.

Leading graduates as grand marshal during the 9 a.m. ceremony will be Duncan Lorimer, Fellow of the Royal Society, Shaw Prize recipient, and professor of physics and astronomy in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

Maura McLaughlin, National Academy of Sciences member, Shaw Prize recipient, Eberly Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy, and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will preside during the 2 p.m. ceremony.

Find more information about WVU Commencement, including links to ceremony livestreams.

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