Richards elected WVU Foundation Board chair

Mining engineering alumnus J. Wayne Richards has been elected to serve as WVU Foundation's chairman (Photo supplied).

J. Wayne Richards will serve a two-year term as chairman of the West Virginia University Foundation Board of Directors.

Story by WVU Foundation
Photos supplied

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The 1981 mining engineering alumnus is president and CEO of GR Energy Services based in Sugar Land, Texas. Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of Global Oilfield Services, which was sold to a major oilfield services company in 2012. Richards also spent more than two decades in senior operational and sales and marketing positions with Schlumberger.

Richards, and his wife Kathy, also a WVU grad, are proud Mountaineers living in Richmond, Texas. He has spent the previous two years as the Board’s vice chair and was first elected to the Foundation Board in 2016.

Other officers elected at the Board’s annual meeting include Penelope “Penni” F. Roll (’88) of Oakton, Virginia, as vice chair, William M. “Bill” Sheedy (’88) of San Mateo, California, as immediate past chair, and Robert “Bob” O. Orders, Jr. (’72) of Saint Albans, who will serve as secretary.

The Board elected Harry “Hap” Esbenshade, an accomplished business executive with a record of strong support for WVU, as its newest member. He is chairman and CEO of The Mountain Company, Laurel Management Group and Tri-State/Service specialty contracting companies covering the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. He leads real estate and investment businesses as well. Esbenshade is a native of Vienna and a graduate of Duke University.

Reelected to serve three-year terms on the Board were Olaoul “Ola” Adekunle (’02, ’07, ’07) of Fairfax, Virginia, Robert “Rob” Johnson (’89) of Middleburg, Virginia, Bradford “Brad” Ritchie (’90) of Charleston, and Roderick “Rod” C. Young (’94) of Richmond, Virginia. Both Richards and Roll also were reelected to three-year terms.

Ex-officio (non-voting) members of the Board elected to serve one-year terms include incoming WVU President Michael Benson, WVU Health System President and CEO Albert Wright Jr., and WVU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Paula Congelio.

The mission of the WVU Foundation, founded in 1954, is to enrich the lives of those touched by West Virginia University by maximizing charitable support and providing services to the University, its students and affiliated organizations.

Learn more about the WVU Foundation and how you can support WVU.

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