WVU Today
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A doctor known for his leadership and service, a successful entrepreneur, a highly-respected retired plant pathology professor and a dedicated administrative assistant are being honored as Most Loyals during the 70th annual Mountaineer Week, a celebration of Appalachian Heritage, Oct. 20-29, on West Virginia University’s campus.
The 2017 honorees are Dr. Ronald Wilkinson, Most Loyal West Virginian; Jon Hammock, Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer; Mannon Gallegly, Most Loyal Faculty/Professional Staff Mountaineer; and Barbara Bodkins, Most Loyal Classified Staff Mountaineer. The group will be honored during halftime ceremonies of Saturday’s (Oct. 28) WVU-Oklahoma State football game.
The award recipients are selected by a joint committee representing the WVU Foundation, WVU Alumni Association, WVU Staff Council, WVU Faculty Senate and the Mountaineer Week organizing committee.
(Submitted photos)
Most Loyal West Virginian
The Most Loyal West Virginian exemplifies faithfulness to the ideals and goals of the state of West Virginia through business, professional and civic achievement as well as support for WVU.
Dr. Ronald Wilkinson currently serves as a clinical professor for the WVU Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, a position he’s held since 1975.
A Sissonville native, Wilkinson has supported the state of West Virginia through his role as a member of the military, a private otolaryngologist and professor at WVU. After graduating from WVU in 1964 and the School of Medicine in 1968, Wilkinson became a U.S. Army major, serving as the chief of the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic at Lyster Army Hospital in Fort Rucker, Alabama. He also maintained his own private practice from 1975-2001 in Charleston.
Wilkinson has served on the boards of the West Virginia Academy of Otolaryngology, West Virginia School of Medicine Alumni Association and WVU Alumni Association. He is a member of the WVU Foundation’s Woodburn Circle Society, the Alumni Association’s Marmaduke H. Dent Society, and was inducted into the WVU Order of Vandalia in 2001.
Most Loyal Alumni
The Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer exemplifies faithfulness to the ideas and goals of the University and exhibits support for WVU activities and operations through leadership and service.
Jon Hammock currently serves as the president, CEO and founder of KeyLogic Systems in Morgantown.
Hammock founded KeyLogic in 1999 and has built the firm into a successful professional services, engineering and technology firm with an extensive presence in the government market, including federal civilian, energy and national security agencies. The company employs approximately 170 people, many in the Morgantown/Fairmont area.
Outside of KeyLogic, Hammock is a serial entrepreneur, constantly expanding his business acumen and portfolio with projects and investments in commercial and residential real estate, aviation and hospitality. He is also part of an angel investment group that is providing capital to emerging businesses with a focus in West Virginia.
Hammock earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science from WVU and an MBA from the University of South Carolina. He is a member of the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Graduates, and serves on the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources Advisory Committee.
Hammock and his wife, Lynn, actively support the WVU Foundation, Mountaineer Athletic Club, WVU Solar Decathlon Team, WVU Robotics Team and CyberWVU competition.
Most Loyal Faculty/Professional Staff and Classified Staff Mountaineer
The Most Loyal Faculty/Professional Staff and Classified Staff Mountaineer exemplify faithfulness to the ideals and goals of WVU and exhibit support for University activities and operations through leadership and service.
Mannon Gallegly is currently an emeritus professor of plant pathology at WVU, a position he has held since 1986.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1949 with his doctorate in plant pathology, he began teaching as an assistant professor of plant pathology at WVU. He would work his way up to the position of director of the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences at WVU, a post he held from 1970-1986.
Gallegly was a member of the American Phytopathological Society from 1972-1973, president of the Potomac Division of APS in 1966, past member of the Potato Association of America, American Institute of Biological Sciences, Mycological Society of America and Tomato Genetics Cooperative.
He received the AAAS Campbell Soup Award in 1960 and was made a fellow of the American Phytopathological Society in 1971. He received certificates of recognition from WVU for contributions to the state of West Virginia, and from the USDA Agricultural Research Service North Atlantic Region for assistance in staffing of the Appalachian Fruit Research Station and the Appalachian Soil and Water Resources Lab.
Barbara Bodkins is currently a senior administrative assistant in employee relations within WVU’s Division of Talent and Culture. She provides administrative, professional and technical support for her department and manages a variety of different projects, such as Staff Council elections and the employee remembrance ceremony.
After graduating from Potomac State College of WVU, Bodkins moved to Morgantown where she began her career at the WVU Medical Center, working in the pulmonary diseases unit. She moved on to work for the federal government and private industry in Morgantown and Preston County before returning to WVU in 2000. She has worked for the WVU Division of Talent and Culture (Human Resources) for the past 17 years.
Bodkins lives in Preston County with her husband, Steve.
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