Maier Foundation

10/13/2026

Congratulations to West Virginia State University! A $26.5 million USDA grant, the biggest competitive award in WVSU's history, will build a new Agriculture Complex with labs and teaching space for students.

The $26.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help construct the West Virginia State University Agriculture Complex that will house laboratory space for the university, as well as the state Department of Agriculture.

10/06/2026

Calling all high-achieving West Virginia seniors! 🌟 Marshall University's Top Scholar applications are open through December 15, including the Society of Yeager Scholars. If you know a student who leads, serves and loves to learn, please share this with them.

Explore Marshall University’s Top Scholar Program, offering prestigious scholarships, financial support, mentorship and leadership opportunities through the Honors College.

09/30/2026

Full-circle giving! Dr. Mathew Weimer, a former Yeager Scholar himself, and his wife Mary Lauren just gave $25,000 to endow Marshall University's Society of Yeager Scholars program — the same scholarship that changed his life back in 1997. That's the power of investing in WV students.

The Weimers have given $25,000 to establish an endowment supporting Marshall University’s Society of Yeager Scholars.

09/22/2026

The Underwood Smith Teaching Scholarship — up to $40,000 for future teachers who commit to teaching in WV — now has 42 scholars in classrooms across 22 counties. West Virginia is investing in the teachers our kids need. 📚💛

A competitive college scholarship is having great success at recruiting and retaining passionate public school teachers in West Virginia.

09/16/2026

West Virginia is stepping up for its future doctors and nurses! WVU and healthcare partners just announced $2.4 million to recruit and retain medical professionals across the state, expanding programs that are already making a difference in communities that need them most. 🏥💚

Building on the foundational success of West Virginia’s premier talent attraction and retention programs, West Virginia University will use $2.4 million to help recruit and retain state-licensed healthcare professionals by standing up three new programs: Ascend WV Healthcare, First Ascent Healthca...

09/09/2026

This Labor Day, nearly 1,500 University of Charleston students, faculty and staff were out across our community for 'Labor of Love' — cleaning up neighborhoods, preparing meals and giving back to the Kanawha Valley. We love seeing our colleges show up for West Virginia like this!



https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19ih4DKXqn/

09/01/2026

Congratulations to the newest class of Aspiring Nurses at WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals! 🩺 We’re proud to help support this program — now in its seventh year — which helps nursing students from BridgeValley, West Virginia State University, and West Virginia Junior College cover living expenses while they finish their degrees. Welcome to the profession, future nurses!

WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals recently hosted a formal signing ceremony for the WVU Medicine Aspiring Nurse Program at BridgeValley Community and Technical College (BridgeValley). On August 26, 2026, Thomas Hospitals...

08/28/2026

This is an amazing exhibition that has featured historic artists throughout its history!

Join us for the opening reception of our 115th Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art: "American Solastalgia" | Sunday, August 30 from 2-4 pm. FREE and open to the public.

Solastalgia is described as “homesickness while still at home”—the present-tense pain and deep grief experienced when the familiar environment of home is transformed and degraded by factors like mining, urbanization, or climate change.

https://www.randolphcollege.edu/news/2026/08/annual-exhibition-examines-a-changing-american-landscape/

Image: Nathalie Miebach, Ian and Nicole (detail), 2023, 12 x 9 x 1′, paper, rope, data. Courtesy of the artist.

08/25/2026

Calling all Marshall University STEM students! 🚀 The NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium scholarship is open for 2026-27, supporting hands-on research with a NASA connection. If you know a Marshall Herd scientist-in-the-making, share this one — applications close Sept. 21.

Marshall University undergraduate students in STEM fields are invited to apply for the 2026-27 NASA West Virginia Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Affiliate Scholarship. Awards are made competitively to support mentored research or STEM engagement projects with a clear connection to NASA priorit...

08/23/2026

We wish to express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Al Najjar as well as all the staff and supporters of the Clay Center. Al’s influence on the Kanawha Valley will be measured in many ways – in the generations of schoolchildren who first explored the nature of science with their hands, the young adults who learned to see the world differently through art, and the many audiences who experienced the invigorating performances there. Brad Rowe, Chairman of the Maier Foundation, pointed out, “Whenever Al identified a visionary improvement to raise the impact of the Clay Center, I knew Al would work as hard as possible to make it happen.” We look forward to continuing Al’s legacy with the Clay Center and continuing to celebrate his mission of exploration, learning, and fun.

Al Najjar, President and CEO of the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia, passed away Friday, August 21, 2026.