ABU Honors Outstanding Alumni at Annual Alumni Awards Banquet

Philippi, W.Va. – Alderson Broaddus University announced their Alumni Award winners Saturday evening at the annual Alumni Awards Banquet as part of the University’s Homecoming festivities.

Dr. Teresa Marsh was honored with the Alumni Achievement Award presented to an alumnus who has made an outstanding contribution in their chosen field or endeavor.

Dr. Marsh graduated from Alderson-Broaddus in 1999 with a BA in secondary education with specializations in English/Language Arts and Math and a minor in literature. She completed her master’s as a Reading Specialist in 2000 from WVU and her doctorate in educational psychology in 2004 from WVU. She also completed her school administration certification in 2014 from Salem International University.

She taught English and Math at East Fairmont High School from 1999-2000 and English at Philip Barbour High School from 2000 to 2013, worked as a county literacy coach from 2013-2014, and then, served as principal at Junior and Volga-Century Elementary Schools from 2014-2015. She has also taught as an adjunct for Fairmont State University. She is now the principal at Kasson Elementary/Middle School where she has received several grants for field trips, sports equipment, and the school garden.

The Distinguished Alumni Award for outstanding service to the University was presented to Mr. Jeffrey Gross.

Mr. Gross was born on February 2, 1952, in Bethlehem, PA. He graduated from Gateway Senior High School in 1970 and immediately enrolled in Alderson-Broaddus College. While a student at AB, he pledged with the Sigma Delta Nu Fraternity (The Delphics) in the fall of 1971. In 1974, he became the President of Sigma Delta Nu and the President of the Men’s Dorm Council. Jeff graduated Alderson-Broaddus with a BA in History in 1974.

He began employment at U.S. Steel as a management trainee in 1974 and married Marsha Spalla in 1981. Jeff continued his education and graduated from Saint Francis College with an MA in Industrial Relations in 1983. He was then employed at the University of Florida from 1985 to 1988 as a Labor Relations Manager. Jeff received a lifetime certification as a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) in 1992 from the Society for Human Resource Management while being employed at Florida Steel Corporation from 1990 to 1998 as HR Manager and Plant Superintendent.

Jeff became the Founder and President of Artificial Turf Products, Inc. in 1998, which is the company that built the Delphic Green at Alderson Broaddus University in 2014. He has been a member of the Alderson Broaddus University Alumni Council since 2015 and was elected President of the Delphic Alumni Association in 2016.

Mrs. Louzette “Lou” Shriver was named the Outstanding Ally Award recognizing a non-alumnus who demonstrates their dedication and passion for the University through extraordinary actions or commitments that assist to fulfill the mission of the University.

Mrs. Shriver was born July 28, 1936, in Oxford, N.Y. She is a graduate of Oxford Academy High School. Lou proudly served in the U.S. Army from 1956 to 1959. She is a member of the Grafton Women’s Club and attends church at the Beulah Baptist Church in Pruntytown, W.Va. She is a homemaker by choice, with her husband, James Shriver of 57 years. Lou is an avid collector of antiques and unique stuffed bears. Her philanthropic efforts include not only her church, but also contributions to her husband’s alma mater, AB University, to aid in their many improvements in recent years. In 2012, Lou and her husband, Jim, made a significant contribution to the Rex Pyles Memorial Coliseum by replacing the court side bleachers which are now named the “Jim and Lou Shriver Grandstand.”

The Hu C. Meyers Award, which recognizes achievement and leadership in the physician assistant profession by an Alderson Broaddus graduate, was presented to Dr. Kyrus Patch.

Dr. Kyrus Patch has been a Physician Assistant since 1977, graduating with a B.S. in Medical Science from Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, W.V. Her medical career started in rural Ohio where she treated patients in an outpatient facility and made house calls on a routine basis. She returned to the mountains of West Virginia as the senior medical officer at Snowshoe Ski Resort from 1980- 1985. During the “off season” she worked in the cardiology department of Memorial General Hospital in Elkins, W.Va. Once tiring of the sub-zero climate she moved to Orlando, Fla. and worked for Walt Disney World making house calls to guests throughout the complex.

Naples, Fla., became home after a few years; she worked as a Physician Assistant in an urgent care/family practice setting in Naples and Ft. Myers Beach from 1988 to 2007. She earned her Master of Science degree in Physician Assistant Studies in 2007 from her alma mater, Alderson-Broaddus College. This led to a career change as Assistant Professor at Nova Southeastern University Physician Assistant Program Fort Myers. Dr. Patch earned her doctorate in Health Science from A.T. Still University in June of 2015. Dr. Patch is the course director for Physical Diagnosis I, II, and III, served as Assistant Academic Director, Academic Director, and Associate Program Director before being named Program Director in July 2015. After 30-plus years of clinical practice as a Physician Assistant, Dr. Patch hopes to teach a new generation of Physician Assistants what it means to be a knowledgeable, compassionate, and professional health care provider.

The honor of Lord and Lady is awarded every year to a couple who have distinguished themselves by their service, dedication and gifts to Alderson Broaddus University. Dr. and Mrs. William Christian Sizemore were the 2016 recipients.

Dr. Christian Sizemore, President of Alderson-Broaddus College from 1983-1994, had major administrative posts at four institutions of higher education, serving as president of three colleges and retiring as Chancellor of William Jewell College. In his “retirement,” he became the first Director of Business Expansion for the Clay County Missouri Economic Development Council, where he earned national recognition for his business retention work. He holds five earned degrees and has completed additional study at the Harvard University Institute for Educational Management, in addition to a number of American Planning Association seminars and national advanced business retention seminars.

A nationally recognized leader and published author in higher education, Dr. Sizemore is often called upon as a consultant in the areas of curriculum, accreditation, library and information science, and fund raising by individual colleges, state higher education councils, and regional accrediting agencies. He initiated the computerization of Alderson Broaddus and William Jewell College. Under his leadership, Alderson Broaddus achieved record enrollment increases.

In addition, Dr. Sizemore has more than thirty years of experience in college building and facility design, construction, maintenance, and funding, with responsibility for the construction of six new buildings, major renovation of twelve buildings, and construction of six other physical facilities, including six projects at Alderson Broaddus.

Dr. Sizemore is a successful grant writer and fundraiser who has led major capital campaigns for academic programming, faculty development, construction, and endowment. Under his leadership, the Alderson Broaddus endowment increased 2,500% to $16 million, and the William Jewell College endowment increased 62% to a value of $80.3 million. During his tenure at Alderson Broaddus, faculty-staff salaries increased an average of six percent per year, and the retirement base increased 60 percent to reach the national average. In addition, he has led campaigns for the Greater Kansas City American Red Cross, headed the fund drive for Liberty, Missouri’s 175th Anniversary History Book, and co-chaired the Steering Committee that raised $1.5 million to build a facility in Liberty for non-profit assistance agencies.

Long involved in health care, Dr. Sizemore has supervised nursing programs at three colleges, working with their national accrediting agencies. At Alderson Broaddus, he led the development of the nation’s first post-baccalaureate physician’s assistant master’s degree program. He served on the Broaddus Hospital Board and was a charter member of the West Virginia Governor’s Rural Health Advisory Board and the West Virginia Health Initiative Advisory Panel. He currently serves on the Liberty Hospital Board.

Active in community and economic development in three states, Dr. Sizemore was the charter Vice President and later President of the Barbour County Chamber of Commerce. He has been a member of the board of directors of the Greater Kansas City American Red Cross, Lord and Lady the Salvation Army Advisory Council, and the Clay County Millennium Historical Board. A member of the Mayflower Society, he is past president of the William C. Corum Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and is the Missouri Society Sons of the American Revolution Genealogist. Dr. Sizemore is a deacon in the Second Baptist Church of Liberty and has received the Sertoma Service to Mankind Award and the Alexander W. Doniphan Leadership Award. He is included in Who’s Who in America.

Anne Mills Sizemore, a native of Halifax, Virginia, was graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Richmond with a B.S. degree and from West Virginia University with a M.S. degree. She began her career as a cancer cytologist in North Carolina in 196l. While teaching mathematics at South Georgia State College in the 1970’s, she was instrumental in establishing a Baptist Student Union and in obtaining a building and campus minister for this ministry.

She became First Lady of SGSC before moving to Philippi, West Virginia, when her husband, Dr. Christian Sizemore, was named the sixth president of Alderson-Broaddus College. During 1983-1994 at A-B, Mrs. Sizemore directed the renovation of Greystone and was responsible for the interior design and furnishing of the Erickson Alumni Center and the Cave. She served as faculty advisor Baptist Campus Ministry, instituted the Chrismon tradition, and led workshops and worship services statewide for the American Baptist Women. For five years, Mrs. Sizemore taught journalism and English and was advisor for the student newspaper. As First Lady of A-B, she extended the hospitality of Greystone to all of the College’s constituencies.

From 1994-2001, Mrs. Sizemore was First Lady of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, where she directed the renovation the President’s Home. She served on the Advisory Board of the Kansas City Salvation Army, on the governing board of other charitable organizations and was chair of the Deacon Board of Second Baptist Church of Liberty. She received the Northland’s Anne Robb Townsend Award for Philanthropic Service and a national leadership service award from the Council of Independent Colleges.

An avid genealogist, Mrs. Sizemore has pursued this new career path in retirement. She works as a national genealogist for the Colonial Dames of the XVII Century. Past president of the Huguenot Society of Missouri, she is active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, Jamestowne Society, National Society Magna Charta, and other genealogical societies, in addition to serving private genealogy clients.