Nicholas Gardner – Young Alumni Award
Nicholas Gardner, Class of 2008, is the recipient of the Young Alumni Award for 2022. He was recognized at the PSC Alumni Association Awards Banquet during homecoming on Saturday, October 15.
Nicholas began his employment with PSC as a work study student assigned to the library. Then in 2015 he became a temporary employee and served in several different roles while working his way up to his current position as the director of the Mary F. Shipper Library.
In addition to earning an Associate Degree in Geology in 2008 at PSC, Gardner earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology with an emphasis in ecology and evolutionary biology from Marshall University in 2015, and a Master’s Degree in Library Science from Clarion University of Pennsylvania in 2019.
Gardner consults with students one-on-one related to their information literacy needs. He also visits classrooms to teach workshops on a variety of related topics, which include how to use the library and its resources; how to search and evaluate information online; research and data management; copyright and intellectual property; ethics of information and technology; and navigating other complexities of our modern digital world.
Gardner finds working with students to be the most rewarding part of his job and feels strongly that the library exists as a service unit to help students meet their academic or personal development goals. He also supports the idea that the library should be a gathering place for students, having helped organize both serious guest lectures on contemporary issues and fun activities for students such as karaoke and trivia nights.
Local history is important to Nicholas. He has handled the logistics of the West Virginia Newspapers Portal since its inception. The Portal provides free access to historic WV newspapers, primarily of the Potomac Highlands, though he works each year to grow and expand the collection’s coverage.
Additionally, Nicholas is a published natural history researcher, whose papers have appeared in Anatomical Record, Mammal Review, Marine and Fishery Sciences, Palaeontologia Electronica, and PLOS ONE. He has presented posters and talks at the annual meetings of state and regional library associations and natural history conferences and in national meetings of the Special Libraries Association and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Nicholas is involved in community outreach as well, having given presentations on natural history and information literacy for K-12 groups through the public libraries, 4-H, and the Mineral County STEM Festival. He has also been a guest speaker for the Natural History Society of Maryland, the Raymond M. Alf Museum Fossil Friday Chats, regional public libraries, and local service clubs in Mineral County, WV.
Matty Staudt – Alumni Achievement Award
Matty Staudt went from a 16-year-old doing radio in a small market to a major market radio personality and one of the pioneers of the podcasting industry, which is why he was recognized with the WVU Potomac State College Alumni Achievement Award on Saturday, October 15, 2022, during the Alumni Awards Banquet.
Matty got his start in radio at the age of 16 in his hometown of Keyser, becoming the youngest radio personality in the U.S. He attended WVU Potomac State College from 1991 to 1992 before going on to WVU Morgantown where he graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English with an emphasis in creative writing. In 2016, Staudt went back to school at Southern New Hampshire University where he earned his Master’s Degree in Digital Media.
After several years in small market radio as a DJ and programmer, Matty moved to Washington, DC, where he worked at CBS Radio as the executive producer for the G. Gordon Liddy Show. He later moved to New York City to work at WNEW on The Sports Guys. From there, he went to San Francisco as the executive producer and air personality at Alice Radio and Live 105.
In 2007, seeing the potential in podcasting, Staudt decided to leave the number one morning show, The Alice Morning Show, to become part of a startup team and the first director of Content and Community at Stitcher Podcast. While at Stitcher, Staudt won a Webby Award.
Staudt also served as the first vice president of podcast programming at iHeartRadio, launching more than 300 shows and helped build the content that became the iHeartRadio Podcast Network. He is a voice-over talent as well and performed the role of Matti, the reporter in Pixar’s Cars.
Staudt is the founder of Jam Street Media which recently received its first Ambie Award nomination for Best Sports Podcast in 2022. He has also produced hit shows like Appalachian Mysteria and Deep Cover: The Real Donnie Brasco.
While serving a short stint as chief development officer at Amaze Media Labs, Staudt focused on creating high-quality podcasts for Fortune 500 companies like Ford, MAC Cosmetics, Vistaprint, Pfizer, BetMGM, and Amarin. In June of this year, Staudt began focusing on consulting, producing both original and branded content for his network, and working with creators, celebrities, and professional athletes.
Additionally, Staudt serves as a professor and general manager for The Academy of Art University's Urban Knights Radio in San Francisco, where ten years ago he built the first podcasting program in the United States. He is also an instructor at West Virginia University, which allows him to indulge in two of his passions — teaching and mentoring.
Staudt also serves as an advisor and consultant for Ossa Collective, YAP, The Podcast Academy, Sounder FM, as well as the Second Chance Studios where he acts as a teacher and mentor to formerly incarcerated individuals seeking careers in media.
Dinah Courrier – Distinguished Service Award
Dinah Courrier, Class of 1964, is the conduit in her family connecting the past with the future regarding her passion, relationship, and loyalty toward WVU Potomac State College. This is just one of the many reasons she was recognized with the Distinguished Service Award by the PSC Alumni Association on Saturday, October 15.
Dinah’s personal and professional life became intertwined with PSC before she was even born. Both of her parents attended WVU Potomac State College. Also, her husband, Jim, all four of their children, and three of their grandchildren attended PSC.
“While a student at PSC, Professors Helen Criner, Irene Brown Hartman, and Elizabeth Atwater were instrumental in directing me to other educational opportunities. Professor Ken Haines became a life-long friend and mentor and an inspiration for service to the college and the community,” Dinah said.
After earning an associate degree from PSC in 1964, Courrier continued her education at WVU Morgantown where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Education and English. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Education with a concentration in English from Frostburg State University.
Dinah spent 32 years working at PSC in various positions, including part-time lecturer, professor, interim dean of academic affairs, social justice liaison, retention coordinator, off-campus instruction coordinator, and as the adviser for the Sigma Phi Omega Honor Society.
“As a professor and retention coordinator, my greatest satisfaction came when students, whom many had given up on, walked across the stage to receive their diploma, often coming over to the faculty section and holding up the diploma, making sure I saw it,” Dinah stated.
She was also involved with the Early Start Program, has served as a division chair and as the Centennial Chairperson for the PSC Centennial Celebration. She has co-edited two books: Potomac State College. The College Series, 2001 and A Pictorial History of Keyser, 1974-1994.
Dinah served as the PSC Social Justice Liaison, bringing culturally diverse programs for the students and the community. This included Multicultural Day at PSC and coordinating the Howard High School History Project which celebrates the history of a former segregated school in the area.
Her commitment to PSC and the community has continued throughout the years. Courrier has returned to PSC to give presentations to students on different subjects including recognizing students who receive the Keyser Rotary’s Service Above Self award each spring. She is a member of the Mineral County Historical Society and served as a board member of the Potomac Highlands Guild and the WVU Lutheran Campus Foundation. She currently serves on the Board of Aging and Family Services and WVU Potomac Valley Hospital. Dinah is also a lay minister and teaches Sunday school at Trinity Lutheran Church.
Dinah created the Food for Thought program in 2009, which provides food sustenance to children in Mineral County, WV, when they’re not in school. She also donated space for the Mineral County Museum, along with coordinating exhibits, writing grants, and indexing donated items. She serves as the curator for the museum.
Her accolades are numerous, some of which include receiving the WVU Neil S. Bucklew Award for Social Justice in 2008; having her name inscribed on the Duke Anthony Whitmore/Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Academic Achievement Wall in 2010; being named a West Virginia Hero in 2017 by the WV Division of Arts and Culture; and receiving the 2021 Humanitarian of the Year by the Community Trust Foundation. She was also honored with the title Faculty Emerita of Office Systems Technology at PSC after her retirement.