Joyce McConnell, JD, LLM, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs for West Virginia University, will serve as WVU Potomac State College’s 115thcommencement speaker. The graduation ceremony will be held Saturday, May 5, beginning at 11 a.m. in the Church-McKee Arts Center.
As the chief academic officer, Provost McConnell is responsible for the administration of all academic policies, programs, facilities, and budgetary matters. She is committed to WVU’s land-grant mission of ensuring access to exceptional education, supporting and facilitating innovative research and serving the needs of the state and people of West Virginia.
Prior to her appointment as Provost, McConnell served as Dean of the WVU College of Law (2008-2014). At the College of Law, she expanded the College’s multidisciplinary opportunities throughout the University and implemented state-of-the-art experiential and clinical programs and facilities that support curricular innovation. She made this possible by raising $36 million in A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University.
McConnell was named the 2014 Public Servant of the Year by the West Virginia Association for Justice. In 2010, she was awarded the Special Places Award by West Virginia Land Trust. She earned an undergraduate degree from Evergreen State College, a law degree from Antioch School of Law and a master of laws from Georgetown University Law Center.
In addition to being passionately committed to WVU, McConnell is an advocate for equity in education and the workplace, and for the preservation and protection of our environment. She is a past President of three sections of the Associations of American Law Schools: the sections on the Dean, on natural resources and energy law, and on women in legal education. McConnell currently serves on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Committee on Infractions, as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Nature Conservancy in West Virginia, and as a member of the Board of Governors for Antero Resources. She was also Chair of the very successful 2015 West Virginia University United Way Campaign.
In appointing McConnell as Provost, WVU President Gordon Gee said of her, “She understands the bold vision of a major land-grant university and its primary mission to serve our state and its citizens. Her commitment to this University and to West Virginia is evident; it’s truly a passion.”