West Virginia University Potomac State College Alumnus Carl Dennison “Denny” Avers has a long and inspiring history with Potomac State College. The Keyser, W.Va. native attended Potomac State from 1959 to 1961, before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering at the WVU Morgantown campus.
This past spring, Potomac State College recognized Avers with the inscription of his name on the Duke Anthony Whitmore/Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Academic Achievement Wall.
The recipient of the Whitmore/Gates Award must be an alum of the College who has previously produced a scholarly work of outstanding quality. Scholarly works may include the publication of books, articles, presentations at academic conferences, public performances, works of art, or other academic achievements.
During his 30-year career with IBM Federal Systems, Avers held technical and executive positions related to national defense, commercial systems development, international programs and was the senior representative of IBM Federal Systems in West Virginia. He published numerous papers and spoke at several international conferences. He twice received IBM’s prestigious President’s Award.
Avers was the primary author of materials used to train all ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) program evaluators. He was the training coordinator of the IEEE (global organization of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Committee on Engineering Accreditation Activities and has facilitated many workshops nationally and abroad. He was named a Fellow of both organizations in recognition of his contributions to the quality of engineering education and accreditation.
He provided financial gifts that enhanced Potomac State College’s commitment to preserving and disseminating local history records and information. The initial result was the digitization and distribution of all archived issues of the Keyser newspapers. With his continued support, the success of that effort has led to the digitization of other newspapers, establishing PSC’s Mary F. Shipper Library as West Virginia’s premier resource for online research of historical newspapers.
He was elected to Eta Kappa Nu (an international honor society for electrical and computer engineers) and Tau Beta Phi (the oldest and most prestigious nationally recognized engineering honor society) while in college. He was an inaugural member of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni at West Virginia University in 1989.
In addition to Avers’ induction into the Keyser High School Legion of Honor in 1990, former Governor of West Virginia Gaston Caperton recognized Avers as a Distinguished West Virginian in 1996. He received the PSC Alumni Achievement Award in 1998.
In recognition of his extensive research and many contributions to the local knowledge of regional history, the Mineral County (WV) Historical Society awarded him the Order of Crozet in 2019, the same year his book, This is our Home – A History of Trinity Lutheran Church, Keyser, West Virginia, was published.
He was chosen as the 2021 West Virginia History Hero by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture & History, and received the PSC Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2023.