Women and Leadership Symposium

WVU Parkersburg to present "Women and Leadership" Symposium.

CONTACT: Dr. Joseph Badgley, executive dean of academic affairs, 304-424-8242.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A free symposium entitled "Women and Leadership" will be held Wednesday, April 26, at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.

The half-day session will feature accomplished female executives, including West Virginia Secretary of State Betty Ireland, who will share their inspiring stories and motivations for aspiring to achieve top levels of leadership and accomplishment.

In addition to Secretary Ireland, speakers will include Rabbi Helen Bar-Yaacov of the Congregation B’nai Israel in Charleston; Vivian Conly, president of the Carnegie Hall Foundation in Lewisburg; Kathryn S. Decker, vice-president of Patient Care Services, Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital; Marie Foster Gnage, president of WVU Parkersburg, and Lt. Mary A. Pfeifer, post commander of the Marietta Post of the Ohio Highway Patrol.

The symposium is open to the public. Check-in will begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the program at 9 in Rooms 2536-38 at WVU Parkersburg. Following the speaker presentations, a question and answer session will be held at 11.

Advance registration is requested for the symposium and may be accomplished by visiting the college's web site and registering on line or by calling the Academic Affairs office at 424-8242.

This is the first in a series of symposia addressing women’s issues which WVU Parkersburg will sponsor.

"The symposium is designed to stimulate an exchange of ideas and experiences," noted Joseph Badgley, executive dean of academic affairs. "Our speakers will be sharing their journeys of discovery and triumph."

Secretary Ireland is West Virginia’s 28th Secretary of State. She is the first woman in the state’s history to be elected to West Virginia’s executive branch of government. She was also the first female appointed to serve on the City of Charleston’s Board of Zoning Appeals. She served on the Public Safety Retirement Task Force of the Joint Legislative Committee on Pensions and Retirement. She also served as Executive Director for the West Virginia Consolidated Public Retirement Board. She taught for several years before pursuing opportunities in business.

Rabbi Bar-Yaacov is West Virginia's first full-time woman rabbi. She holds dual citizenship in Israel and Australia. She immigrated to Israel in 1970, living on Kibbutz for two years before making Jerusalem her permanent home. Rabbi Bar-Yaacov attended Liberal Yeshiva at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. She earned a master's in Hebrew literature at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion in New York where she was ordained. She serves the Congregation B’nai Israel in Charleston.

Conly became Executive Director of the Carnegie Hall in Lewisburg in 1989. She spent 11 years expanding its programming, renovating and raising approximately $11 million to revitalize the historic structure. Currently, she serves as president of the Carnegie Hall Foundation, Inc. whose mission is to raise $10 million for an endowment to ensure the future of the regional arts and education center.

Decker is Vice President of Patient Care Services at Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, a 313-bed, acute care facility in Parkersburg. She received her baccalaureate and master’s degrees in Nursing from Wright State University. She has an extensive background in nursing management and has served in chief nursing officer roles for 15 years. Her clinical practice includes experience in med-surg, oncology, critical care and the emergency department.

Dr. Gnage is the first woman president of WVU Parkersburg and the first African-American female to be appointed president of a college or university in West Virginia. Prior to assuming WVU Parkersburg’s presidency in 2004, she served as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Raritan Valley Community College in North Branch, NJ, and in similar higher education positions in Arizona and Florida.

Lt. Pfeifer joined the Ohio State Highway Patrol in 1982. She has risen through the ranks and served in various capacities, including Cadet Dispatcher, Trooper-Wooster Post, Zanesville Post, Office of Investigative Services, Plainclothes Investigations, State House, Executive Protection, Operations, Assistant Post Commander at the Athens Patrol Post and Assistant Post Commander of the Mt. Gilead Post. Currently, she is Post Commander of the Marietta Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.