BUCKHANNON, West Virginia – Founders Day 2023 will include the inauguration of the 20th president of West Virginia Wesleyan College, Dr. James H. Moore. The community is invited to the Founders Day Convocation and Investiture Ceremony to be held in Wesley Chapel at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 29.
Two more events are also open to the public in celebration of Moore’s inauguration. Tuesday, Sept. 26, Aladdin Food Services will serve traditional German cuisine for an Oktoberfest Dinner Party on the Benedum Student Center patio from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Music will be provided by the Edelweiss Band, sponsored by Arts Alive! Cost for the dinner is $12 (cash only). On Thursday, Sept. 28, a free concert by the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra, of which Moore is a member, will begin at 7 p.m. in the Virginia Thomas Law Center for the Performing Arts.
Moore began serving West Virginia Wesleyan College as Interim President in February 2022 before being named President in March 2023. A member of the Wesleyan Community since 2006, Dr. Moore embodies the spirit of the College through leadership, expertise, insight, energy and vision, continuing the longstanding tradition of excellence found within the student body, faculty and staff. Prior to his role as President, Dr. Moore served as Dean of the Faculty and Chief Academic Officer from 2017 to 2022, as Chair of the Department of Music from 2011 to 2017, and as Director of Jazz Ensembles and instructor of trumpet from 2006 to 2017. As a music educator, he built one of the most vibrant collegiate jazz programs in the region.
Dr. Moore is an active member of the Pittsburgh jazz community where he is a member of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra and has been a member of RH Factor—the Roger Humphries quintet. In addition to his work in Pittsburgh he performs regularly with the Norman David Eleventet in Philadelphia as well as many other collaborative ventures in that city.
Dr. Moore holds a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and is the first recipient of the Doctor of Philosophy in Jazz Studies from the University of Pittsburgh where his advisor was Dr. Nathan T. Davis—founder of the original Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra.
A proud native of West Virginia, Dr. Moore grew up in Morgantown and spent considerable time in Elkins visiting his grandparents, where music was always a central part of life. He is the son of Paul and Linda Moore, and brother of Becky.
For more information about inauguration, visit www.wvwc.edu/inauguration.
