In recognition of their loyalty and service to West Virginia University, five Mountaineers will be inducted into the Order of Vandalia during a Friday (June 6) ceremony.
The 2025 inductees are Judge Irene Berger, Dr. John Brick, Tom Jones, Ken Kendrick and Carolyn Long.
A McDowell County native, Judge Irene C. Berger is a two-time University graduate who made history as the first Black female circuit judge in West Virginia when she was appointed to the bench in Kanawha County’s 13th Judicial Circuit in 1994. She was elected in 1996 and reelected in 2000 and 2008 before becoming the first Black federal judge in the state with her appointment as U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia in 2009.
A native West Virginian and graduate of the WVU School of Medicine, Dr. John Brick devoted his career to improving the care of West Virginia patients with neurologic diseases. He served as chair of the Department of Neurology for 19 years, started the Mountain State’s first epilepsy monitoring unit and statewide network of telestroke sites in rural hospitals, and established neurology outreach clinics across West Virginia.
J. Thomas “Tom” Jones, a West Virginia native and University alumnus who worked for 42 years in health care in the Mountain State, is a former president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System. He currently serves on the City National Bank Board of Directors and, in the past, has been a member and board chair for the WVU Board of Governors and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce among others.
E.G. “Ken” Kendrick Jr., a Princeton native who has been the managing general partner for the Arizona Diamondbacks for 22 years, is a University alumnus, co-founder of the Country Roads Trust, founder of the WVU John Chambers College of Business and Economics Kendrick Center for an Ethical Economy and namesake for Kendrick Family Ballpark.
A self-proclaimed educator at heart, retired WVU Institute of Technology President Carolyn Long spent her career serving as a teacher and administrator in the West Virginia public school and higher education systems. After getting her start as a teacher at Big Chimney Elementary School in Kanawha County, she went on to become the first woman to serve as superintendent in Braxton County and chair of the WVU Board of Governors.
The ceremony will also honor the memories of two Vandalians who died in the past year — Mannon Gallegly, Class of 2018, and Thomas Potter, Class of 1998.
The Order of Vandalia — the highest recognition for service to WVU — dates back to 1960 when WVU President Elvis J. Stahr outlined his idea for a special honor to be bestowed on the University’s most loyal servants.
Inductees through the years have included U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, Carolyn Eberly Blaney, Joseph Gluck, John T. Chambers, Earl L. Core and Milan Puskar.
