The West Virginia Wesleyan College community is mourning the sudden loss of Dr. George Albert “Bert” Popson Jr., Department of Physics and Engineering chair and long-time professor for nearly 36 years. Popson passed away July 14, 2025.
Popson, originally from Kittanning, Pennsylvania, earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and a master’s from IUP in 1986. He completed his Ph.D. in physics from Clemson University in 1989 and began teaching at West Virginia Wesleyan College Sept. 1, 1989. After teaching at the secondary level and a career in the private sector, Popson found his true passion at the collegiate level.
Popson mentored thousands of students in the classroom and through summer research projects who went on to pursue graduate degrees and careers with NASA and major companies across the globe.
Provost Dr. Lynn M. Linder said, “Dr. Bert Popson’s legacy goes far beyond the classroom or lab. For more than 35 years, he poured his heart into West Virginia Wesleyan College — mentoring students, supporting his peers, recruiting tirelessly for the Department of Physics and Engineering, and doing it all with a smile and sincere care for those around him. His presence will be profoundly missed, but the goodness he brought to our College community will never be forgotten.”
Professor of Physics and Engineering Dr. Joseph Wiest, who is retiring after 52 years, added, “All of us in the Department of Physics and Engineering at West Virginia Wesleyan College are grieving over the sudden and unexpected loss of Bert Popson. I was the department chair of the Department of Physics and Engineering at West Virginia Wesleyan College when we had the privilege of hiring Bert over 35 years ago.”
Wiest recalled Popson had recently graduated with his Ph.D. in solid state physics from Clemson University and set up undergraduate lecture and laboratory classes on that topic as well as teaching electronics and introductory physics classes.
“He was a great teacher who was deeply appreciated by all of his students and his co-workers in all of these years. He had a fine mind, always carried a smile on his face, and was always available to help a fellow teacher or student who had a need of any kind,” Wiest said. “Out of the classroom, he loved to take his bicycle out into the countryside on a beautiful day and to ride for miles at a time. He was a member of the state and national branches of the American Association of Physics Teachers and presented talks to those groups of college teachers.”
Popson was awarded the Distinguished Service Award at the Appalachian Section of the American Association of Physics Teachers in 2007. He served as president of the organization in 1999 and made numerous presentations on improving physics teaching at AAPT meetings.
“Bert will be sorely missed by all of us at Wesleyan in the sciences and in all of the other teaching areas, and by all of the students who took his classes over all of these years,” Wiest said. “He represented the best in teaching to all of his students and to all of his fellow teachers at the College. He was unfailingly kind and approachable, and always found time for those in need.”
Popson’s classes at WVWC grew to include engineering thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, materials lab and advanced engineering lab. During his time at WVWC, Popson also served as advisor for the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honorary Society. His research interests included cryogenics, superconductors, wind tunnels, X-ray crystallography, heat pumps, strength of materials and magnetic resonance.
Associate Professor Dr. Tracey DeLaney said, “Bert was instrumental to the growth and strength of the Department of Physics and Engineering, having negotiated the articulations agreement with our partner universities for our dual degree engineering program. But far more than that, he was a dear friend and colleague. When I was going through treatment for breast cancer, Bert constantly checked in on me and gave me rides and was a rock whom I could lean on for anything.”
A memorial service will be held at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Wesley Chapel on Aug. 9, 2025 at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in memory of Dr. Popson can be made to the WVWC Department of Physics and Engineering via postal mail to the WVWC Office of Advancement, 59 College Avenue, Buckhannon, WV 26201 or online at https://www.wvwc.edu/give/
