West Virginia University’s Engineering and Mineral Resources School will be named the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources in honor of businessman, philanthropist, former WVCA Board member and WVU alumnus Ben Statler, WVU President Jim Clements and other officials announced Thursday.
Statler and his wife, Jo, both natives of Monongalia County, today pledged $34 million to the College – the largest single gift commitment ever to the University and to a college – at a special ceremony at the Erickson Alumni Center; $11 million of the donation will qualify for a match from the state Research Trust Fund (RTF), making the total value of the naming gift $45 million.
The gift also creates and supports three endowed faculty chairs in energy research, and funds a graduate research fellows program to support research. The RTF matching dollars will be used initially for research focused on energy.
A third generation coal miner, Ben Statler received his bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from WVU in 1973. While attending WVU, he began his career at CONSOL Energy, working as a laborer. For 30 years, he held various positions at CONSOL Energy before starting his own mining company, PinnOak Resources LLC. Statler served as president and CEO of PinnOak until he sold the company in 2007.
Currently, Statler is co-founder and CEO of Gulf Coast Capital Partners, a private investment firm founded in 2008 that is focused on acquiring and providing capital to middle market companies in special situations.
He has served on the advisory committee for WVU’s Department of Mining Engineering and was named to the WVU Foundation Board of Directors in August 2008. Jo Statler, who worked for WVU’s School of Dentistry, has been a strong supporter of her community and WVU. She helped launch Bonnie’s Bus which provides digital mammography services to women in remote areas of West Virginia. The bus is named after Jo’s mother, Bonnie Wells Wilson, who died of breast cancer.