Beckley, W.Va. - In preparation for its annual homecoming celebration,
West Virginia University Institute of Technology (WVU Tech) has announced its academic
alumni award winners for 2024.
Alumni of the Year
Jimmy Wriston, ’96 is the recipient for the Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering
and Sciences. After completing his general equivalency diploma (GED) in his 30s,
Wriston decided to enroll at WVU Tech and graduated with his bachelor’s degree
in civil engineering. Since then, he’s served as the Deputy Secretary and Deputy
Commissioner, as Chief Transportation Engineer/Special Projects Manager/Engineering
Advisor to the Secretary of Transportation and as Structures Project Manager for
the engineering division. He was appointed in October 2021 by Governor Jim Justice
to serve as Secretary of Transportation and Commissioner of Highways.
Kaci H. Foster, ’03, ’04 is the recipient for the College of Business, Humanities
and Social Services. Foster graduated with bachelor’s degrees in public service
administration and history and government, with minors in political science and
economics. She continued her education at West Virginia University where she studied
Appalachian history. Her work led her to Pittsburgh after graduate school but returned
to her home state of West Virginia in 2010. She worked for many newspapers in journalism
and advertising before beginning her current role at the West Virginia Higher Education
Policy Commission (WV HEPC) as their Community Outreach and Engagement Specialist
in the Division of Student Affairs. She coordinates many campaigns to help prepare
West Virginia students for education and training beyond high school. She also
is an active member in her community and still contributes to newspapers and magazines
in West Virginia as a freelance journalist.
Nelson Distinguished Young Alumni
Joshua Cook, ’12 is the recipient of the Nelson Distinguished Young Alumni Award.
Cook graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and earned his master’s
degree from Marshall University in engineering with an environmental emphasis.
His professional career has been spent in the energy sector. He currently works
as an engineering manager for New River Engineers in Morgantown, West Virginia.
He is a native of Boone County, West Virginia and now lives outside of Morgantown
with his wife and two daughters.
Golden Bear Empowerment Faculty Award
Yogendra (Yogen) Panta, PhD, PE, PMP, CPEM was born and raised in Nepal. He earned
bachelor’s degrees in physical sciences and mechanical engineering from Tribhuvan
University Institute of Engineering at Pulchowk Campus, Nepal. He came to the United
States in 2002 as a graduate student at Youngstown State University, where he received
his master’s degree in mechanical engineering. He then went on to obtain his doctorate
degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Panta
taught five years at Youngstown State University before coming to WVU Tech in 2013.
He is very involved and dedicated to student success, and has keen interest in
innovative learning, development and mentorship. He was awarded the WVU Foundation
Outstanding Teaching Award in 2021 and was twice voted the Professor of the Year
by the WVU Tech Pi Tau Sigma Mechanical Engineering Honor Society. Panta has been
twice awarded as a NASA summer fellow and, most recently, returned from Nepal after
completing a project awarded by the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship Program of
the US Department of State. He and his wife Manju, who works at WVU Tech as a library
associate, live in Beckley with their two children.
Honoring the alumni awardees WVU Tech’s Homecoming celebration begins on campus
on February 5 through February 10, 2024. Alumni winners will be honored at a reception
and dinner at The Resort at Glade Springs on Friday, February 9, 2024. They will
also be honored during the basketball games at the Raleigh County Convention Center
on Saturday, February 10, 2024.
Golden Bear Athletic Hall of Fame inductees will also be honored during these events
and those awardees will be announced soon.