Milestones and Updates

A state-of-the-art auditorium at Reynolds Hall, the new home of West Virginia University’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics will be named in honor of the late Harry H. Esbenshade Jr., an accomplished business leader and philanthropist in Vienna, West Virginia. 

A $2 million gift from the Hayhurst family will strengthen West Virginia University’s entrepreneurship network and support a new facility at Reynolds Hall, the future home of the Chambers College of Business and Economics, to foster student innovation through collaboration.

As Reynolds Hall, the new hub for business education on the campus of West Virginia University continues to build on the Morgantown waterfront, a John Chambers College of Business and Economics alumnus has given a gift that will ensure that it will build the business leaders of the future by way of experiential learning when it opens in 2022.

As  Reynolds Hall, the new hub for business education on the campus of  West Virginia University and the Morgantown waterfront comes to life, two  John Chambers College of Business and Economics alumni are making a gift that will place future Mountaineers on the cutting edge of finance education. 

West Virginia University’s Brickstreet Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will become the Encova Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation thanks to a generous donation from the Encova Mutual Insurance Group. 

The gift, which is for $2 million, is the first corporate gift made in the Building Beyond campaign, which officially launched Monday, and will provide a new home for the Encova Center within Reynolds Hall. 

In a little more than two years, the  John Chambers College of Business and Economics will write the next chapter in business education in its new home, transforming  West Virginia University’s campus, the community of Morgantown and the student experience. 

At nearly 180,000-square-feet, Reynolds Hall — named for alumnus and financier Robert Reynolds and his wife, Laura, who made this building possible with a generous $10 million gift — will more than double the space that the Chambers College has in its current building.

Citing the need to “improve the quality of student life, enrich academic experience, enhance student services, and respond to students’ needs,” the  West Virginia University  Board of Governors unanimously approved construction plans Wednesday for three major projects totaling $176 million. 

The projects will be funded by a combination of private donations, auxiliary revenue, private financing (bonds) and reserves. 

As CEO of American Campus Communities, Bill Bayless, understands how learning and living environments shape the student experience. As a generous alumnus of the  West Virginia University College of Business and Economics, he is helping to shape that experience for business students by paying it forward. 

Bayless and his wife, Jamie, who are residents of Austin, Texas, are giving back to the business school in the form of a $200,000 gift to help support the new B&E building complex project on Morgantown’s waterfront. 

As the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics embarks on a new chapter with plans of a new building complex and other innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives, B&E alumni like Bryan Katchur are helping to the lead the way. 

Residents of Parkersburg, Katchur and his wife, Karen, are giving back to the College in the form of a $100,000 gift to help support the new B&E building complex project on Morgantown’s waterfront, as well as and other projects and programs at the business school.

Bob and Laura Reynolds have a history of giving back and making a difference through their philanthropy.

That was never more evident than today (Feb. 10) when  West Virginia University announced that the Boston couple is giving $10 million to the WVU  College of Business and Economics. The gift will provide initial funding for a building in their names at a new business school complex on Morgantown’s waterfront, as well as propel other academic components of business education at B&E.