When you think of “Appalachian cooking,” what comes to mind? For a lot of folks, it’s savory comfort foods like biscuits with sausage gravy, crispy fried chicken and mashed potatoes loaded with butter. But, what about folks who want that comfort food, without involving animals? Jan Brandenburg is a pharmacist and poet in Eastern Kentucky. Over the last 30 years, she’s collected and perfected recipes that take a plant-based approach to the Appalachian table. Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Brandenburg about her new book The Modern Mountain Cookbook.
Incoming WVU President Michael T. Benson and his wife, Debi, are shown with their three children (from left): Truman, Tatum and Talmage.Courtesy of West Virginia University
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West Virginia University announced Monday the university Board of Governors has chosen Michael Benson to be the institution’s next president.
Benson will take the helm of the state’s flagship university this summer when current President Gordon Gee steps down after his second tenure in the position that lasted 11 years. Gee had previously served as WVU’s president in the 1980s.
Benson has served as the president of Coastal Carolina University (CCU) in Conway, South Carolina since 2021. He previously served as president of Snow College, Southern Utah University and Eastern Kentucky University as part of a 30 year career in higher education.
Michael T. Benson, incoming 27th WVU president
“I’m enthusiastic about getting started and ready to collaborate with the faculty and staff as we create the best possible teaching, learning and living environment for every Mountaineer student,” Benson said in a press release.
WVU’s Board of Governors announced they had chosen a new president on Thursday, but declined to publish Benson’s name until a contract was signed.
However, CCU sent a message to their campus community Friday night announcing that Benson had “been extended an offer to become the next president of West Virginia University.”
“The selection of our sitting president by West Virginia’s flagship R1 institution, which also boasts an extensive academic medical center, is a testament to President Benson’s talent and leadership at Coastal Carolina University during the past four years,” CCU Board Chairman H. Delan Stevens said in the message.
Rick Pill, WVU board chair, said Benson’s success in accelerating student enrollment and fundraising to record levels at CCU and his commitment to building strong partnerships is among the factors that led to his selection as the next president at WVU.
““On the heels of securing record-high retention numbers, maintaining a strong financial footing, developing positive student success programming and raising unprecedented dollars through the WVU Foundation, West Virginia University remains the formidable, flagship, land-grant institution that we all know and love,” Pill said. “We look forward to Dr. Benson’s leadership in continuing to guide us on this upward trajectory.”
To mark Earth Day, West Virginia University has announced a comprehensive set of 20-plus sustainability goals, to attain significant environmental improvements across the university's campus by 2035.
On this West Virginia Morning, in honor of Earth Day West Virginia University has announced a comprehensive set of more than 20 sustainability goals. And from Inside Appalachia, perfecting recipes that take a plant-based approach to the Appalachian table.
State lawmakers have paved the way for a new center at West Virginia University for civics education, which would focus on “classical western history and culture.”
