Board of Directors

Sean Frisbee

President, WVU Alumni Association

Mr Frisbee is the President & CEO of the West Virginia University Alumni Association and West Virginia University’s Vice President of Alumni Relations serving 200,000+ alumni across all 50 states and 135 foreign countries. He is a retired United States Air Force Colonel, entrepreneur, defense industry expert, and former oil industry executive.

Malene Davis

Chair

Malene Davis is President and Chief Executive Officer of Capital Caring, one of the largest and most experienced hospice and palliative care providers in the United States. A nonprofit, community-based organization, Capital Caring serves more than 1,300 moms, dads, and kids every day in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC. While a vast majority of care is provided wherever our patients call home, Capital Caring also operates 56 inpatient beds in four acute-care facilities— more than any other hospice provider in the mid-Atlantic region. Prior to Capital Caring, Mrs. Davis was the President and CEO of Hospice Care Corporation (now known as West Virginia Caring) in Arthurdale, West Virginia. Starting as the organization’s first paid employee in 1988, Mrs. Davis built Hospice Care into the largest hospice organization in West Virginia, serving 12 counties in North Central West Virginia and 4 counties in Western Pennsylvania. Mrs. Davis completed her nursing degree (RN) and dual Masters Degrees in both Business Administration (MBA) and Nursing (MSN) from West Virginia University.

Dean Hartley

Vice Chair

Dean Hartley is the managing partner of the Wheeling, West Virginia law firm – Hartley Law Group, PLLC. A graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, Mr. Hartley is a trial attorney with thirty-six years’ experience successfully representing injured workers throughout the United States. Mr. Hartley emphasizes the representation of workers who have been injured as a result of toxic substance exposures or in industrial accidents. A frequently lecturer on toxic torts, he is specifically interested in cases involving workers exposed to toxic substances and the development of cancer. He is presently a member of the West Virginia University School of Public Health Leadership Council. His other affiliations with West Virginia University have included membership and chairperson of the Mountaineer Athletic Club’s Development Council, WVU College of Law Development Council, WVU Athletic Executive Council, and WVU Athletics Capital Campaign Committee.

Charles Emanuel

Secretary

Charles E. Emanuel, Jr. has over 11 years of combined leadership and legal experience. He is a former NFL football player for the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Mr. Emanuel’s legal expertise is within the fields of personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice and commercial litigation.A graduate of Florida Coastal School of Law, in Jacksonville, Florida. Mr. Emanuel received his Bachelor of Arts from West Virginia University of Morgantown West Virginia, where he serves on the National Board of Directors for the WVU Alumni Assocation. As a rising star in the legal field, Mr. Emanuel has excelled both as a litigator and in settlement negotiations having successfully produced multi-million dollars results for his clients. For an example, $2 million against a national media company, $1.7 million against a national media company, $2.7 million against a global tire manufacturer, and $2 million against Orange County Public Schools. Mr. Emanuel represents former NFL players against the NFL in the head concussion litigation. He was the first attorney to sue the NFL teams. The same drive and determination he possessed as a NFL player, he now puts to work fighting to protect his client’s rights.

Bill Beynon

Treasurer

As Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Capital Wealth Advisors and Vice Chairman & Partner of Fundamental Global, our affiliated investment manager. Bill’s career has spanned more than 20 years. Throughout that time, Bill has worked with many of the nation’s largest families. Bill leads a team of over 30 professionals focused on assisting families with their asset management & estate planning. Prior to founding CWA, Bill served as Partner of First Financial Resources in Naples, FL, and Director of Estate Planning at Creative Asset Services in Pittsburgh, PA. Bill is a mentor and Selection Board member for the Take Stock in Children Program of the Champions for Learning Foundation, an Elder at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church, a member of the advisory board for the Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida, and a committee member for the Red Sox Foundation; Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program.

Woody Thrasher

Immediate Past Chair

H. Wood “Woody” Thrasher is currently serving the State of West Virginia as the Secretary of Commerce. As a graduated from West Virginia University, Woody is very involved with his Aluma Mater, serving as the current University Alumni Chairman, retains various seats committees within the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources and is an officer on the WVU Hospital executive and finance committees. Before becoming Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Thrasher was the President and CEO of The Thrasher Group, Inc., which he started in 1983 with his father, since its inception the company has grown to employ over 300 people in six office locations.

Rob Alsop

Rob Alsop earned his political science degree from WVU in 1999 and law degree from the WVU College of Law in 2002. In addition to working in private practice for Bowles Rice LLP, and Jackson Kelly, PLLC, Rob has extensive state and federal government experience. From November 2010 through May of 2013, he served as chief of staff to Governor Earl Ray Tomblin, where he focused on a host of legislative initiatives, including the Marcellus Shale regulatory structure, OPEB reform, primary education reform, and a host of economic development and budgetary matters. From January of 2005 through November 2007, Rob served in a number of capacities for former Governor Joe Manchin, including deputy general counsel, general counsel, for the Department of Revenue, and secretary of revenue. During his tenure with former Governor Manchin, he was Manchin’s designee as chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Commission, working on the privatization of that system. He served as chief of staff for Senator Carte Goodwin in Washington, D.C., and clerked for the Honorable Robert King, Circuit Judge for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, in Charleston, West Virginia, and Richmond, Virginia.

Dianne Anderson

Ms. Anderson, who resides in Cleveland, OH, is a seasoned and highly accomplished senior executive with more than 30-years of experience leading energy organizations both at a public corporation and in a research university. She spent 25 years as an executive at BP, where she held several global leadership positions both nationally and internationally, in London and Krakow, Poland. She was appointed President, U.S. West of Rockies Fuel in 2006, where she lead the integration of fuels, refining, supply, trading and Arco marketing. In 2008, she was named the first Executive Director of the great Lakes Energy Institute at Case Wester Reserve University, where she recently retired. Anderson graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from West Virginia University. She has completed senior-executive development programs at Harvard, Cambridge University and Northwestern University. In addition, she served as a visiting faculty member in Stanford University’s program on Customer Focused Innovation.

Steve Farmer

Steve Farmer graduated from the WVU College of Law in 1984, where he was awarded the 1982 Baker Cup Moot Court Award. He is an attorney with Farmer Cline & Campbell, PLLC, where he focuses on trial work, including commercial, product liability and personal injury litigation. Steve is a member of the American Bar Association, The West Virginia State Bar, the Kanawha County Bar Association, American Association for Justice, West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and West Virginia Defense Trial Counsel. He also has served as a faculty member of the Trial Advocacy Institute, University of Virginia School of Law, since 1988. Since graduating from WVU Steve has been honored with the William J. Brennan Award, Chambers USA-American’s Leading Lawyers for Business, Outstanding Lawyers of America, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Product Liability Defense Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America in Personal Injury, Commercial Litigation and Criminal Law.

Jim Bill Harvey

James William “Jim Bill” Harvey was born and raised in Oak Hill, West Virginia. Graduated from Collins High School in Oak Hill, West Virginia University Tech and West Virginia University with BS degrees in Mining Engineering, Industrial Management and a Masters in Business Administration. He spent the first seven years of his career in the WV coal mining industry, working in engineering and production management for a large underground coal mining operation owned by a group of domestic and foreign steel companies. He spent the next 25 years working in the energy insurance industry for Wells Fargo (and one of their acquisitions). Since 2012, he has worked in energy banking and insurance with Huntington National Bank. Jim Bill and his wife Sharon currently split their time between Bristol, VA, Charleston, WV and Morgantown, WV. Jim Bill was presented the 2012 Distinguished Engineer of Mines from the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University. Jim Bill has served on the WVU Alumni Board of Directors since 2011. He is a Gold Life member and Marmaduke Dent Society member of the WVU Alumni Association.

Cassandra Henson

Dr. Cassandra R. Henson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Interprofessional Health Studies, with Towson University. She currently teaches a myriad of courses including Healthcare Ethics and Law, Healthcare Financial Management and Healthcare Organization Management. Since earning her Bachelor’s Degree from West Virginia University in 1992, she has earned an MBA in Finance from Morgan State University and a Doctorate in Public Administration from the University of Baltimore. Prior to starting her career in academia, Dr. Henson has held leadership positions in the Corporate Finance, Local Government, Healthcare and Defense Contracting fields. She has two beautiful daughters, who keep her young at heart.

Terri Hornsby

Ms. Hornsby, who resides in Richmond, Texas, founded TLC Adcentives LLC, a promotional services company in 1995. Under her leadership, the home- based business has grown into a full-service promotional firm with more than 75 percent of the clientele being Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Hornsby has made sure that her firm has stayed dedicated to developing and maintaining a client’s desired image through corporate identification services that drive brand awareness. Ms. Hornsby, native of Charleston, West Virginia, is a proud mother and breast cancer survivor. She volunteers her time to numerous causes and serves as a National Diversity Advocate. In recognition of her volunteer efforts, she received numerous honors and awards, including the Women of Excellence Award and Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance Volunteer of the Year. Ms. Hornsby has been featured in various articles from Smart.Money.com, Minority Wealth and Enterprising Women, to name a few.

Mike John

Mike John is Founder, President and CEO of Northeast Natural Energy (NNE), a West Virginia based upstream natural gas company formed in 2009. Mr. John previously served as Vice President of Operations of the Eastern Division for Chesapeake Energy from 2005 to 2009.  Prior to joining Chesapeake Energy, Mr. John was a senior executive occupying various roles at Triana Energy/Columbia Natural Resources where he also served on the Company’s Board of Directors.  He served in that capacity until Columbia Natural Resources was sold to Chesapeake in November of 2005. Mr. John is a West Virginia native and a 1981 graduate of West Virginia University with a degree in Petroleum Engineering. Mike also serves on the Board of Directors of the WVU Alumni association.

Sharon Martin

Sharon Martin is vice president for University Relations at West Virginia University. She oversees marketing and communications, as well as brand experience. Prior to her arrival at WVU in October 2013, Martin served as assistant vice president of marketing at Purdue University. Her professional career also includes owning a boutique communication agency, and co-founding a local women’s magazine. Martin also worked for the Purdue Alumni Association, ultimately serving as director of communications and editor of the bi-monthly magazine. Martin is a member of or has served on the boards of several professional associations including National Mortar Board and the local chapters of the United Way, Association of Women in Communications, American Marketing Association and the American Cancer Society.

Christie McCartney

Christie is a native of Huntington, West Virginia and graduated from the West Virginia University Honors Program in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts in Interdepartmental Studies and a minor in Political Science. She earned her MBA from Rice University in 2004, and upon graduation worked as a consultant for Futurestep, a division of Korn Ferry. Christie has served on the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors since 2012, having served as Chair from 2015-2016, Vice Chair from 2013-2015, and is currently completing her term as Immediate Past Chair. She previously served on the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Visiting Committee. Christie is a life member of the WVU Alumni Association and a member of the Old Gold Club.

Morris Morrison

Many people have already experienced Morris Morrison’s highly inspirational message on stage. Now it’s your turn. Get ready to experience the journey of one of America’s fastest-growing motivational speakers that took him from the bright lights of New York City, to a hospital parking lot where a doctor’s words changed Morris Morrison’s life - forever, after loosing his parents in New York City. Some of the top company’s in the world such as Microsoft, GE and many others have witnessed Morris Morrison’s energy live on stage and in his latest book, OVERNIGHT SUCCESS: An Inspiring Story About Culture, Results & The American Dream. His unforgettable message sounds like a Hollywood story that you will never forget, as Morris Morrison uncovers the connection between today’s culture, spoiled soccer kids, Netflix, and the #1 topic dominating everyone’s mind today - how to get the results that we want…. faster. Morris Morrison is driven to reignite the spirit of the American Dream in the hearts and minds of everyone, by inspiring individuals and organizations to purse the RESULTS that matter most, and by using their story to change the world.

Casey Rentch

Casey Rentch is a Managing Director in the investment bank at Wells Fargo Securities. In his role at Wells Fargo, Casey serves a global group of industrial clients, providing advice on capital raising and mergers/acquisitions. Outside the office, Casey is an avid outdoor enthusiast, enjoys horse racing and golf and is an active member of the West Virginia University Alumni Association’s Charlotte chapter. Casey graduated cum laude from West Virginia University with a B.A. in Finance and received his MBA from the Robert H. School of Business at the University of Maryland. Casey lives in Charlotte with his wife Jaime, and his two children, Ben and Kate.

Richard Stephens

Richard Stephens, a native of Madison, W.Va., is a 1987 graduate of West Virginia University where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He is the owner/operator of Stephens Auto Center, a Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealership near Madison. After graduation from WVU, he worked for Chrysler Credit and held numerous positions before returning to Madison in 1988 to work with his father at the family-owned business, before assuming the role as Dealer Principal. Mr. Stephens was the West Virginia nominee for the 2002 Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award and the recipient of the 2003 Northwood University Automobile Dealer Education Award. Stephens Auto Center also has been honored with the 1993 Ford Credit Partners in Quality Award, and the 1996, 2001, and 2009 Ford President’s Award. Richard maintains a strong commitment to West Virginia University. He is a proud member of the WVU Wheels Club and a life member of the WVU Alumni Association. He also served as president of the Boone County & Friends Chapter of the WVU Alumni Association for two years.