Dr. R. Charles Byers has been named Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at West Virginia State University (WVSU), effective Oct. 12, 2020.
Byers has served previously as WVSU’s Provost and Interim President, during a more than 40-year career at the institution. He will succeed Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Scott Woodard who is returning to the faculty of the University.
“I want to thank Dr. Scott Woodard for his service to the Academic Affairs administrative area as he returns to the faculty as a Professor of Music,” said WVSU President Dr. Nicole Pride. “I extend my sincere gratitude to Dr. Woodard for the work he has done, and to Dr. Byers for returning in service to this ‘Place We Love So Dear’ to provide administrative leadership for Academic Affairs.”
Byers is a 1968 graduate of WVSU with a bachelor’s degree in art education. He later earned a master’s degree from The Ohio State University while working as a commercial artist and art teacher in Columbus, Ohio. Later, Byers earned a doctorate degree from Kent State University in higher education administration.
Byers joined the WVSU faculty in 1972 and spent the next 17 years as an associate professor of teacher education. He served for 12 years as the Vice President for Planning and Advancement, Title III Director and Executive Director for the WVSU Research and Development Corporation before being named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. He had retired as Provost of the University in 2014 after 41 years of service at WVSU. He returned to WVSU as Interim Provost in July 2019, and later served from May through August as the University’s Interim President.
In 2015, Byers, an accomplished painter and sketch artist, published “A Place We Love So Dear: A Collection of Campus Drawings,” featuring pen and ink drawings of every building on the WVSU campus.
Byers is married to the former Edithe Rosebourgh of Charleston, a retired public school educator. They are the parents of three adult children, and five grandchildren.
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