Danny Twilley, Ph.D.

By Cathy Bonnstetter

Danny Twilley, Ph.D., assistant vice president of economic and community development for the Office of the Provost at West Virginia University (WVU), traded sand and waves for the mountains—but first, he took a loop around the country.

Twilley spent five years after college traveling before completing his master’s and doctorate degrees at Ohio University. His adventures included surfing the coasts of Ecuador and Peru; biking across the U.S. from Bar Harbor, Maine, to Anacortes, WA, and down the Pacific Coast to the Mexico border; and kayaking down the Grand Canyon.

“A few years after college when I was living in Oregon with some friends and training for a marathon, I vocalized for the first time wanting to get my Ph.D.,” Twilley says. “Higher education profoundly transformed my life.”

Just as his professional landing at WVU was not a straight line, neither was his academic life. In fact, he had nearly completed his bachelor’s degree at Salisbury University in Maryland when he made one of many life-changing decisions.

“I started out as a physical education major,” Twilley says. “When I was one year away from completing my degree, I took a course with instructors Harlan Eagle, Ph.D., and Bud Elzy that introduced me to outdoor education. That class and those two amazing individuals set me on the course I am on today.”

Twilley began his professional career as an instructional faculty member at Ohio University when he was 29 years old. He stayed there for nearly 14 years, and during that time he was tasked with running or helping build several programs, including an outdoor adventure camp for teens, a physical activity and wellness program and study abroad programs.

“Each of these opportunities built off the other,” he says. “I worked with local leaders on how to leverage a 9,000-acre piece of the Wayne National Forest. What began as a hiking and mountain bike trail project quickly evolved into a community development project, which evolved into a holistic economic project.” Simultaneously, Twilley was doing national level research. His career went from outdoor leadership to asset-based economic and community development, which landed him at WVU more than five years ago.

“My job is to operationalize the land grant mission of the university by leveraging its intellectual and social capital to help West Virginia be the premier place to live, work, play, go to school and do business,” Twilley says. “I develop effective collaborations and partnerships across the university, state and local governments, non-profits, industry and related groups.”

Twilley says he has had many mentors along the way. However, his parents’ steadfast encouragement kept him focused.

“My parents paved the way for me by all the sacrifices they made to ensure that education came first, from elementary school through college,” he says. “Without their commitment, love and support, I would not be as blessed as I am.”

In 2020, then Intuit executive Brad Smith and his wife, Alys, gifted WVU $25 million to fund programs to spark West Virginia’s economy and expand outdoor education opportunities.

“Every day the team and I work to honor the trust they, along with WVU President Gordon Gee, put in us to fulfill that vision,” Twilley says. “My greatest professional achievement has been watching the team grow and take ownership of the work we do to help advance WVU and the state.”

Twilley is a governor-appointed board member of the Outdoor Heritage Conservation Fund and the Recreational Trail Advisory Board. He was also a coach for the Morgantown Trail Hawks, a West Virginia Interscholastic Cycling League team.

While Twilley was earning his bachelor’s degree, he met his wife, Sarah. Together, they have two children, Abby and Carter. For the couple, West Virginia is not just home; it’s the best place to experience the great outdoors.

“I have lived out West, and it is beautiful and grand, but there is nothing like living among some of the oldest mountains in the world,” Twilley says. “This state has some of the best outdoor recreation in the world.”