Dinah Courrier, Class of 1964, is the conduit in her family connecting the past with the future regarding her passion, relationship and loyalty toward West Virginia University Potomac State College, which is just one of the many reasons she will be recognized with the Distinguished Service Award by the PSC Alumni Association on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Courrier’s personal and professional life became intertwined with PSC before she was even born.Both of her parents attended Potomac State, as did her husband, Jim, all four of their children and three of their grandchildren.
“While a student at Potomac State, Professors Helen Criner, Irene Brown Hartman and Elizabeth Atwater were instrumental in directing me to other educational opportunities. Professor Ken Haines became a life-long friend and mentor and an inspiration for service to the college and the community,” Courrier said.
After earning an associate degree from the College in 1964, Courrier continued her education at WVU Morgantown where she earned a bachelor’s degree in business education and English. She obtained her master’s degree in education with a concentration in English from Frostburg State University.
Prior to her retirement from the College, Courrier served in various positions during her 32-year career, including part-time lecturer, professor, interim dean of academic affairs, social justice liaison, retention coordinator, off-campus instruction coordinator, and as the adviser for the Sigma Phi Omega Honor Society.
“As a professor and retention coordinator, my greatest satisfaction came when students, whom many had given up on, walked across the stage to receive their diploma, often coming over to the faculty section and holding up the diploma, making sure I saw it,” Courrier said.
She was involved with the Early Start Program, has served as a division chair and as the Centennial Chairperson for the College’s Centennial Celebration. She has co-edited two books: “Potomac State College. The College Series, 2001” and “A Pictorial History of Keyser, 1974-1994.”
Courrier also served as Potomac State’s Social Justice Liaison, bringing culturally diverse programs to the College for students and the community, some of which included Multicultural Day at PSC and coordinating the Howard High School History Project, which celebrates the history of a former segregated school in the area.
Her commitment to PSC and the community has continued throughout the years. Courrier has returned to the College to give presentations to students on different subjects, recognized PSC students with the Keyser Rotary’s ‘Service Above Self’ award each spring, is a member of the Mineral County Historical Society and served as a board member of the Potomac Highlands Guild and the WVU Lutheran Campus Foundation. She currently serves on the board of Aging and Family Services and WVU Potomac Valley Hospital. Courrier is also a lay minister and teaches Sunday school at Trinity Lutheran Church.
Courrier created the ‘Food for Thought” program as well in 2009, which provides food sustenance to children in Mineral County when they’re not in school. She also donated space for the Mineral County Museum, where she serves as curator, along with coordinating exhibits, writing grants, and indexing donated items.
Her accolades are numerous, some of which include being named a West Virginia Hero by the state’s Division of Arts and Culture in 2017; the 2021 Humanitarian of the Year by the Community Trust Foundation; recipient of the WVU Neil S. Bucklew Award for Social Justice in 2008; her name was inscribed on the Duke Anthony Whitmore/Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Academic Achievement Wall in 2010; and she was honored with the title Faculty Emerita of Office Systems Technology at the College after her retirement.
The annual Alumni Achievement Awards Banquet will be held in the Davis Conference Center. Doors will open at 5:15 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony at 7 p.m.
Please visit https://tinyurl.com/PSC-Alumni-Banquet to see the list of alumni activities and make your reservation for the Alumni Achievement Awards Banquet. You must reserve your spot by October 5, as no reservations will be accepted after that time. Please contact psc-alumni@mail.wvu.edu or call 304-788-6840 for more information.
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