HUNTINGTON - Marshall University will bestow honorary doctoral degrees to businesspeople Arthur and Joan Meyer Weisberg and West Virginia Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin the Saturday, May 10, commencement, according to a release from the university.
The Weisbergs will each receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree while Tomblin will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree. Tomblin also will deliver the keynote address at commencement.
Here is some biographical information from the university about each of the recipients:
Arthur Weisberg: Weisberg is a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a 1950 graduate of City College of New York with a degree in electrical engineering. He founded State Electric Supply Co., a retail/wholesale distributor of electrical and electronic supplies with showrooms and warehouse facilities, as a one-man operation in 1952 by selling light bulbs, extension cords and fuses out of the back of his truck to grocery and hardware stores.
Today, under the corporate umbrella of Arthur's Enterprises, State Electric has 41 branches in five states - West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and North Carolina.
Joan Meyer Weisberg: Joan Weisberg co-owns State Electric Co. and Service Wire Co. with her husband. In addition, she is owner and manager of Twelve-O-Six Virginia Inc., a real estate holding company in Huntington. She was born in Charleston and earned a bachelor of science degree from The Ohio State University.
Together, the Weisbergs established the Arthur and Joan Meyer Weisberg Distinguished Professorship, an endowed chair in Marshall University's College of Science. They also established the Arthur and Joan Weisberg Division of Engineering and Computer Science in Marshall's College of Information Technology and Engineering.
Earl Ray Tomblin: Tomblin is the longest-serving Senate president in West Virginia history. A native of Chapmanville in Logan County, he has been president of the Senate since Jan. 11, 1995, having since been re-elected six times. He began his legislative career in the House of Delegates in 1974, the same year he graduated from West Virginia University. He earned his master of business administration from Marshall in 1975.
Tomblin has held just about every major Senate post, including Chairmanship of the Senate Finance Committee.
Tomblin began his career as a public school teacher, while also developing private business interests. He is married to the former Joanne Jaeger, a Marshall alumna who serves as president of Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College.
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