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Photo of Rodney Williams

On The Board

On The Board

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Rodney Williams, an alumnus of the Chambers College, has been named one of the newest members of the WVU Alumni Association Board of Directors. Elected during the November 2022 meeting, Williams will serve a six-year term expiring in 2028.

Williams is the co-founder and president of SoLo Funds, a financial service company offering community banking and lending solutions to Americans in communities that may face hurdles to traditional banking options. Prior to founding SoLo, he launched LISNR, a Visa-backed fintech company, and secured numerous awards and partnerships across retail and financial services. He currently serves as the company’s chairperson.

Read more about Williams from a previous issue of the WVU Magazine.

Written by: Jake Stump

Photo by: Raymond Thompson Jr.

Beauty and the Least (Paid) $$$

Football was never intended to be a beauty pageant. A study led by economics professor Brad Humphreys backs it up. In fact, if you’re a handsome heartthrob coaching an NCAA Division I team, you might get a penalty flag when it comes to pay.

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A Mountaineer in Town Hall

Some people take their business public. Chambers College alumnus Eric Mason took his business to the public. 

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The Hall

The West Virginia Business Hall of Fame posthumously honored coal industry billionaire and philanthropist Chris Cline and three other state business leaders who have led widespread growth.

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Leaving her own Mark

For many students, WVU feels like family. For Amaya Gray, it is family. Gray’s grandfather, Ken Gray, may have founded the long-standing program WVUp All Night (which hosts events and activities for students as an alternative to the bar scene), but Gray is leaving her own mark as a Mountaineer. She’s been part of the Career Readiness Program with our in-house Center for Career Development, served as a Peer Mentor for incoming freshmen in BCOR 191 and a Chambers College Ambassador, has been a member of the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) with Naomi Boyd, and founded Students of Color in Business with the help of Susan Lantz. “Students of Color in Business is geared towards business students and business minors, as well as any student who wants to be an entrepreneur or learn more about business,” Gray said. 

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Fans Arrive Like Butterflies

Large, one-off events such as music concerts can create economic impacts not seen from professional sports, suggests rockin’ research by Joshua Hall, chair and professor of economics. Hall and Justin Parker, a 2020 Ph.D. economics graduate, found that Pearl Jam’s Seattle “Home Shows” in August 2018 generated $58 million in additional hotel revenue and $9 million in hotel tax revenue. That dwarfs Seattle Mariners baseball games ($140,000 in additional hotel revenue on game days). Their research was published in the Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights.

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