Time is a strange thing. On October 28, 1955 the Founders Day speaker was J. Roy Price, Chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee.
In that speech, he looked back at his experience as a student – he also scrutinized the college in 1955 from the perspective of one in the present who was planning for the future. The future he was planning is now sixty-three years in our past.
1923
J. Roy Price (known as Roy) entered West Virginia Wesleyan as a student in the Academy in 1917 (which would be equivalent to a Jr. in High School today) and graduated in 1919. This was the year that the Academy program phased out and all work became college level.
In 1923 he graduated with his B.S. degree.
As you can see from the caption below his photo, he was definitely a person who appreciated the Liberal Arts approach of the school: Young Men’s Christian Association, Debate, Chemistry, Theater, Murmurmontis staff. Quite the variety of interests.
He would have been one of Nicholas Hyma’s earliest students, as he taught from 1919-57.
They can be seen catching up in this 1944 picture from an alumni dinner in New York.
Career in Chemistry
J. Roy Price went on to have a very successful career in the chemical industry working with Union Carbide. He was part of the team doing original research on vinyl plastics and did research on such things as rosin, shallac, asphalt, celluloid, can linings, and insulation for electric wires (which was used as a substitute for rubber when the U.S. entered WWII).
During WWII he served as Union Carbide’s liaison to Defense Agencies, and in 1958 was appointed by President Eisenhower as head of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization.
College Connections
Receiving an Honorary Doctor of Science from WVWC in 1949, J. Roy Price served on the Board of Trustees from 1949-73, and was President of the Board from 1969-73. Working with President William Scarborough, he was also the chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee which set the groundwork for the major growth of campus facilities under President Stanley H. Martin.
Founders Day Speaker in 1956
The full text of this address can be found here.
Speaking as an alumnus and a Trustee as well as the Chairman of the Long Range Planning Committee, he notes that these things were absolutely necessary:
- High Quality Education
- More and Better Faculty, with salary improvements
- Physical Facilities
I encourage you to read his words. They are as relevant today as they were then.
The tomorrows that they were planning for 63 years ago are now our past. And others are now in the process of planning for the future. Time has a way of shifting from past to present to future. It is with great appreciation that I write to tell of this Giant in Wesleyan history.
John Roy Price (click here for his Bio)
Born: June 15, 1900
Died: June 15, 1975 (unexpectedly on his 75th birthday)
The quotation under his yearbook photo in 1923 seems to be a very fitting one. From Wordsworth, it said, “A man of cheerful yesterdays and confident tomorrows.”