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The Maier Foundation Inc., a major benefactor of Marshall University and higher education throughout West Virginia, was honored Sunday, Nov. 4, as the newest member of Marshall’s Pathway of Prominence.
A plaque honoring the Maier Foundation was unveiled during a ceremony at the pathway, located at the center of the Huntington campus between Old Main and the Memorial Student Center. The plaque is the 18th on the pathway, which is reserved for those who have given at least $1 million to Marshall.
“At the Maier Foundation, our principal mission is dedicated to higher education in West Virginia,” said Edward H. Maier, president and chair of the Maier Foundation. “We continue to have an outstanding relationship with Marshall University in different areas of excellence. We’re also excited by the leadership of Marshall President Stephen Kopp and look forward to continuing to work with him on a number of different projects.”
Kopp expressed his gratitude to Maier and his wife, Susan, for their generosity to Marshall. Both are MU graduates – Ed in 1969 with a degree in economics, and Susan in 1977 with a degree in elementary education.
“Ed and Susan are great friends and supporters of Marshall University,” Kopp said. “The Maier Foundation’s remarkable generosity to this university, which dates back many decades, is well documented. Its $1 million endowment to the Yeager Scholarship Fund and $500,000 contribution to the Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center are examples of the foundation’s commitment to higher education in West Virginia.”
The Maier Foundation Inc. was established as a private foundation by William J. Maier Jr., who lived a modest and unpretentious life, and quietly built a philanthropic legacy that has helped further the education of many in West Virginia and beyond.
After attending college with the help of financial aid and following his mother’s advice to “do good with all the money you can spare,” William Maier decided to give something back. In 1958, he created the Sarah and Pauline Maier Scholarship Foundation, named after his mother and wife. In 2003, the Sarah and Pauline Maier Foundation was renamed the Maier Foundation Inc.
The Maier Foundation has focused most of its resources on the higher education of West Virginia students and on cultural activities in the Kanawha Valley. It was honored today because of its role as a major benefactor of Marshall University.
Ed and Susan Maier are members of the John Marshall Society, President’s Circle and Thunder Club. Ed’s service to Marshall has included leadership positions on the Society of Yeager Scholars board of directors and the Marshall University Alumni Association board. He was honored as an inductee of the Marshall Business Hall of Fame, recipient of the MUAA Community Achievement Award, and recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Marshall.
Susan has demonstrated her high regard for promoting quality education in West Virginia by providing the Susan Runyan Maier Distance Learning Classroom in Marshall’s College of Education and Human Services.
The Maier Foundation also provides support for the Maier Latin and Writing Awards, which Ed Maier presents annually at Marshall.
In another event today, all donors to Marshall’s Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center were honored in a reception at the center immediately after the pathway ceremony. A plaque containing the name of each donor to the center was unveiled.
Kopp described the building as “a living testament to the power and inspiration of education to transform lives and our world.” He noted that eight rooms in the biotechnology science center have been named after donors. They are:
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