Fairmont State Foundation

Karen Poole flipped through her Fairmont State yearbook recently and realized how significant so many professors and friends who she met while attending college were to her success in life.

For the first time in its 60-year history, the Fairmont State Foundation will provide more than $1 million in scholarships and programmatic support to Fairmont State University on July 1. 

Paulina Nottingham has joined the Fairmont State Foundation staff as the new director of development. 

Nottingham, who holds a both a bachelor’s degree in marketing and an MBA with an emphasis in nonprofit management from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, started Jan. 2. She will be working as front-line fund raiser, meeting one-on-one with donors to help them match their interests with funding opportunities at Fairmont State University. 

Paulina Nottingham has joined the Fairmont State Foundation staff as the new director of development. 

Nottingham, who holds a both a bachelor’s degree in marketing and an MBA with an emphasis in nonprofit management from West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, started Jan. 2. She will be working as front-line fund raiser, meeting one-on-one with donors to help them match their interests with funding opportunities at Fairmont State University. 

The Fairmont State University School of Nursing has received $100,000 from grants and private funders to support the purchase of an advanced pediatric patient simulator that will provide its students with enhanced learning opportunities and realistic real-world experiences.  

Clarksburg-native Mary Ann Yambrick Sharp never attended Fairmont State University and was unable to become a registered nurse because her family could not afford college.

A Fairmont native and his family hope that through their newly established scholarship, West Virginia students who wish to pursue an education at Fairmont State will achieve their academic and life goals.

During the inaugural Fairmont State University Day of Giving more than 370 donors helped to raise nearly $200,000 setting a record for the most gifts the University has ever received in one day. 

“We’re so proud of the Fairmont State University community of alumni and friends who came together to show the power of philanthropy,” Julie R. Cryser, president of the Fairmont State Foundation, said. The Foundation raises money on Fairmont State University’s behalf.

Fairmont State University professor Dr. John McLaughlin is working to help police officers looking to attend college by creating the Dr. John E. McLaughlin Police Scholarship.

Fairmont State University and the Fairmont State Foundation have teamed up for the inaugural Falcon Day of Giving November 7 – one day to raise $250,000 to support scholarships, academic units, and athletics.

Donors from throughout the region have provided more than $100,000 in matches and challenges to encourage people to give online or through the lunch-time drive-through at the Fairmont State Foundation.