A Fairmont State University graduating senior in mathematics is selected yearly by the FSU mathematics faculty to honor outstanding undergraduate work in mathematics. The award was named in honor of James A. LaRue who was the Fairmont State mathematics department chairman and taught mathematics for 34 years until his retirement in 1988.
The award was instituted in 1983, when Randy Baker was selected as its first recipient. He later joined the FSU Computer Science department as a faculty member and served until his retirement.
During his career, Dr. LaRue taught 5364 students at Fairmont State, West Virginia University, Morris Harvey College, and Ohio State University. In the 1960s, he directed a three-year National Science Foundation Cooperative College and School Science program for selected high school teachers and their students who excelled in mathematics. Dr. Jeanne Harris was one of those students and later became a member of the FSU mathematics department until her retirement in 2012.
In a 1989 article, Dr. LaRue explained what he felt was the focus of his career. “Advocating increased standards and curriculum improvement at local and state levels for elementary and secondary systems, as well as higher education, was a high priority during my career. I also sought to encourage and inspire outstanding students to pursue mathematics as a career.” Numerous Fairmont State graduates have completed graduate degrees and many have earned Ph.D.’s in mathematics.
Dr. LaRue was inspired by his high school math teacher Ivy Hustead to apply for meteorology school at Hamilton College when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943. During World War II, he served as a radio gunner and flew missions from Bari, Italy. He worked at Fairmont Glass and Fairmont Machinery prior to enlisting. After being discharged in 1945, he later graduated from West Virginia University and then earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh.
He enjoyed farming, hunting, and fishing. He loved math and always had an interesting problem for anyone willing to try. He taught many of the mathematics teachers in the surrounding area who are now sharing their love of mathematics with their students, as he did with them.
A plaque in the College of Science and Technology contains the names of all winners of the James A. LaRue Mathematics Award since 1983. Below is a list of those selected for the award.
- 2026 - William Blackwood
- 2025 - Nathan Morgan
- 2024 - Alexander Imperial
- 2023 - Kyle Carson and Chris Pfaltzgraff
- 2022 - Zachary Arthur and David Davis
- 2021 - Kellie Norris
- 2020 - Dawn Sargent and Brooke Fincham
- 2019 - Anna Westfall
- 2018 - Carl Wahler
- 2017 - Trevor Fancher
- 2016 - Jeff Rush and Julia Oliveto
- 2015 - Philip Kahly
- 2014 - Jennifer Glaspell
- 2013 - Kyle Posey
- 2012 - Miriam Miker-Straka
- 2011 - Ying Liu
- 2010 - Thomas R. Devine and Renee Y. LaRue
- 2009 - Todd Tichenor and Kristin Murphy
- 2008 - Brittany Vincent
- 2007 - Frank M. Muldoon
- 2006 - Marcia Manley
- 2005 - David Jerome Johnson
- 2004 - Stephanie Yoho
- 2003 - Joshua E. Barker
- 2002 - Phillip M. Merritt
- 2001 - Prabhat K. Jha
- 2000 - Manil Maskey and Christopher Bunner
- 1999 - Grant D. Spencer
- 1998 - Markland J. Benson
- 1997 - Lori Ann Shumaker
- 1996 - Richard Beddard III
- 1995 - Stephen Freshour
- 1993 - Brian Schneider
- 1991 - Kimberly Hickman
- 1990 - Charles B. Hodges
- 1989 - Kevin Carpenter
- 1988 - Marjorie Darrah
- 1987 - Maria Brunett
- 1986 - Ernest Naegele
- 1985 - Gerald Leigh
- 1984 - Jeanina Butcher
- 1983 - Randall Baker
In 2016, Dr. Stephen L. Lipscomb, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA, made a generous donation to the Fairmont State Foundation to endow the James A. LaRue Mathematics Award as a permanent tribute to the dedication of Dr. James A. LaRue, his former professor, to his students and the Fairmont State Mathematics program.
Dr. Lipscomb graduated from Fairmont State in 1965 and was named a Fairmont State Outstanding Alumnus. He earned his Master of Science degree in Mathematics from West Virginia University and his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia. He is best known for the invention of Lipscomb's Topological Space and for pioneering several mathematical concepts, including the first thrust integral programs for the Navy. Dr. Lipscomb's research in topological dimension theory led to the discovery of a novel geometry, the 4web, which is used to create high-strength, lightweight web structures, including medical spinal cages.
The James A. LaRue Mathematics Award is administered by the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc. Donations to the Fairmont State Foundation Inc. can be made online. Although the James A. LaRue Mathematics Award is not listed among the available fund designations, donors may select “Other” and enter “James A. LaRue Mathematics Award” in the space provided.