MORGANTOWN — Four promising West Virginia University doctoral students, including one from Wetzel County, are continuing their academic journeys with support from the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows program.

Proctor resident Dylan Nice joins Ayers Aguiar, Abyss Halley and Damon LeMaster as this year’s fellows. Each student will receive a $34,000 stipend, a $2,000 travel grant and a tuition waiver to allow them to advance their research at WVU.

Established in 2011 by the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, the fellowship provides financial support that allows incoming doctoral-level scholars to dedicate themselves fully to expanding their studies and using their research to benefit the people of WVU, the nation and the world.

Since the Ruby Fellows program’s inception, a total of 57 students have received financial support to continue their research at the University.

“Each year, we are excited to welcome a new cohort of exceptional scholars to WVU through the support of the Ruby Fellows program,” Paul Kreider, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, said. “This year’s fellows are stellar examples of the innovative and dedicated students who become true changemakers in society. I look forward to watching their success.”

Nice grew up fascinated by the industrial facilities that shaped his rural community. That early curiosity led him to WVU, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.

“If my professor hadn’t reached out to me to join her research team, I would probably have just finished my bachelor’s and gone into industry without research experience,” Nice said.

As an undergraduate researcher in Yuhe Tian’s lab, he explored machine learning-aided process design. Nice also gained hands-on industry experience as a production engineering intern at Westlake Chemical in Natrium, where he worked in a unit that purified caustic solution from low-purity cell liquor. Through this, he deepened his understanding of real-world chemical processing systems.

“Getting a PhD is what is going to allow me to pursue a position as a teaching professor in the future, which is currently what I desire to do,” he said.

Now working toward his doctorate, Nice is focused on advancing process safety, efficiency and environmental sustainability in the chemical industry, driven by a strong desire to make a meaningful impact in West Virginia and similar industrial communities.

The Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust established the Ruby Scholars Graduate Fellows program in memory of its namesake. Hazel Ruby McQuain was involved in philanthropic giving to support WVU for more than 20 years before she died at the age of 93 in 2002. One of her many gifts includes an $8 million gift toward the construction of J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital, which is named after her late husband.

The Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust recently contributed $50 million to the WVU Cancer Institute for a new state-of-the-art cancer hospital in Morgantown.

McQuain’s gifts and those from the Trust were made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.