Wheeling Resident Bill Wilmoth To Be Inducted Into WVU’s Order Of Vandalia
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Wheeling attorney Bill Wilmoth admits he isn’t sure that he belongs among the names found within West Virginia University’s Order of Vandalia. But WVU believes he absolutely does deserve to be part of its highest award for service to the university, and will induct him with three others on June 19 in Morgantown.
Wilmoth will join David Alvarez, Steve Antoline and David Hendrickson, a Charleston attorney who currently serves as the chairman of Wheeling University’s Board of Trustees, as the newest members of the Order of Vandalia.
Wilmoth said he was told a couple of weeks ago that he would be inducted, news he said was “humbling.”
“Other than my wife putting me through law school always encouraging me to do my best, most of the good things that have happened to me over the years have been as a result of my WVU education,” he said. “So I’ve always felt the need to give back when I could.”
Born in Elkins and raised in Fairmont, Wilmoth is a graduate of the WVU College of Law. He served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia from 1993-99 and is now a partner with Steptoe & Johnson. He spent 10 years as a member of the WVU Board of Governors, including two years as its chairman. And he also was part of the search committee that found and hired current WVU President Michael Benson.
The Order of Vandalia, the highest recognition for service to WVU, dates back to 1960 when then-WVU President Elvis J. Stahr outlined his idea for a special honor awarded to West Virginia University's most loyal servants, according to the university. Inductees through the years have included U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, Carolyn Eberly Blaney, Joseph Gluck, John T. Chambers, Earl L. Core, Ken Kendrick and Milan Puskar.
Wilmoth is honored to be placed among those notable names, and said it was amazing to be “considered anywhere close” to that pantheon.
“Whatever I’ve done for the university over the years, it has been a pleasure,” he said.
A two-time WVU graduate and former U.S. Army captain, Hendrickson is a founding partner of legal firm Hendrickson and Long, PLLC, and the president and founder of Hendrickson Mediation Services. Before serving as Board of Trustees chair at WU, he previously served as chair of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission from 2008 to 2013, and spearheaded fundraising efforts for the Pride Practice Field and Facility, the permanent rehearsal space for the Mountaineer Marching Band.
A Harrison County native and WVU alum, Alvarez serves as president of Applied Construction Solutions, an energy infrastructure construction firm specializing in natural gas facilities, liquefied natural gas, renewable natural gas and electric power generation nationwide; and CEO of Energy Transportation, LLC, which supplies the natural gas industry. Alvarez was a member of the WVU Board of Governors from 2012 to 2022, including two years in leadership roles as vice chair and chair.
Antoline is a Nicholas County native and WVU alum who founded Superior Highwall Miners in Beckley, and oversaw its growth into the world's largest manufacturer of highwall mining equipment. With his son, he now oversees diverse operations, including natural gas and oil production, property development, home building and other company interests. Previously, Antoline co-chaired the "Grow Hope" fundraising campaign to support construction of WVU Medicine Golisano Children's Hospital.