Produced by Steve B. Brooks with The American Legion. Read the complete story here..

Dr. E. Gordon Gee is one of America’s most prominent higher education leaders, having helmed universities for more than three decades. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the top 10 university presidents in the United States.

In 2014, Gee returned to West Virginia University, where his career as a university president began. His leadership goals include putting students first, advancing the university’s research agenda, partnering with West Virginia communities and making sure that 1.8 million West Virginians know in their hearts and minds that West Virginia University is their university.

Born in Vernal, Utah, Gee graduated from the University of Utah with an honors degree in history and earned his J.D. and Ed.D. degrees from Columbia University. He clerked under Chief Justice David T. Lewis of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals before being named a judicial fellow and staff assistant to the U.S. Supreme Court. In this role,

Congressman Alex X. Mooney and his wife live in Charles Town in Jefferson County with their three children. Their third child, Gabrielle, was born in Charleston, West Virginia in October 2014. The son of a Cuban refugee and Vietnam veteran, Alex grew up with a deep sense of appreciation for the American ideals of individual freedom and personal responsibility.

Alex’s mother, Lala, was born and raised in Fidel Castro’s Cuba, where she and other members of her family were thrown into jail for seven weeks for opposing Castro’s communist regime. When she was 21, Lala escaped Cuba and fled to America with barely a penny to her name.

Alex’s father, Vincent, was sent to Vietnam when Lala was expecting their first child. He served as an Engineering Captain and was awarded the Bronze Star.

Listening to his parents’ inspiring stories, Alex knew from a young age that he wanted to spend his life

Dr. E. Gordon Gee served as president of The Ohio State University from 1990 to 1997 and again from 2007 to 2013. Prior to his service at Ohio State, he led Vanderbilt University (2001-2007), Brown University (1998-2000), the University of Colorado (1985-1990), and West Virginia University (1981-1985). He returned to WVU to serve as president for a term in January 2014, and was confirmed as the permanent president in March 2014. Gee has served in higher education for more than three decades and in 2009 was named by Time magazine as one of the top-10 university presidents in the United States.

Born in Vernal, Utah, Gee graduated from the University of Utah with an honors degree in history and earned his J.D. and Ed.D degrees from Columbia University. He clerked under Chief Justice David T. Lewis of the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals before being named a judicial fellow and