INSTITUTE – Katherine L. “Kitty” Dooley, a Charleston attorney and newly appointed member of the West Virginia State University Board of Governors, is glad she came back to her home state despite plans upon embarking on service an officer in the U.S. Army “to leave West Virginia in the rear view mirror of (her) life.”
Dooley was appointed to the WVSU Board of Governors Dec. 1.
Although she does not have any past ties to WVSU, Dooley told The West Virginia Record, “I view it as a personal and professional honor and privilege to serve on the board of governors of one of the most storied institutions of higher learning in the state of West Virginia.”
Kitty Dooley
| West Virginia State University
In addition, Dooley said West Virginia State “is the alma mater of three great Fairmonters,” including Col. George “Spanky” Roberts, a Tuskegee airman; Charles Price, the first African-American to graduate from the West Virginia University College of Law; and Augusta Alexander Clark, a Philadelphia lawyer and council woman at-large.
Dooley, the principal of The Dooley Law Firm in Charleston, said she happened to meet Clark when she was in law school.
“She took time to breathe purpose, responsibility and legacy into my fellow law students and me, explaining to us that we were the realization of the dreams of our foremothers and forefathers,” Dooley said. “She took the time to encourage us on our journey in the law. This is the caliber of people State has graduated and continues to graduate.”
Before beginning her military service, Fairmont native Dooley received her undergraduate degree from Marshall University.
“When I returned to West Virginia to attend the West Virginia University College of Law in 1987, I realized that I missed the four seasons, my family and extended family and the sense of community and community involvement that was an integral part of my life,” Dooley told The West Virginia Record.
Since moving to Charleston in 1990, Dooley said she has “been blessed to have a law practice that is people-focused and oriented and serve in a number of different capacities on boards, participate in organizations and work on projects that are making a real difference in the lives of West Virginians.”
“It has truly been a labor of love,” Dooley said.
Dooley said she has been “genuinely impressed with the leadership of (WVSU) President Anthony Jenkins and look forward to advancing his initiatives as well as those of the board in making West Virginia State University the best institution of its kind in the state of West Virginia for its students, faculty staff and our community.”