Skip to main content

WVU community invited to attend Focus Forward

Focus Forward 2025

Faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to join more than 400 state and regional leaders at Focus Forward: Long Live West Virginia on April 22 at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place. 

The statewide conference will take place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., followed by a special reception from 4:30 to 6 p.m. to celebrate the legacy of President Gordon Gee. 

Hosted by the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the seventh annual Focus Forward conference will explore health, wellness, the future of work, economic prosperity, and longevity through a personal, state and global lens.

Join national, state and local experts as they examine how we can begin tackling answers to the following pressing questions. 

  • How can we live longer, healthier, more prosperous lives? 

  • What will increasing life expectancies mean for our workplaces, schools and communities?

  • How can innovation shape a healthier future — not only for us but for our state? 

Featured speakers include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • E. Gordon Gee, president, WVU

  • Dr. Clay Marsh, chancellor, WVU Health Sciences

  • Albert Wright, president and CEO, WVU Health System

  • Dr. Randy Nelson, professor and chair, Hazel Ruby McQuain Chair for Neurological Research, WVU

  • John Deskins, director, Bureau of Business and Economic Research; associate professor of economics, John Chambers College of Business and Economics

  • Nancy LeaMond, chief advocacy and engagement officer, AARP

  • Dr. Joseph Maroon, clinical professor of neurological surgery, UPMC; Pittsburgh Steelers physician

  • Vishal Agrawal, chief strategy and corporate development officer, Humana

  • David Luckey, senior international and defense researcher, RAND Corporation; professor of policy analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

  • Brad D. Smith, president, Marshall University

  • David Ramsey, president and CEO, Vandalia Health

  • Scott Raynes, president and CEO, Marshall Health Network

  • Dr. David Gozal, dean and vice president for health affairs, Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, Marshall University

  • Roderick Moore, sport science coordinator, Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Ken Gabriel, CEO, BioForge

Don’t miss this opportunity to connect, learn and be part of the conversation driving meaningful change. Plus, there are plenty of great networking opportunities.

Register to attend the conference and/or the reception.

Find the full program, speaker lineup and registration details.