West Liberty University’s Alumni Association will add the names of three distinguished alumni, Anissa Monseau Anderson, David Croft and Zachary Loughman, to its Wall of Honor at an induction ceremony to be held at an invitation-only dinner on Friday, Oct. 19, at the Highlands Event Center.
Planned to coincide with Homecoming, the President’s Recognition Dinner also honors donors who are members of the John P. McCullough Society, the President’s Circle and the Nathan Shotwell Society.
“Homecoming provides us with the perfect time to celebrate West Liberty University alumni and welcome them home to the Hilltop. These most accomplished alumni — an orthodontist, an attorney and a professor — are wonderful examples of the power of a West Liberty University degree. We thank them for sharing their success with us in this special way,” said Dr. Stephen Greiner, WLU president.
Anderson is a 1994 graduate of WLU’s Sarah Whitaker Glass School of Dental Hygiene. She went on to earn both a master’s in orthodontics and doctoral degree in dental surgery at West Virginia University. She has been a private practice orthodontist since 2001.
An active student, she was a member of the volleyball team, a statistician for the wrestling team, an academic tutor, member of the Xi Beta Phi honorary mathematics and science fraternity, and a student representative of Protestant Campus Ministry. She also was West Liberty’s WVIAC scholar athlete in 1994.
She has served as a part-time associate clinical professor of orthodontics at West Virginia University and serves on the admissions committee for the WVU orthodontic residency program. She also serves as secretary/treasurer of the West Virginia Association of Orthodontists and Dentofacial Orthopedists.
She was instrumental in the formation and operation of the Wetzel County Oral Health Improvement Council, providing free dental screenings to students in Wetzel County Schools.
She is a member of the WLU Foundation Board and the WLU Wrestling Advisory Board and continues to sponsor athletic and community programs. Anderson also is an accomplished pianist and avid runner.
She and her husband of 22 years, Danny, reside in New Martinsville with their daughters, Alavia, Kayna and Jessa.
Croft received a bachelor’s in accounting in 1989 from West Liberty University and a doctor of law degree in 1999 from the West Virginia University College of Law.
He has served as an adjunct lecturer of law at the WVU College of Law where he has taught multiple tax and other course subjects. A frequent lecturer and seminar speaker, he is an expert on subjects that include tax, estate planning, trust law, tax-exempt entities and choice of business entity.
He has practiced law for the past 19 years in Wheeling, and is a member of the law firm of Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC. His legal practice focuses on complex business transactions and tax planning. Prior to entering law school, he practiced as a Certified Public Accountant in Morgantown.
He is a member of the American Health Lawyers Association, the Ohio County Bar Association, the West Virginia State Bar Association and the American Bar Association and is listed in West Virginia Super Lawyers for Estate Planning & Probate, Corporate/Business and Tax law.
Croft currently serves on the board of the Greater Wheeling Sports and Entertainment Authority, the Ohio County Schools Board of Education and other tax seminar boards. He also is a member of the West Liberty University Foundation where he serves as chairman.
He and his wife Jennifer have lived in Wheeling since 1999 and have four children, Amber Garlitz of Lawton, Okla., and Taylor, David and Emily Croft, all who reside in Wheeling.
Loughman earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 2002 and went on to earn a master’s degree in biology at Marshall University focusing in herpetology. He earned his doctoral degree in evolution and ecology from Indiana State University in 2011.
In 2006, he joined WLU as a natural history research specialist and became a faculty member in 2008. He then developed the ecology, evolution and organismal biology major, and the environmental education and stewardship major.
Loughman also secured funding and began research focusing on North American Freshwater Crayfishes, gaining him a reputation as having one of the top crayfish labs in the world.
In recent years, Loughman was instrumental in the development of the zoo science and applied conservation major, which he serves as both curator of living collections and the major’s coordinator. He also assisted in the development of the master of science/master of arts in biology degree program.
Loughman received the West Virginia’s Faculty Merit Foundation Professor of the Year award for 2014. He also received the International Association of Astacology’s Noble Crayfish award, for notable crayfish education and student development.
He lives in Wheeling with his wife, WLU alumna Kathy Vopal Loughman, and their son Colin.
Homecoming takes place on Saturday, Oct. 20, as the Hilltoppers take on West Virginia State University Yellow Jackets with a 1 p.m. kick-off at the West Family Stadium. Tailgating, with family-friendly activities for all ages, begins at 10 a.m., and a parade follows at 10:30 a.m.
For more information, visit westliberty.edu/alumni or call 304-336-8888.
