UVa-Wise chancellor receives Samuel Crockett Award

Vice Chancellor for Administration Gary Juhan presents the Samuel Crockett Award to Chancellor Ernest Ern, accompanied by his wife, Petie Ern. They are standing near the Rotunda Capital, originally part of the University of Virginia's signature building. The capital was removed from the Rotunda in 1895 following a devastating fire. The capital is the only such item on permanent loan from U.Va. Both the capital and the Crockett Award celebrate the relationship between the University and the College.

Ernest H. Ern, chancellor of The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, is the recipient of the Samuel Crockett Award in recognition of his outstanding year of service at the College.

Gary Juhan, vice chancellor for administration, presented the award to Ern during the College’s Faculty-Staff Picnic in gratitude for his service to UVa-Wise and his 38 years at the University of Virginia.

Ern, who retired from his post as senior vice president at U.Va. in 2000, was recruited by University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III to serve a one-year appointment as chancellor of UVa-Wise while the College began its search for a permanent replacement. Ern and his wife, Petie, will return to Charlottesville and retirement upon completion of his appointment as chancellor on June 30.

Ern joined the University in 1962 as an assistant professor of geology. His scholarly work included analyses of geological conditions related to mining in the Appalachian region, as well as detailed analyses of rock formations in central Virginia and the Appalachian region.

Three years after joining the U.Va. faculty, Ern became assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences. He then served as dean of admission from 1967 to 1973. For the next 20 years, he was vice president of student affairs. In 1993, the same year he became senior vice president, the Board of Visitors established the Ernest H. Ern Distinguished Professorship in Environmental Sciences and named him a University Professor, U.Va.’s highest academic rank. University professors have the capacity to teach in any of the University’s schools and colleges. In 1998, Ern received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for excellence of character and service to humanity.

The Samuel Crockett Award is named in honor of Samuel Crockett, Jr., who served as the University’s extension division’s representative in Southwest Virginia in the early 1950s. Crockett was instrumental in convincing the University’s administration of the need for a branch college in Wise. After UVa-Wise’s founding as Clinch Valley College in 1954, Crockett served as chief administrative officer for two years.

Crockett first heard of local interest in establishing the College when he took refuge at the Wise Inn during a snow storm on Dec. 17, 1953. In January of 1954, Crockett met with M. M. Long, Orby Cantrell, Mary and William A. Thompson, J. J. Kelly, Lois and Harry Tracy, Kenneth Asbury, and Jane Knox, all staunch supporters of bringing a college to the far Southwest Virginia mountains. In February of 1954, three local men – Kenneth Asbury, William A. Thompson, and Fred Greear – called on Colgate Darden, then president of the University of Virginia. Darden told these “three Wise men,” that he would help establish a college in the mountains if they would secure $5,000 in seed money from the General Assembly. The College held its first classes on the site of the former Wise County Poor Farm on Sept. 20, 1954.

The Crockett Award was initiated in consultation with Crockett’s family after his death in April 1995. Past recipients of the award include former U.Va. Rector Hovey Dabney, U.Va. President John T. Casteen III, U.Va. Vice President Leonard Sandridge, Board of Visitors member Champ Clark, Steve Campbell, and University Librarian Karin Wittenborg.

The award itself is composed of materials from the old Martha Randolph Hall, consisting of Gladeville sandstone and wormy chestnut. The award was designed by Jim C. Lipps, Jr., the College’s former director of buildings and grounds.

The only branch campus of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation’s top ten public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise is home to 1,800 students and offers under graduate and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.