The West Virginia University College of Creative Arts has named 26 students as Canady Scholars. To be considered for the award, students must have a high grade-point average, faculty references and be fluent in two languages.
The Canady Scholarship is awarded thanks to the Valerie Canady Charitable Trust Foundation. The scholarships are named for Valerie Canady, a Morgantown native and WVU summa cum laude graduate, who was among the 270 people who died in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in Dec. 1988. Canady, who worked for H.J. Heinz Co. in their London office, was an accomplished linguist and artist in different media of expression, especially in piano.
“Valerie’s parents, Loulie and William, created the Canady Scholars Awards with a belief that the arts and the pursuit of fluency in multiple languages provide humanity with important tools for greater understanding,” said College of Creative Arts Dean Keith Jackson. “Their dedication to this cause is an inspiration to all who look to culture as the needed vehicle for a deeper understanding of the human condition.”
This year’s Canady Scholarship recipients are:
Fei Xia – DMA, Vocal Performance
Wenjun Xia – DMA, Piano Performance
Sean Elliott – DMA, Violin Performance
Lim Jing (Zoey) – BM, Music Composition
Riley Ann Klug – BA, Art History
Ryan Limanto – MM, Flute Performance
Annie Moon – BM, Horn Performance
Ethan Charles Nylander – BM, Flute Performance
Irene Guerra Rudas – DMA, Violin Performance
Weiyang Sun – DMA, Piano Performance
Ana Paola Vergara Abascal Sherwell – BM, Vocal Performance
Esperanza Abarca – BFA, Art Education/Ceramics
Yangyang Cao – DMA, Piano Performance
Sophia Noelle Villano – BFA, Acting – BA, Spanish
Lucas Barkley – DMA, Collaborative Piano
Hyunjung “Jenny” Marsat – BFA, Ceramics
Claudia Sevilla – MFA, Acting
Joseph Boulos – MM, Jazz Pedagogy & MA, Musicology
Tong Ding – DMA, Collaborative Piano
Gerardo Sanchez Pastrana – DMA, Cello Performance
Linxi Yang – DMA, Collaborative Piano
Layla Wilson – BM, Music Therapy
Tatiana Zakharova – BA, Graphic Design
Ruth Hartmann – BA, Cello Performance
Christian James Rhen – BM, Jazz Studies & Composition
Tingyu Yan – DMA, Vocal Performance
The Canady family has provided generous support to the College of Creative Arts for many years. The Creative Arts Center was renamed in 2020 to the Loulie, Valerie and William Canady Creative Arts Center, in honor of leadership gift from Valerie Canady Charitable Foundation.
The Canady Fund for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts provides for arts programming, educational enrichment opportunities, building improvements and discretionary support to benefit students, faculty and staff within the College of Creative Arts. The ongoing Canady Chamber Series brings classical music acts from across the country to Morgantown and the Canadys also played an important philanthropic role in creating the Art Museum of WVU. They were honored for their contributions as WVU’s Most Loyal West Virginians in 2018.