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West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon has received a $5,000 donation from Allegheny Energy Inc. for the David E. Reemsnyder Research Center. Allegheny Energy representatives presented the gift to college officials Oct. 26.

The $8.2 million research center will officially open in January. The 23,000-gross-square-foot facility is connected to the college's Christopher Hall of Science and will serve the biology, chemistry, computer science, environmental science, mathematics, physics/engineering and psychology programs.

The center is named for the late David E. Reemsnyder, class of 1930 and 1972 honorary degree recipient, who taught junior high science and mathematics before enjoying a distinguished career as a coach, faculty member and administrator at Wesleyan. Reemsnyder had a profound impact as a young teacher on U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, who in turn secured more than $6 million in federal grants for the project.

The Reemsnyder Research Center will house classrooms, teaching laboratories, research labs to promote student-faculty research, a tissue culture facility and instrumentation labs to support teaching and research. Approximately $1.5 million is needed to complete the funding for the project.

Allegheny Energy Inc. is an investor-owned utility with more than $3 billion in annual revenues and more than 4,000 employees.

"We are grateful to Allegheny Energy for their donation to the Reemsnyder project," said West Virginia Wesleyan President Pamela Balch. "When opened, the center will allow Wesleyan to offer one of the premier undergraduate/faculty research facilities in the region. This donation is another example of the continued interest in completing the funding for this project."