Please help choose citizen members for the Humanities Council Program Committee. The Program Committee oversees all direct programs and grants of the Humanities Council. This includes reviewing grant applications and making funding recommendations to the Humanities Council board of directors. Your vote gives the public a voice in our grants and program decisions. Review the candidates below, then visit the online ballot to make your choices. Vote for no more than four of these candidates:
Beth See Bean (Hardy County) is a retired West Virginia public school educator, having worked as an English teacher and a Media Specialist and Reading Diagnostician. She worked for the state Department of Education before joining Edvantia, Partners in Education. Outside the education field, she has coordinated closely with county CVBs to develop programs promoting tourism in the Potomac Highlands. She has served on the boards of the Hardy County Tour and Crafts Association and the Hardy County Historical Society. She earned a B.A. from Fairmont State University and an M.A. from WVU.
Hannah Hedrick (Ohio County) is an artist and educator based in Wheeling. As an Ohio Valley native, Hannah has long cultivated her appreciation for our green rolling hills and the undeniably West Virginia things among them. With an environmental biology degree (WVU), she has spent over a decade in experiential education. She directed community outreach and education programs focused on agriculture, foodways, and youth development at Grow Ohio Valley from 2017 to 2024. Since 2020, she has delivered programming and managed print shop operations at the Mother Jones Center for Resilient Community.
Dan Holbrook (Cabell County) is retired from Marshall University, where he was initially in charge of the Regents B.A. Program and then moved to the faculty. He served 10 years as Department Chair, teaching subjects such as Oral and Local History, Public History, Material Culture, History of Technology and Science, and U.S. and World History. Dan has received multiple recognitions, including the Distinguished Service Award, and was Faculty Representative to the university’s Board of Governors. He earned a B.A. in American Studies from Brandeis University and an M.S. in Applied History and a Ph.D. in History and Policy both from Carnegie Mellon University. Dan is a current member of the Program Committee and eligible for reelection.
Sudhakar R. “Jammy” Jamkhandi (Mercer County) has been employed at Bluefield State University since 1986, having come to West Virginia after 10 years in Texas, where he earned a Ph.D. in English at TCU and taught English at UT Arlington, UT Austin, and Austin Community College. He is a tenured professor of English and (Founding) Director of the Office of International Initiatives and President of the non-partisan non-profit Center for International Understanding, Inc. Jammy is a current member of the Program Committee and eligible for reelection.
Duncan Slade (Kanawha County) is deputy managing editor at Mountain State Spotlight, a statewide nonprofit newsroom. His work focuses on amplifying the stories of West Virginians and giving people the information they need to improve our state. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from West Virginia University and served as editor-in-chief of The Daily Athenaeum.
Jay Smith (Randolph County) is Associate Professor of History at Davis & Elkins College, teaching courses such as U.S. and World History. Jay serves as Department Chair as well as Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Studies. He has worked with a number of organizations in a variety of capacities, including the Beverly Heritage Center, the Rich Mountain Battlefield Trust, the West Virginia Railroad Museum, and the community of Helvetia. Jay is a current member of the Program Committee and eligible for two additional terms.
Lloyd Tomlinson (Mingo County) is education coordinator at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum and an instructor in History and Appalachian Studies at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. He has also held fellowships and internships at the West Virginia State Archives in Charleston and the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2024, he completed a Ph.D. in History from West Virginia University.
