Byrd was a WVU scholar-athlete and All-American basketball player who lettered in the 1945-48 seasons. He played for his father, Roy Byrd, at Matoaka High in Mercer County before enrolling at WVU in 1944.
He received all three degrees from WVU – bachelor’s (’48), master’s (’53) and doctorate (’67), and went on to serve as WVU’s Director of Athletics from 1972-79.
The Dr. Leland E. Byrd Scholarship, established by Byrd’s daughter, Becky Lofstead, and husband Dan, will benefit undergraduate and graduate students from the area of the state in which Byrd grew up.
“Dad has shared so many wonderful childhood memories with us of his life growing up in Matoaka, and has taken all of us daughters — and some of the grandkids — there on various occasions over the years,” Lofstead said.