Nov 9, 2014 2 min read

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Retiring U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller is getting his own school at West Virginia University.

In his final official trip home as a U.S. senator, Rockefeller joined WVU President Gordon Gee and others on Saturday in Morgantown to announce the launch of the John D. Rockefeller IV School of Policy and Politics.

The West Virginia Democrat says the school will empower students to make the world a better place.

“The school will be intensely focused on a deep academic study of ourselves, our world and its future,” Rockefeller said in a statement. “Students will become tomorrow’s leaders and public servants. To do so, they will have to have a deep and abiding understanding that life is more meaningful if it is lived serving others. But they will also be thinkers, digging into a great range of issues with seriousness and a persistent pursuit of answers, solutions, and bold new ideas.”

During a ceremony opening the John D. Rockefeller IV Gallery at WVU’s downtown library, Rockefeller also is donating senatorial papers to the university. That includes nearly 2,000 boxes, hundreds of pieces of memorabilia and nearly a terabyte of data that will be available to researchers, students and the public.

Rockefeller is retiring in January after 30 years in the Senate. He also served as governor, secretary of state, in the House of Delegates and as president of West Virginia Wesleyan College.

Among his many contributions to the university include founding a nonprofit institute named after his mother that researches memory disorders and neurodegenerative diseases.

“West Virginia is where I found my life’s purpose, my spiritual calling,” Rockefeller said “My life’s journey led me to West Virginia, and it is in West Virginia that I hope my legacy will be remembered, and my journey as a public servant understood.”