J. P. “Gus” Godsey, a 1979 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College and a Buckhannon native, has been named the “Happiest Man In America” by the USA Weekend magazine.

The magazine set out to find the happiest man in America, and with Virginia Beach, Va., recently being named the best place to live in the United States, that is where they went looking.

It also happened to be the residence of a certain J. P. Godsey.

“Our search was a combination of science, sleuthing, and surveys,” the USA Weekend story read in its attempt to find the happiest man. And Godsey’s name kept coming up in their probe.

“They originally had about 100 men picked out, and from that, they whittled that number down to around 30 or 40 and then down to just five or six,” explained Godsey. “I was fortunate enough to be in that final number.”

Following some initial interviews, he was subjected to a battery of psychological and emotional tests – five in all- measuring his level of contentment.

Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman (Ph.D.), a University of Pennsylvania professor and one of the world’s leading authorities on motivation and personality, spent a day in Virginia Beach administering these tests.

Seligman divides happiness into three types: the pleasant life, the good life, and the meaningful life. “He did great in all three and actually was off the scale in the second one,” Seligman said. “He’s real unusual.”

“Actually, I think he called me a freak,” joked Godsey. “I scored higher on those tests than anyone else ever had. They asked me to take it a second time, and then a third time. I was scoring so high that they thought something was wrong with the test.”

Along with his new title of being the “Happiest Man in America,” he is also a very proud Wesleyan and Theta Chi fraternity alum.

“Wesleyan is the greatest college in America and Theta Chi is the greatest fraternity in America,” remarked Godsey. “I am going to do everything in my power to make use of this wonderful blessing to maximize the exposure for West Virginia Wesleyan.

“My entire college experience at Wesleyan was unbelievable. There isn’t anything better than getting an education at Wesleyan. The quality of education that you get, the small ratio of students to teachers, and the interest the teachers have in you as a student and a person. What more could you want!

“I have always held Wesleyan in high regard. This isn’t a college just plugging students in and sending students back out, this is a college that is turning out leaders of tomorrow. I truly believe that it is the greatest college in America. Unless you have experienced Wesleyan, you really can’t understand it.

“Plus, the Greek system has given me friendships for lifetime. When I got married a few years ago, I had 17 fraternity brothers return for it, and they all came from different parts of the country. I could have had 50 attend if my wife wouldn’t have drawn a line somewhere. I stay in touch with just about all of my fraternity brothers. I have people tell me that they are lucky if they stay in contact with any of their college friends after graduation, but I do, and that is what the Wesleyan experience is all about.”

Godsey is such an enthusiastic alum that he has never missed a Wesleyan homecoming.

It is easy to see why he has such strong ties to the College as they run deep in his family. His mother Doris was a faculty member in the nursing department, while his brother Paul ’78 and his sister Susan ’79 are both graduates of Wesleyan.

Since being selected as the “Happiest Man in America,” it has been a whirlwind ride for Godsey.

He and his wife Judi were flown to New York for him to appear on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. He has also made appearances on CNN with Connie Chung and on CNBC’s Power Lunch. His wife states that there have also been “nibbles” from several other morning and late-night talk shows.

So what makes the 45-year-old stockbroker happy? “It is actually pretty simple,” stated Godsey. “I make sure I count my blessings each day and I don’t dwell on the negatives. We wake up every morning full of choices. And your state of happiness is something you can do every single day. How are you going to make your day work? And we only have today. God never promised us tomorrow.”

Since word has been out about the recognition, Godsey’s life has been turned upside down, but he is taking everything in stride.

“This has been so cool,” said Godsey. “Being picked up in a limo, being on national television, meeting so many different people – it has been surreal. I had the guy in the television show The Bachelor want my autograph. This is my 15 minutes of fame.”

Despite the sudden fame, Godsey doesn’t see his life changing much. “It’s not going to change one bit,” he remarked. “Each day, I am still going to wake up next to my wonderful wife and each day I am going to have to go out and make a living.”

USA Weekend magazine appears in more than 560 newspapers with 45.8 million readers every weekend. The feature article about Godsey, along with his picture on the front cover, will be out this weekend (March 7-9). Locally, it can be found in the inserts of the Inter-Mountain Saturday edition.

If you would like to set up an interview with Mr. Godsey, you can contact his representative, Susan Maddox, at 757-425-5980.