Center stage Ad expert’s stewardship helps put Brandcenter students in the spotlight
give ... WhyWhyI Igive... “I am very grateful for all that VCU has done for me
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anything on their and own, andlife goals. As many of my professional personal Iaremember, withbygratitude, student, I was inspired a faculty member in the the many teachers and Department of History. Five years after graduating VCU, mentors who I started making gifts. Ihelped increased me my support as I was along the way. It’s honorfunds, one able and eventually created twoan scholarship included withandthe into thebe College of Humanities Sciences and one in manyAthletics. unseen alumni who for today’s Providing opportunities give back students and toisknow importantI to me, and with am helping someone elsestate funding, the decreasing achieve their dreams.” they need us. I enjoy staying Jon Hill (B.S.’85/B; M.B.A.’99/B; M.S.’12/B) involved and making an VCU professor and inaugural Black & Gold annual contribution is Loyalty Society member, with 10 consecutive years of giving just one way I do it.”
William H. "Bill" Mattox (B.A.’80/H&S)
giving history
Photo VCU University Relations
Inaugural Black & Gold To learn more about the Black & Gold Loyalty Loyalty Society Member with Society, visit support.vcu.edu/loyalty. 25+ consecutive years of
Students show their appreciation at Thank a Donor Day. See photos, Page 14.
Features first 2 Students A former faculty member gives the rehab counseling
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Paying it forward
department its largest endowed scholarship.
The benefits of VCU’s last capital campaign, which ended in 2007, are still being realized.
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Good neighbors
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A common bond
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Commercial success
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Poetic justice
Two authors living in the heart of the Monroe Park Campus show their appreciation to two cultural hubs. Brandcenter students benefit from a scholarship and stewardship from the head of an ad industry mainstay.
A doctor from Iraq and a student from Togo are united by a gift to relieve the burden of medical education debt. Friends and colleagues of a late English department professor come together to honor her legacy.
On the cover The Association of Independent Commercial Producers’ Matt Miller takes the stage at the Byrd Theatre in Richmond, Virginia.
Photo Jay Paul
Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Marti K.S. Heil • Development and Alumni Relations Communications Melanie Irvin Seiler (B.S.‘96/H&S), miseiler@vcu.edu, (804) 828-3975 Mitchell Moore (B.S.’07/MC; M.S.’08/E), mooreml3@vcu.edu, (804) 827-3617 • Emma Coates, ekcoates@vcu.edu, (804) 828-2694 Impact is published quarterly by the Virginia Commonwealth University Office of Development and Alumni Relations. The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the editorial staff or the university. © 2016, Virginia Commonwealth University, an equal opportunity, affirmative action university support.vcu.edu • 1
Students
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Even after retirement, faculty member continues to give back in a big way
Faculty and staff giving
2 • Impact
Portrait Tom Kojcsich/VCU University Marketing
BY EMMA COATES
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he Department of Rehabilitation Counseling in Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Allied Health Professions prepares students to help those with disabilities find lives with meaning and purpose – two words that, after many years serving on the faculty, resonated with Anne Chandler. The recent retiree gave $100,000 to establish the Anne L. Chandler Scholarship in Rehabilitation Counseling, creating the department’s largest endowed scholarship. “I just felt like it was my time to give back,” Chandler says. “The rehab department is an extremely strong department. It’s nationally ranked, and I’m proud of my affiliation with my outstanding colleagues.” It’s an affiliation that goes back 33 years. After graduating with both her master’s and Ph.D. in rehabilitation counseling from Michigan State University in 1974 and 1978, respectively, Chandler became assistant professor of rehab counseling in a VCU program based in Fishersville, Virginia. She worked there for two years before joining the University of South Carolina. When a position in rehab counseling on campus at VCU opened up three years later, she was recruited back. “Rehabilitation counselors, they’re the people who go into their communities, roll up their sleeves and work with populations who are typically marginalized,” says Chair Amy Armstrong, Ph.D. (Ph.D.’02/E). “The goal is to enhance the well-being and community inclusion of people with disabilities.” Chandler worked full time in the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling until 1995, when she transitioned to the Office of the President and then to the Honors College, where she ultimately became interim dean. The final 10 months of her career were spent in the Office of the Provost. Nevertheless, she continued to teach graduate students in rehab counseling whenever time allowed, as recently as this past spring. “She was always a very productive educator with a core value of ‘students come first,’ ” says Cecil B. Drain, Ph.D., dean of the School of Allied Health Professions, adding that even during her time at the Honors College, “she kept her ties by teaching classes and mentoring students.” Armstrong singles out one class of Chandler’s in particular, Counseling Death and Loss, as an example of the impact
she has had as an educator. “Students have taken that course and talked about it 10, 15 years later. It has just been a seminal course,” she says. Chandler and Armstrong both hope she will continue to teach it, even though she is officially retired. Chandler also knows firsthand that the department needs additional funding to maintain its reputation and standing. “I thought to myself, if I start looking at the various units of the university, many of them have a lot more scholarships, and rehab doesn’t have that yet,” she says. The gift will be split, with $90,000 going into an endowed fund and $10,000 to be spent over the next two years. This means that the department can start awarding scholarships immediately, instead of waiting for the endowment to grow to a level where it can begin paying out a similar amount in perpetuity. Recipients will be chosen by a scholarship committee based on merit and need. The group is weighing whether the renewable $5,000 scholarship will be awarded to one or two students annually. “We’ve got a diverse student body … and they have different challenges, including disability, single parents and caregiving,” Armstrong says. “I’m excited that Anne … wants to give back to her profession in this way, because it is such a profoundly impactful career choice, and many of our students go on to do wonderful things.” Drain, too, is mindful of the gift’s impact. “I cannot thank Dr. Chandler enough for her graciousness, her scholarship and her core teaching values,” he says. “With the department now being ranked fourth in the country by U.S. News and World Report, Dr. Chandler’s gift only magnifies the excellence the Department of Rehabilitation Counseling enjoys.” Knowing the challenges faced by the department’s students, Chandler says she hopes that her gift will help get more professionals into the field at a faster rate. “If a scholarship can help even one person a year get enough classes completed such that they can leave two or three years before they would have been able to, that’s fantastic. I believe it’s the right thing to do.”
To learn more about the School of Allied Health Professions, contact Jessica F. Gurganus, assistant dean for development and external affairs, at (804) 828-3269 or jfgurganus@vcu.edu. To learn more about faculty/staff/retiree giving, visit support.vcu.edu/giving.
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Good neighbors Franklin Street couple shows appreciation for campus’s cultural assets BY NAN JOHNSON
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hirteen years ago, two noted authors made the decision to move to downtown Richmond, Virginia, from the city’s Near West End. Now, immersed in the bustle of campus life at Virginia Commonwealth University, they wouldn’t have it any other way. “We realized that from that point on, VCU would be, in one way or another, a part of our lives,” John Peters says from the light-filled living room of the home he shares with his wife, Margaret. He is a former commercial litigator, and she is a historian. They live in the historic Prestwould building at 612 W. Franklin St., across the street from Monroe Park. Many of their contemporaries and friends were moving farther away from town, rather than closer in. “We were influenced in making the move by the vitality of the university community,” he says. “It was something we thought we would enjoy, and that has turned out to be the case. VCU has altered our neighborhood and enriched our lives in many ways.” As a display of appreciation, the couple embraces their role as good neighbors. Their gifts over the years to the James Branch Cabell Library and to the Institute for Contemporary Art help preserve and improve the environment for them and the entire Richmond community. The Peterses, both with expertise in history and architecture, are members of the VCU Friends of the Libraries and often take advantage of borrowing privileges to assist in their writing. They are also fans of cultural events and enjoy walking to nearby art exhibits, lectures and concerts. “Our perspective is that if VCU is going to be a part of your lives, you should support the things at VCU that are important to you,” John Peters says. Their gift to the new Cabell Library building fund will name a group study room.
As former historian and program manager for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Margaret Peters is naturally drawn to the architecture of the VCU neighborhood, including the new ICA, which is expected to open in 2017 and was designed by noted architect Steven Holl. “The thought of having a world-class-designed building in our neighborhood was really important,” she says. “It wasn’t just the art aspect that appealed to me. I saw the building itself as an important contribution to the city of Richmond in terms of true excellence in architectural design.” The couple’s support is essential as VCU continues to take shape as one of the nation’s top public urban research universities. “John and Margaret’s early support for this project has been amazing,” says ICA Director Lisa Freiman. “The ICA is a critical anchor for interdisciplinary, universitywide scholarly research and teaching, as well as a resource for the broader community. We consider them to be true visionaries, and we are grateful to them for that.” Likewise, through attendance and growing financial support from Friends of the VCU Libraries members like the Peterses, VCU Libraries can offer more book talks, compelling lectures and engaging events than ever before. “The Peterses have had an enormous impact on VCU and the VCU Libraries,” says University Librarian John E. Ulmschneider. “Their longtime commitment to cultural programming has made all the difference in our work to create open and free opportunities for learning and growth available to the entire Central Virginia community. The new library, with large public spaces and a stateof-the-art auditorium specifically designed for scholarly presentations and programs, is destined to become a community beacon.”
To learn more about the ICA, contact Carol Anne Baker Lajoie (B.S.’99/H&S), director of development, at (804) 400-8465 or cablajoie@vcu.edu. To learn more about the VCU Libraries, contact Kelly Gotschalk (B.F.A.’90/A; M.A.’97/A), director of development and major gifts, at (804) 827-1163 or kjgotschalk@vcu.edu.
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Margaret and John Peters in their Prestwould building home
Doors wide open: Cabell and ICA offer RVA two new public spaces The new Cabell Library and the emerging ICA will deepen significantly VCU’s footprint as a cultural hub for Richmond. On the north corner of Belvidere and Broad streets, the ICA will serve as an iconic anchor to the city’s visual arts community. The expanded Cabell on the Monroe Park Campus will grow in its service as a multicultural and crossdisciplinary intellectual center. ICA and Libraries programs will open their doors wide to all, for talks, gallery shows, lectures and workshops. Library borrowing and database use, as well as invitations to special events, are privileges offered to community members who make a gift of $100 or more to support the Friends of the VCU Libraries. The ICA also will offer community memberships.
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“Students are getting placed very quickly as they come out of the Brandcenter, and it’s for good reason, because their training is very unique, very real world. ... We hope that [the scholarship] enables them to focus on their studies while they are there and get the most out of their education so that they succeed.” – MATT MILLER, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF AICP AND A MEMBER OF BRANDCENTER’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Matt Miller makes his opening remarks at the AICP Show at the Byrd in November.
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COMMERCIAL
SUCCESS Advertising guru’s scholarship and stewardship benefit numerous Brandcenter students BY EMMA COATES
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Photo Jay Paul
he annual AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial is a glittering date on the advertising industry’s calendar, showcasing and celebrating the artistry and expertise of makers of commercials in the United States. After its premiere at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, the awards show embarks on a tour of the major national and international advertising cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and Detroit, among others. A slightly unexpected stop along the way is Richmond, Virginia’s, Byrd Theatre, where Eric Boyd (M.S.’06/B) enjoyed the rare privilege of attending the show as a student at Virginia Commonwealth University. He was enrolled in the copywriting track at the VCU Adcenter (as the Brandcenter was formerly known) from 2004 to 2006. “It’s always nice to know that … people still have enough pride in the industry to go out and show the best of the work,” Boyd says of the show coming to town. “[It’s] reassuring when you’re a student.” The show is brought to Richmond by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers and is sponsored by the Richmond Ad Club and the Virginia Production Alliance. Brandcenter students are invited to attend for free. It’s an opportunity to celebrate and “show the best of the world to the best of Richmond,” says Brandcenter Director Helayne Spivak. “It’s a very exciting event. It brings together VCU Brandcenter students and faculty with the Richmond advertising community.”
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INSPIRING GENERATIONS Matt Miller, president and CEO of the AICP and a member of the Brandcenter’s board of directors, is the reason both that the show comes to Richmond and that the school’s students can attend. His organization, whose members produce 80 percent to 85 percent of all nationally and regionally televised commercials in the United States, disseminates industry information, negotiates labor agreements, develops industry standards, provides professional development and puts on the AICP Show. “It’s the largest advertising awards show in the United States,” Miller says, adding that the recognized work is added to the archives of MoMA’s Department of Film every year. “So the show is meant to both inspire and be archived, so that future generations can look at the evolution of important works in advertising.” For Richmond’s future industry players, the AICP Show is a special treat: Though Miller’s organization occasionally puts on screenings at other schools across the country, no other students are invited to attend the traveling show alongside the professionals they hope to become. But providing that access is just a small part of what Miller does for Brandcenter students. In 2005, he established the AICP Directors Scholarship, a meritbased fund that, over the years, has awarded $176,000 in varying amounts to almost 100 recipients from the Brandcenter’s five tracks (art direction, copywriting, strategy, creative brand management and experience design).
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The fund was initiated by thenAdcenter Director Rick Boyko and Miller and kicked off by prominent commercial directors Joe Pytka, Erich Joiner and Baker Smith, whose donations were matched by Kodak. It is now solely fed by consistent gifts from the coffers of the AICP Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money to train and nurture young talent, with a specific eye toward bringing diversity to the industry. It constitutes what Miller likes to call a “lifestyle scholarship” – inspired by the vision of the school and the way it has always operated. “Students approach their projects working in the same manner they would if they were working in the advertising industry, meaning 24/7 – it’s not 9 to 5,” Miller says. “I felt like that really wasn’t feasible for them to be totally immersed in the program and also have a job waitressing at night or driving a taxi.” Recipients write an essay to apply for the scholarship and are chosen by a committee. “He knows what it’s like to be a student, and I think he’d just be happy if it was to be able to go to a restaurant one night as opposed to eating at the machines downstairs,” Spivak says of Miller and the financial assistance the scholarship provides. “It’s to help them live in a way that makes working as hard as they do at the Brandcenter a little easier.”
PROMOTING SELF-RELIANCE Boyd was one of the first wave of students to receive $2,000 from the scholarship in 2005. As an older student who had come
back to school after working, he says the assistance provided the ability to remind himself of his former life from time to time. “It does allow you to step out of [the world of study], just for a moment. Anything that helps you be a little bit more self-reliant … is nice,” he says. After graduating, Boyd freelanced at Wieden+Kennedy in New York, then came back to Richmond for a job at the WORK Labs agency before moving to San Francisco and pursuing roles at Cutwater, Goodby Silverstein and Venables Bell & Partners. He is now a creative director with his own agency in San Francisco. These days, as an established (and busy) member of the ad community, Boyd isn’t likely to make it to the annual AICP Show. But his work is. Intel’s
Photo Jay Paul
Online extra: To hear more from Matt Miller on the AICP Show and scholarship, visit support.vcu.edu/AICP.
Where are they now? Since 2005, almost 100 students have received the AICP Directors Scholarship. Here’s a look at what just a few of them are doing now.
Jennifer Totten Aspinwall (M.S.’06/B) Brandcenter students Kevin David, Margaret Karles, Richard Whelchel, Surabhi Batra, Sam Case, Troy Gary and Matt Neylon outside the Byrd before the 2015 AICP Show.
“Look Inside: Mick Ebeling,” one of a series of three Intel ads he worked on as associate creative director while at Venables Bell, received the Curators Recognition at the 2014 awards and won in the Cause Marketing category of the AICP Next Awards, which honor innovative work in the most cutting-edge fields. Boyd is modest about this success. “It’s about two seconds of validation, and then you kind of move on to the next thing,” he says. “But … I’m really kind of proud of myself for getting in there.” There’s no doubt in Boyd’s mind that his Brandcenter background – and the scholarship that helped him study there – has benefited him in his career. “You still have to do the work, and you still have to be good to get in the door, but between who was on the faculty, who you’re
going to be surrounded by … it really did help,” he says. Miller agrees, noting the school’s unrivaled reputation in the industry. “Students are getting placed very quickly as they come out of the Brandcenter, and it’s for good reason, because their training is very unique, very real world. There’s a really interesting practical experience and knowledge that they come out with that’s second to none. “We hope that [the scholarship] enables them to focus on their studies while they are there, and get the most out of their education so that they succeed,” Miller continues. “Not being in it 100 percent, they’re not going to derive the benefit of that education.” To learn more about Brandcenter, contact Emily Toalson, director of development, at (804) 827-8868 or ehtoalson@vcu.edu.
A graduate from the copywriting track, Aspinwall worked at Ogilvy Chicago and GSD&M in Austin, Texas, before moving to Australia in 2012. She’s now senior creative in the Sydney office of AnalogFolk, a growing independent creative agency.
Joe Quattrone (M.S.’08/B) Quattrone worked in both brand advertising and social media for brands such as Audi, Jaguar and Anheuser-Busch. He is currently vice president of account strategy at VaynerMedia, a social-first digital agency.
Cameron Ferrin (M.S.’13/B) Since graduating from Brandcenter’s creative brand management track, Ferrin has worked for some of the most iconic brands in the world, developing award-winning work for Coca-Cola, Mars M&M’s and Levi Strauss. He now leads global brand strategy at Airbnb in San Francisco.
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A new strategic plan, EPIC, at the VCU School of Business is designed to position the school as a hub of creativity in business. EPIC comprises four pillars: experiential learning, problem-solving curriculum, impactful research and creative culture. Alumni Linda Warren, Steve Worley and Nancy Everett and Rob Blandford have shown their commitment to the plan with gifts to support three of the pillars. With her gift of $250,000 to endow the Linda M. Warren Student Enrichment Fund, Linda Warren (B.S.’75/B) recognizes the importance of experiential learning, which provides students with immersive, realworld educational opportunities such as alumni mentoring, professional development programs, internships and consulting for local companies. Warren’s support will help set business students on a path to success in the classroom and in the workplace. Having completed two degrees at the School of Business, Steve Worley (B.S.’72/B; M.S.’74/B) understands firsthand the power of dynamic faculty members. With his recent gift of $100,000 to establish the Stephen L. Worley Family Endowed Fund for Teaching Excellence, Worley reinforces the role of impactful research. His fund rewards faculty who are not only engaging in meaningful research but also excelling at teaching and mentoring students. Funds like Worley’s will help the school retain and attract leading faculty in their disciplines. Nancy Everett (B.S.’78/B) and husband Rob Blandford (M.B.A.’83/B) designated part of their $500,000 gift to support scholarships at the university to create the EverettBlandford Endowed School of Business Scholarship. Scholarships play an important role in building and enhancing a creative culture by enabling the School of Business to recruit students who will flourish and contribute to the diversity of thought and vitality of the school and the region. To learn more about the School of Business, contact Joey Broussard, senior director of development, at (804) 828-7408 or jebroussard@vcu.edu.
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Photo Tom Kojcsich/ VCU University Marketing
School of Business alumni commit to support EPIC plan
Jacob Sheppard and Rachel Kaplan, officers of the D.D.S. Class of 2015, present a graduation gift check to Dean Sarrett during the May hooding ceremony.
Dentistry alumni donate funds for tools When Audrey Maiurano, D.D.S. (D.D.S.’10/D), was approached about making a Reunion gift or pledge to the School of Dentistry’s top priority – scholarships – she said that she would rather direct her gift to help current students while they are learning new skills in the school’s clinics. The school’s former student body president has memories of students in friendly competition over certain limited materials and equipment. “My final year, we got new wireless curing lights and matrix systems. It really helped us because there were times when the clinics did not have the newer systems, and [faculty members] would provide us with their own supplies to use and learn with,” says Maiurano, who considers the skills she learned in the clinics as those that benefited her the most during her education. The first installment of her $5,000 pledge has provided funding to purchase 14 kits to adjust, finish and polish certain types of crowns. The purchase of a binocular stereo microscope for the examination of final impressions is also planned. The concept of funding new equipment and materials for students to use in the clinics has also resonated with several recent graduating classes, including the Class of 2015, which donated $28,008 as a senior class gift for the same purpose. To learn more about the School of Dentistry, contact Gloria F. Callihan, J.D., associate dean of development and alumni affairs, at (804) 828-8101 or gfcallihan@vcu.edu.
Photo Allen Jones/ VCU University Marketing
VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., donor Ken Wright and VCU Vice President for Health Sciences and CEO of VCU Health System Marsha D. Rappley, M.D., at the gift announcement
VCU’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research gets $16 million boost Longtime Virginia Commonwealth University benefactor C. Kenneth Wright has made a $16 million gift to name the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research at VCU. The gift, from Wright and the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Foundation, will establish six C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Distinguished Chairs in Clinical and Translational Research as well as the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Physician-Scientist Scholars program. “The center is improving the lives of patients at VCU Health,” Wright says. “I am excited about helping to put the very best faculty and students in the laboratories and clinics so new discoveries can be made and new treatments can be developed.” The endowed chairs, established with $12 million of the gift, will enable the university to recruit distinguished clinical and translational researchers from around the country.
The additional $4 million will launch the physician-scientist scholars program, which will help VCU prepare the best and brightest students for careers in clinical and translational research. The VCU Center for Clinical and Translational Research encourages and supports partnerships to accelerate translational research for the betterment of human health. With his late wife, Dianne, Wright has a philanthropic relationship with the university that reaches back to 1999. “The Wrights came to VCU with a big vision, a strong resolve to accomplish that vision and a deep commitment to using their talents and resources to change the world,” says VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “Dianne and Ken have forever changed our great university. This gift is poised to do the same for the CCTR. It will be thrilling to see what discoveries and breakthroughs will be made as a result of the extra emphasis on translational research this gift will allow.” support.vcu.edu • 11
Athletics events draw biggest ever crowds, raise record funds Two golf tournaments organized by VCU Athletics have brought together countless numbers of supporters of the Rams and have garnered more than $150,000 for the Ram Athletic Fund. Last spring, the Tommy J. West Memorial Drive Golf Outing featured a live auction at the VCU Siegel Center followed by 18 holes at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. The event, which is held annually, attracted more participants and raised more money than ever before. Then during the summer, more than 130 golfers came together for the Black & Gold Classic at the Hunting Hawk Golf Club in Glen Allen, Virginia. Golfers were paired
with athletics department staff and coaches from all 17 intercollegiate programs. Again, this annual event set records for attendee figures and funds raised. “We have a tremendous group of supporters that continue to help us set new standards with events like these two golf outings,” Executive Associate Athletic Director Glenn Hofmann says. “These events help us continue our mission of enhancing the student-athlete experience.” This year, the Tommy J. West Memorial Drive will take place May 5-6; the Black & Gold Classic is set for June 3. To learn more about VCU Athletics, contact Glenn Hofmann, executive associate athletic director, at (804) 828-7398 or gahofmann@vcu.edu.
VCU golf coach Matt Ball catches up with Black & Gold Classic attendees Vickie Snead (B.S.’76/B) and Natalie Newfield. Photo Skip Rowland Photography
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Senior fashion and design students showcase their work at the Depot.
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Lloyd Backstrom and Jerry Williams enjoy the Cocktails and a Concert event.
Pollak Society members come out for fashion and music events Through the VCU School of the Arts, Pollak Society members recently enjoyed two opportunities to engage with the extraordinary talent in the arts community. A fashion show last spring at The Depot, the former trolley station on Richmond, Virginia’s, West Broad Street that has been repurposed for interdisciplinary use by VCUarts, featured the collections of senior fashion and design students. Longtime Pollak Society member Patsy Pettus was among the attendees. “It was an engaging experience to meet both the models and the designers,” she says, “and to learn the thinking behind the creation of each garment.” A month later, American classical pianist Richard Goode visited Richmond in a collaboration between VCUarts’ music department and the Pollak Society. The Cocktails and a Concert event, during
which Goode was accompanied by soprano Sarah Shafer, was part of the music department’s Mary Anne Rennolds Concert Series. The series was established in honor of one of Richmond’s greatest music patrons through the private philanthropy of numerous people, with the aim of bringing chamber music to the community. The Pollak Society is a philanthropic group that supports all 16 departments and programs within VCUarts. Gifts to the society provide Virginia Commonwealth University art students with special opportunities such as studying abroad, guest speakers or individual exhibitions. Members have the opportunity to attend many behindthe-scenes tours, exhibitions, performances and parties. To learn more about the Pollak Society, contact Julia Carr, executive director of development at the School of the Arts, at (804) 828-4676 or carrj@vcu.edu.
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Students say ‘ Thank you’ In October, VCU hosted its first Thank a Donor Day. The universitywide studentcentered stewardship initiative’s aim was to bring attention to and educate students on the impact of private philanthropy. During the event, students were invited to show their gratitude in a number of ways, from signing notes and banners to recording short videos, which were shared with donors and alumni at Thanksgiving.
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Paying it forward Virginia Commonwealth University’s last capital campaign ended in 2007, but the benefits of the eight-year effort, which raised $410,341,216 for the university as a whole, are still being felt. Gifts, pledges and planned commitments from more than 67,000 alumni and friends, as well as corporate and foundation donors, gave financially challenged students the ability to get through college, helped realize breakthroughs that allow us to live longer and better, and built signature facilities that enable education, research and outreach to flourish. Here’s a look at some of those ripple effects of the Campaign for VCU.
RICE RIVERS CENTER A gift of land from Inger Rice in 2000 becomes the VCU Rice Rivers Center. Inger Rice
The center fosters collaborative research and community partnerships.
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VCU Rice Rivers Center receives a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Grant.
The grant allows Stephen McIninch, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Center for Environmental Studies, VCU Life Sciences, to identify the best locations to restore oyster reefs, resulting in economic and recreational benefits.
PATIENT CARE A $5 million gift from the Pauley Family Foundation makes the VCU Pauley Heart Center one of only a few named major heart centers nationally and funds critical investments in faculty and research. Antonio Abbate, M.D., Ph.D.
Abbate becomes principal investigator or co-investigator on pilot clinical studies aimed at identifying novel anti-inflammatory therapies for patients with acute myocardial infarction or heart failure.
Abbate is named the James C. Roberts, Esq. Professor in Cardiology in 2013 and the interim director of clinical research.
Antonio Abbate, M.D., Ph.D., is recruited in 2007 to join the VCU Pauley Heart Center, examining the role of inflammation in heart disease.
SCHOLARSHIPS $20 million in scholarship donations creates more than 250 endowed scholarships.
More scholarships enable VCU to attract a talented and diverse student body.
The average GPA of incoming freshmen increases from 2.99 in fall 1997 to an estimated 3.60 in fall 2015.
Seven National Merit semifinalists enroll at VCU in fall 2015.
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ENGINEERING & BUSINESS $70.2 million in private dollars helps fund a joint home for the Schools of Business and Engineering to produce workplace-ready graduates. Olugbenga Oluwatumilara “Tumi” Oredein Jr.
The idea to co-locate the schools came from local business leaders, who argued that business and engineering students should be connected, just as the two disciplines are in the workplace.
VCU becomes the first university in the country to offer a master’s in product innovation, which emphasizes how to lead and be a member of a cross-functional team.
Olugbenga Oluwatumilara “Tumi” Oredein Jr. (M.P.I.’14/B) wins Walmart’s “Get on the Shelf” contest for his SKRIBS Customizable Wristbands.
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS $9 million in private donations establishes 60 endowed professorships. Daniel Riddle, PT, Ph.D.
The professorship provides support for Daniel Riddle, PT, Ph.D. (M.S.’86/AHP; Ph.D.’97/E), as he researches the appropriateness of knee replacement surgery, suggesting one-third are inappropriate and arguing for new guidelines.
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A $250,000 gift creates the Otto D. Payton Professorship in Physical Therapy.
MASSEY CANCER CENTER $41 million in private philanthropy supports the construction of VCU Massey Cancer Center’s Goodwin Research Laboratory. Andrew Poklepovic, M.D.
Andrew Poklepovic, M.D. (H.S.’07/M; H.S.’11/M), joins the team and leads the translation of a Massey discovery into a phase 1 clinical trial of a new drug combination, which shows promising results in treating triple-negative breast cancer.
The laboratory fosters greater collaboration among researchers and provides better infrastructure for investigator-initiated early-phase trials.
NURSING $3 million in private gifts helps fund a new home for the VCU School of Nursing.
The new state-of-the-science building enables enrollment to increase by about 100 students annually, offers new technologies and provides hands-on student experiences, resulting in better-trained nurses.
During her clinicals on the neuroscience unit at the VCU Medical Center in spring 2013, Stacie Boston (B.A.’01/H&S; B.S.’01/H&S; B.S.’13/N) discovers a manufacturer error in IV packaging, which jeopardized patient safety.
A version of this infographic appeared in the fall 2015 issue of VCU Alumni’s magazines, Shafer Court Connections and Scarab. support.vcu.edu • 19
A common bond School of Medicine scholarship connects two immigrants BY NAN JOHNSON
Joseph Gazala and Samuel Sessou 20 • Impact
Photo Kevin Schindler
T
hey come from worlds apart, but two families with origins far away from Richmond, Virginia, share a common bond on the MCV Campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. A graduate of the Royal College of Medicine in Baghdad, Iraq, Joseph Gazala, M.D., came to the United States in 1953 for specialty training in ophthalmology at the New York University Post Graduate Medical School at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. In 1958, he and his wife, Rose, moved to Richmond, where he started his private practice. The couple grew to love the city as well as VCU, where Gazala served as an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Ophthalmology. Likewise, with his three siblings and his mother, Samuel D. Sessou came to Sterling, Virginia, from Togo in 1996. His father had arrived five years before, in search of a better life. Three years ago, with an interest in health care and an undergraduate degree in neuroscience from the College of William and Mary, Sessou entered the VCU School of Medicine’s Class of 2017. Sessou is the first recipient of the Joseph R. and Rose N. Gazala Scholarship, which the Gazalas established in 2012 with a gift of $100,000. They had been inspired by stories they had read in campus publications of others who had been helped by private philanthropy. Since 2013, Sessou has received more than $13,000 from the scholarship, which is awarded on the basis of financial need as well as merit, to help pay for his medical education. As long as he stays in good standing at the school, he’ll continue to receive benefits through his final year. Sessou and Joseph Gazala met for the first time last summer over lunch. It gave them a chance to share experiences and get to know each other. “Sam is a bright young man,” Gazala says. “He and his family spoke French when they arrived, so he spent the first few years learning English. He was determined to make it and to work hard. His mind was set at that young age to become a doctor. “It’s not easy to come up with money for all the expenses, and he said the scholarship has filled a gap for him,” Gazala continues. “At the time I was going to medical school, my family was under financial stress − my father had passed away 20 years earlier − so I feel for those students. It’s not easy for them.” Sessou, whose younger sister, Rebeka, is a VCU freshman,
says it’s hard to articulate how grateful he is to the Gazalas for their financial support. “It makes things a little bit easier,” he says. “I’m not coming from a financially stable family and, to know that there is financial aid out there, especially scholarships like the Gazalas’, is amazing.” Sessou thinks he might return to Togo at some point to give back and to share his knowledge, or start a clinic of some kind. “You have to return to where it all started. If you’ve been blessed enough to advance in your life, you have to turn around and give back to those in the area from where you came. It’s important in my upbringing,” he says. The Joseph R. and Rose N. Gazala Scholarship is part of the School of Medicine’s 1838 Campaign, which aims to increase the number and size of scholarships to give the school a competitive edge in recruiting top students, rewarding student excellence and reducing the burden of debt that has become an inescapable part of choosing a career in medicine. “Although he didn’t earn his degree from our medical school, Dr. Gazala knows what it’s like to be a medical student facing a seemingly overwhelming financial burden,” says Dean of Medicine Jerry Scholarships make it possible for Strauss III, M.D., Ph.D. deserving students like Samuel “I am grateful that the Sessou to attend VCU and help Gazalas have chosen to so to attract the brightest, most generously invest in our meritorious students to the medical students. Their university. gift will help the School of When the Gazalas created an Medicine attract talented endowed scholarship* in 2012, students who will carry their $100,000 gift was invested for forward Dr. Gazala’s vision long-term growth. Annual interest of excellence.” from that investment generates the
Gifts that keep on giving: endowed scholarships
To learn more about the 1838 Campaign in the School of Medicine, contact Tom Holland, associate dean for development, at (804) 828-4800 or tehollan@vcu.edu.
scholarship awards. The principal gift remains with VCU forever. *Endowed scholarships are created with a minimum $25,000 gift.
support.vcu.edu • 21
Poetic justice BY NAN JOHNSON
Friends and colleagues honor professor’s legacy with scholarship
P
ulitzer Prize winner for poetry in 2006. Poet Laureate of Virginia 2008-2010. Passionate professor. Though Claudia Emerson came late to the world of p oetry, she embraced the genre and said in a PBS interview shortly after winning the Pulitzer that she processed the world through poetry. Almost immediately after her death from colon cancer in December 2014, friends and colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she was a creative writing professor
22 • Impact
in the English department of the College of Humanities and Sciences, established the Claudia Emerson Scholarship to celebrate her life and her dedication to her students. The scholarship assists students by providing access to enrichment opportunities such as conferences and workshops. The scholarship monies also help increase the stipends available for graduate teaching assistants. Emerson was at VCU for a short time only, arriving in summer 2013. But the impression she made has been etched for a lifetime.
“I worked with Claudia during my second year,” says Christie Maurer, now a third-year graduate student pursuing an M.F.A. in poetry. “We would get coffee, and she’d invite students to her home for workshops. She was amazing.”
Photo Kent Ippolito
PUTTING STUDENTS CENTER STAGE Awarded to undergraduate and graduate students in the poetry or creative nonfiction program in the department, the Claudia Emerson Scholarship has already benefited five students as they hone their craft. Maurer is one. The award will let Maurer attend the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference this spring in Los Angeles, which, for her, would otherwise have been financially out of reach. The event will put Maurer center stage among the writing profession. She’ll have the opportunity to share her work, meet other poets and be inspired. “To be acknowledged for my efforts in Claudia’s name is extra special,” Maurer says. Lauren Miner (M.A.’12/H&S; M.F.A.’15/H&S) found herself amid established and aspiring authors at the 2015 Sewanee Writers’ Conference, thanks to the funds provided by the scholarship. “Poetry is often produced and consumed in solitude,” Miner says. “Gatherings like Sewanee provide opportunities to experience that work in a more public space. I feel energized by that experience and empowered to continue working with language. It’s hard to measure how important that is.” It’s equally hard for her to measure the significance of having Emerson in her life. “Claudia was so deeply invested in her students,” she says. “She would schedule her cancer treatments so that she could still teach. It’s hard to feel deserving of the scholarship because she was such an amazing person. It’s a very big honor.”
TAKING IT TO HEART Emerson found her way as a poet after spending her early adult life in other roles, from headmistress at Chatham Hall, a small girls’ prep school in Southwest Virginia, to bookstore clerk and rural mail carrier. Fellow Southern poet Betty Adcock became a mentor. Emerson’s husband, Kent Ippolito, says the support meant a lot to her. When she tried to find a way to express her gratitude,
Adcock simply told her to do the same for another writer. “Claudia took that completely to heart,” Ippolito says. “That’s the way she lived her very last weeks. She was able to finish a blurb for a young woman’s book of poems, and for another poet, she wrote a letter of recommendation for a book prize. That’s how she lived, and that was as much a part of her career as her devotion to her students and to her work.” Emerson’s love of teaching and student success undoubtedly played a part in the establishment of the scholarship. “Claudia would have been thrilled with the scholarship,” says Katherine Bassard, Ph.D. (M.A.’86/H&S), senior vice provost for faculty affairs and former English department chair. “The fact that [her students] would be able to study poetry or creative nonfiction [with help from the scholarship funds] would be wonderful to her. “She would often thank me for the honor of being here; she loved VCU. This scholarship is a chance to establish a legacy in her memory so that her dedication to her students and to her poetry will continue.”
DEDICATION AND DEVOTION The Claudia Emerson Scholarship bolsters the English department’s ability to recruit and reward promising undergraduate and graduate candidates. “VCU has a nationally ranked creative writing graduate program, but in terms of being able to offer a living wage to our students, we’ve had to really struggle to get stipends to a level that helps us compete with other universities,” says David Wojahn, a fellow creative writing professor at VCU. He remembers first meeting Emerson 12 years before her arrival at the university. “I read one of her books and sent her a fan letter, and we corresponded from that time on,” he says. “I can’t think of another creative writer I’ve worked with [who has] such a solid work ethic. She crafted her poetry superbly. She devoted the same amount of time and engagement to her teaching as she did to her writing. “There are gifted writers who are not gifted teachers, and vice versa. It’s rare to find someone superb in both endeavors.” To learn more about the College of Humanities and Sciences and the Claudia Emerson Scholarship, contact Bethanie Constant, senior director of development, at (804) 828-4543 or constantb@vcu.edu.
support.vcu.edu • 23
Photos Chris Ijams
Guests are entertained by No BS! Brass Band in the VMFA’s Marble Hall.
M.E.’97/E) e Adams (B.G.S.’83/H&S; Randy (Cert.’80/D) and Ros hael Rao, Ph.D. with VCU President Mic
Founders’ Society members Judy and Harry Wason
Extraordinary donors honored at Founders’ Society event VCU celebrated its Founders’ Society members at a black-tie dinner in October at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Beginning with a cocktail reception in the Cochrane Atrium, guests moved through the art galleries to dinner in the Marble Hall, where they stopped to view artwork by Willie Anne Wright (M.F.A.’64/A) and VCU School of the Arts emeritus faculty member Richard Roth. The group was also entertained by pianist Stephen Steward 24 • Impact
(B.A.’14/A) and NO BS! Brass Band, an all VCU alumni group. The Founders’ Society recognizes individuals who have donated $100,000 or more to the university. President Michael Rao, Ph.D., presented medallions to 29 new members in attendance and offered a toast to the group. “It is an exciting night to honor extraordinary people who have made extraordinary commitments to VCU’s mission,” he said. “Tonight is all about recognizing and thanking you.”
A gift of $1 million from Patsy Pettus has named the grand stairwell in the new VCU Institute for Contemporary Art building for Patsy K. and Hunter R. Pettus. Pettus’ gift was partly inspired by a visit with the Pollak Society, the philanthropic group of the VCU School of the Arts, to the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C., a couple of years ago. The ambassador’s residence there was created by ICA architect Steven Holl, and Pettus remembers being impressed by the stairwell. “I have always considered architecture as one of the highest forms of art because it can be beautiful as well as functional,” Pettus says. “Our VCU ICA building is exciting in that it appears like a piece of sculpture. My family is pleased to allow me to choose the beautiful space at the stairwell to be named for us.” To learn more about the ICA, contact Carol Anne Baker Lajoie (B.S.’99/ H&S), director of development, at (804) 400-8465 or cablajoie@vcu.edu.
Courtesy Stephen Holl Architects and the Institute for Contemporary Art, VCU
$1 million gift from Pollak Society member names ICA grand stairwell
Institute for Contemporary Art at the Markel Center
GIFTS OF $100,000 AND ABOVE DR. PAMELA KIECKER ROYALL AND MR. WILLIAM A. ROYALL, JR. VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY STEVEN A. MARKEL CHARITABLE LEAD ANNUITY TRUST
GIFTS OF $50,000 AND ABOVE MR. JAMES C. WHEAT III MRS. NANCY BRENNAN LUND HARRIS FOUNDATION
MARKEL CORPORATION
WILBUR MORELAND HAVENS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
MRS. TRUE F. LUCK
BARBARA B. & JAMES E. UKROP FUND
THE HONORABLE AND MRS. JOHN W. SNOW MR. AND MRS. JOHN D. GOTTWALD MR. ABBY W. MOORE THE NEWMARKET FOUNDATION
MR. AND MRS. HORACE A. GRAY III GARLAND AND AGNES TAYLOR GRAY FOUNDATION MR. BRUCE B. GRAY MR. AND MRS. TIFFANY ARMSTRONG
MARY MORTON PARSONS FOUNDATION
EUGENIE AND KILLIAN HUGER FUND
MR. AND MRS. GEORGE W. LOGAN
THE LIPMAN FOUNDATION
MR. AND MRS. STEVEN A. MARKEL
MR. AND MRS. G. GILMER MINOR III
ROBERT G. CABELL III AND MAUDE MORGAN CABELL FOUNDATION
THE HONORABLE MICHAEL J. SCHEWEL AND MS. PRISCILLA BURBANK
THE LEWIS & BUTLER FOUNDATION
TESCO FOUNDATION, LLC
POLLAK SOCIETY FUND
MR. AND MRS. RUDOLPH H. BUNZL MR. AND MRS. JAMES E. UKROP RICHARD S. REYNOLDS FOUNDATION
GIFTS OF $25,000 AND ABOVE MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM M. GINTHER MR. AND MRS. LAWRENCE L. GRAY
LUCK COMPANIES FOUNDATION
MR. AND MRS. ALAN I. KIRSHNER
HARRISON FOUNDATION
M. M. MORGAN & S. T. MORGAN FOUNDATION
R. E. B. FOUNDATION MRS. ANNE RHODES LEE DR. JOHN W. REYNOLDS MR. JOHN W. BARROWS, JR.
MRS. FANNIE ROSENTHAL MR. GILBERT M. ROSENTHAL MR. AND MRS. MARK B. SISISKY HUNTON & WILLIAMS
CHRISTY AND DAVID COTTRELL FUND
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS L.L.P.
THE ALAN KIRSHNER & DEBORAH MIHALOFF CHARITABLE FUND
DRS. SARA AND PAUL MONROE
MR. JAMES W. KLAUS MR. PHILIP W. KLAUS, JR. THE MARTIN AGENCY DR. AND MRS. W. BAXTER PERKINSON, JR.
MR. AND MRS. H. HITER HARRIS III MRS. SUZANNE H. GRANDIS DR. FREDRIKA JACOBS AND MR. PAUL JACOBS MR. AND MRS. ERIC D. WHITE
TERRELL & ELLIOTT HARRIGAN FAMILY FUND
MR. AND MRS. RICHARD G. MASON
CHARLES G. THALHIMER AND FAMILY FOUNDATION
MS. CAROLINE ORLANDO AND MR. JOSE MURILLO
TILGHMAN FAMILY FUND
MS. KATHRYN GRAY AND MR. ALEXANDER LEE NYERGES
UNION FIRST MARKET BANK
WILLIAM, JOHN & EMMA SCOTT FOUNDATION
THE WINDSOR FOUNDATION TRUST U/W QUINCY COLE
MR. AND MRS. GEOFFREY P. SISK
An artist’s rendering of the Patsy K. and Hunter R. Pettus Grand Stairwell in the ICA
Psychology scholarship to benefit students with leadership goals Last summer, Peter Zucker, Ph.D. (M.S.’81/H&S; Ph.D.’84/ H&S), honored his beginnings in the VCU Department of Psychology by establishing the Dr. Peter Zucker Scholarship with a $25,000 gift. It will provide support to a graduate student in psychology with career aspirations in health care or behavioral health care management, organizational development, executive consulting or leadership in the field. After Zucker completed his graduate degree in counseling psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, he held positions as a supervisor, manager, clinical director and administrator in a residential treatment center. Drawing on both his training in counseling psychology and graduate elective courses on management and organizational development he’d taken in the VCU School of Business, Zucker later founded Stars Behavioral Health Group, a community-based behavioral health, child welfare, education and training company in California. “My pathway from VCU to my current role reflects the
academic and professional training I received and personalized to fulfill my goals, along with great assistance and support from my adviser and other VCU faculty,” Zucker says. Professor and Chair of the VCU Department of Psychology Wendy Kliewer, Ph.D., says that the gift will have a transformational impact. “This gift will reward the high-caliber students we attract to the department and augment the amount of support we are able to provide to students during their doctoral training, which will be extremely helpful in the recruitment and retention of the very best students,” Kliewer says. “More than ever, because of state and federal cuts, we depend on the generous support of our friends. We are most grateful that Dr. Zucker’s reflection of his time in the department led him to make this gift.” To learn more about the College of Humanities and Sciences, contact Bethanie Constant, senior director of development and alumni relations, at (804) 828-4543 or constantb@vcu.edu. support.vcu.edu • 25
More than 300 attend annual dinner for student-athletes and donors The Ram Athletic Fund hosted its fourth annual Student-Athlete Donor Dinner in September at the Westin Richmond hotel in Richmond, Virginia. With more than 300 people in attendance, the record-breaking event provided a unique opportunity for donors to get to know the student-athletes whom they support.
1
2 3
4 Photos Will Weaver
Former student-athlete runner Alan Pietruszkiewicz (M.S.’96/AHP) provides remarks during dinner. 2 Track and field student-athletes Christina Solomon, De’Nisha Smith, Erika Coleman and Iman Lee 3 Members of the men’s soccer team 4 Track and field student-athletes Amiaya Carey and D’aysa Jones with donor Pat Thomas. 1
26 • Impact
VCU School of Pharmacy professor H. Thomas Karnes’ dedication to his graduate students has inspired a group of them to help pave the way for future grad students. Karnes, who was hired by the university in 1984, mentored his first graduate student in 1987. By the time he retired from the Department of Pharmaceutics last February, he had served as adviser to 35 M.S., Ph.D. and postdoctoral students. After learning that Karnes was planning to retire, a group of grateful former students launched an initiative to honor his accomplishments in perpetuity. Since then, more than $20,000 has been raised toward establishing a fund that will benefit future graduate students. “He gave me such a good, solid foundation,” says Denise Walters, Ph.D. (Ph.D.’91/P), a senior manager for analytical development at Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. “His best advice was ‘no excuses!’ ” Don Farthing (Ph.D.’08/P) says Karnes has had a huge influence on his scientific career. “He taught our lab group how to perform the bioanalytical work for pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics studies in accordance with FDA guidelines, which ultimately raised our level of technical expertise,” Farthing says. “For an academic lab, we were performing cutting-edge bioanalytical analysis, as Dr. Karnes invested in bringing state-of-theart chromatography and mass spectrometry equipment into the lab.” Farthing now supports research as a bioanalytical chemist for the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. During his tenure, Karnes won multiple research and service awards, was elected to national offices in pharmaceutical science and enjoyed wide recognition in the pharmaceutical science and analytical chemistry communities.
Photo Allen Jones
Pharmaceutics professor’s students show appreciation
Thomas Karnes (center) with two of his most recent award-winning graduate advisees, Morse Faria, Ph.D. (Ph.D.’14/P), and Poonam Delvadia, Ph.D. (Ph.D.’13/P), during a Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate student awards luncheon.
The accomplishment of which he is most proud, however, is having mentored so many students. “All have done well in their careers, and many have won awards as students,” Karnes says. “The memories I have of each one of my students and their friendship over the years is the most fulfilling and rewarding part of my career.” To learn more about the School of Pharmacy, contact Ellen Carfagno, director of development, at (804) 828-3016 or emcarfagno@vcu.edu.
School of Nursing dean invested in endowed chair School of Nursing Dean Jean Giddens, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, was invested as the Doris B. Yingling Endowed Chair during the School of Nursing’s annual summer convocation for faculty and staff. The highest academic award that Virginia Commonwealth University can bestow on a faculty member, an endowed chair is both an honor to the named holder and an enduring tribute to the donor who established it. Endowed faculty chairs are critical in recruiting and retaining the highest-quality faculty.
Doris B. Yingling, Ph.D., RN, a former dean who served the school from 1958 to 1981 and was responsible for its accreditation by the Southern Association of Southern Colleges and Secondary Schools, established the chair. She also served on the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education, which was responsible for the merging of MCV and Richmond Professional Institute. Yingling, who passed away in 2002, was known for her pride in the School of Nursing, her encouraging attitude and her commitment to nursing education. support.vcu.edu • 27
Longtime VCU supporters celebrated on National Philanthropy Day W. Baxter Perkinson Jr. (D.D.S.’70/D) and True F. and Charles S. Luck III and family were among those honored at November’s National Philanthropy Day. Perkinson, a longtime donor and volunteer, received the Volunteer of the Year Award. He was co-nominated by VCU and Trinity Episcopal School. VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., introduced Perkinson to a crowd of more than 600. “It is impossible to know how many lives Baxter has touched through his mentoring, teaching, service and talents, but I can say he has made a very real and meaningful impact on VCU, Trinity and our community,” Rao said. “He has an extraordinarily generous spirit.” Rao noted Perkinson’s years of board service, including as rector of the university, as well as his hundreds of gifts of art to VCU and the broader community. True Luck and Charles Luck III and their family members, Lisa and Charlie IV, Cynthia and Shep Haw, and Terrell and Elliott Harrigan, were honored with the Individual Philanthropist of the Year Award. The Luck family has generously supported many areas of the university, with a focus on the Rice Rivers Center, the Massey Cancer Center and the Institute for Contemporary Art, construction of which is now underway. VCU co-nominated the Luck family with St. Christopher’s School. The nomination noted, in particular, the Luck family’s passionate dedication to VCU, its integral role in numerous organizations throughout the region and its critical support of philanthropic research and service programs. The family has endowed a chair at the Massey Cancer Center and has made a leadership commitment to the ICA. National Philanthropy Day is an annual event presented nationwide by the Association of Fundraising Professionals to celebrate outstanding philanthropists and volunteers. Central Virginia AFP’s celebration is one of the most successful and well-attended in the country.
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Development team welcomes new members Michelle Adcock Director of board relations VCU Massey Cancer Center (804) 828-1187 madcock@vcu.edu Josh Bowerman Senior director of development Honors College (804) 828-3155 jbowerman@vcu.edu Ocelia Hudson Donor engagement coordinator VCU Massey Cancer Center (804) 628-1663 ohudson@vcu.edu Michael E. Hughes (B.A.’03/H&S) Major gifts officer VCU Massey Cancer Center (804) 628-3322 mehughes@vcu.edu Amanda Mullins Leadership annual giving officer School of Nursing (804) 828-5548 amullins3@vcu.edu Marie Norton (M.F.A.’10/H&S) External affairs coordinator VCU Institute for Contemporary Art (804) 828-5615 mpnorton@vcu.edu Suzanne Silitch Director of communications School of the Arts (804) 828-6819 sasilitch@vcu.edu
A broader outlook. Student-athlete Melvin Johnson always imagined he would walk out of Virginia Commonwealth University a police officer. But through a criminal justice professor, Johnson had the opportunity to visit a juvenile detention center, where he spent time with the inmates, even playing basketball. It opened the door to a position on the juvenile justice board. Now, the Wilder School student says, “there’s not just one thing I want to be anymore.” That’s what a gift to the Fund for VCU does – opens doors for students to focus on their goals, achieve their potential and become the version of themselves that they were meant to be. Visit support.vcu.edu/doors to open a door for the students and faculty of VCU today.
Photo VCU University Relations
support.vcu.edu/doors
Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Richmond, Virginia Permit No. 869
Virginia Commonwealth University Development and Alumni Relations
“Throughout my years at VCU, I’ve matured as a scholar and a leader. Part of my growth stems from my involvement with the Honors College, through which I humbly received the Marcia N. Walpert Honors Scholarship. My aspiration is to one day become a physician assistant who can confidently take care of others and give back to her community. I give my warmest gratitude to both the Honors College and the scholarship for believing in my abilities and efforts to reach this dream.” − Cindy Nguyen, Psychology major, Class of 2016
Photo William Gilbert
P.O. Box 842026 Richmond, Virginia 23284-2026