Impact 18 7 2
Summer 2011
An International Architect
Alumnus Robert Turner has led major projects throughout the world
Virginia Tech Opens New Foundry for Students in Engineering, Art, and Architecture
Impact | Summer 2011 1
New Virginia Tech Scholarship Available for Students from Chesapeake
Impact
Contents
A publication of the Virginia Tech Office of University Development Produced by the Office of University Relations for University Development
Editor Amy Ostroth (M.A. ’97)
Feature Stories
Departments
An International Architect
Vice President’s Message
Alumnus Robert Turner
Elizabeth A. “Betsy” Flanagan, Vice President for Development and University Relations
Page 24
Assistant Editor Albert Raboteau Art Director Tim Wilson
Page 6
New Virginia Tech Scholarship Available for Students from Chesapeake
Where Am I?
Page 9
How well do you know the Virginia Tech campus? Page 7
Copy Editors Richard Lovegrove, Chuck George, Louellen Sharp
Virginia Tech Opens New Foundry for Students in Engineering, Art, and Architecture
Contributing Writers Amy Ostroth (M.A. ’97), Albert Raboteau, Judith Davis, Steven Mackay, Catherine Doss, Carrie Cox, Sookhan Ho, Barbara Micale
Page 12
Corporate and Foundation Giving UPS supports engineering program for 15th year with $40,000 donation Page 10
Leadership Tech Program Benefits from New Endowments Page 16
Photographers Jim Stroup, John McCormick, Michael Kiernan, Gary Cope (’97)
A Former Student Leader is Still Helping Students
Director of Development Communications Michael D. Kiser
Building the Future The Visitors and Undergraduate Admissions Center Page 30
Page 18
Associate Vice President for University Relations Lawrence G. Hincker (’72, M.B.A. ‘94)
Endowed Professors Serve the College of Science Page 20
Mail Virginia Tech University Development (0336) Blacksburg, VA, 24061
Bequest Makes a Lasting Impact on the College of Engineering Page 28
Phone 540-231-2801 800-533-1144
The Hahn Horticultural Garden Page 32
Email giving@vt.edu
Love for Animals Inspires Gift of Real Estate
Web www.givingto.vt.edu
Page 35 Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants for admission or employment on the basis of race, gender, disability, age, veteran status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliation. Anyone having questions concerning discrimination should contact the Office for Equity and Access.
18 7 2
“Maid in the Mud” Garden Sprite by Frank Lloyd Wright, located in the Hahn Horticulture Garden on Virginia Tech’s main campus in Blacksburg. The statue was a gift from Warren and Margie Kark. For more information on the garden, see page 32.Impact | Summer 2011 2
Ways to Give Six ways that real estate gifts can help accomplish personal goals Page 34
UNIVERSITY DEVELOPMENT HAS A NEW WEBSITE!
Donors Sponsor Cadets as Class of 2014 Completes Caldwell March
Living Ut Prosim
Visit our new website at www.givingto.vt.edu to find out how private giving is making a difference to the university and learn about the wide variety of ways you can support Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech Trivia
Do you know who this man is? See page 37 for the answer.
To commemorate the end of their freshman training, the Class of 2014 of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets completed the second leg of the Caldwell March from the Caldwell Fields area to the Upper Quad of Virginia Tech on April 9, 2011. Many alumni support the freshman cadets as they march by being a Caldwell March sponsor. They donate $500 or more to sponsor a cadet, and the cadet wears a nametag recognizing their sponsor while they march. Afterward, the nametag, a commemorative pin, and a photo of the cadet are sent to each sponsor. This year 200 cadets were sponsored for the spring Caldwell March, raising $100,000 for the corps. Each year the corps alumni continue to raise the bar higher. This year’s total tops last year’s record donation, making it the most money ever raised by corps alumni for a single Caldwell March. April’s march is the second half of the 26-mile march made in 1872 by Virginia Tech’s first cadet and student, Addison Caldwell. During the fall semester, the freshman class, along with their cadre responsible for the initial phase of freshman training, completed the first 13 miles of the march starting at the Caldwell homestead. Virginia Tech’s Office of Services for Students with Disabilities recently honored people who have helped its important efforts by volunteering their time or donating to support programs. Among those honored was Brad Mount (business information technology ’14, finance ’14), one of many students who volunteer to share their notes with students who for a variety of reasons cannot take their own. Also honored was Sally Bohland, of Blacksburg, who endowed a fund to support programs that benefit students with disabilities. Bohland worked with disabled students for many years at Christiansburg High School. “I think whenever you help students with disabilities the reward is even greater, because they have to work harder,” she said. “They have more barriers to overcome.”
“The march is about more than just earning privileges,” said Cadet Daniel Gaines of Rome, Ga., a freshman majoring in history in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences and pursuing a minor in leadership studies. “It marks our entrance into a brotherhood with the cadets who have taught and mentored us over the past eight months. It also symbolizes the dedication, hard work, and sacrifices made in successfully completing the trials of our freshman year. We will be continuing the tradition of those who have donned the blue and gray before us and lived our motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), throughout their lives.” Gaines is an Army ROTC cadet who is aspiring to be an infantry officer. He is a recipient of an Emerging Leader Scholarship and is currently part of Training Company 1- 4 in Delta Company.
Impact | Summer 2011 4
Impact | Summer 2011 5
Department
an
Prices Fork P r i c e s Road Fork Rd
y rr
356
St
133C
151
175
189
30
112
Rd
us amp t C
42
W
32 38
a
i sh
ng
t
on
St
Tennis Courts 272 Cranwell International Center
Cassell Coliseum 187 Jamison Athletic Center
Dr
ld
27
31
111
Wes
fie
St
108
Get connected with developments at Virginia Tech. 118
Du
ith
in
28
41
110
187A Merryman Athletic Center
ck
Sm
Ma
St
29
105
109
54
Po
nd
191 Want more ways to stay up-todate on how your gifts are making 124 McComas Hall a difference every day? Now we 123 have more ways than ever to make that happen. Rector Dr
9
Spring Rd.
Smithfield Plantation
186
Visit www.givingto.vt.edu English Baseball to find out more. 149
Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine
Field 185D
Worsham Lane Field Stadium 185
Womens Softball Field
Fieldhouse
140
242 Police Department 190 Southgate Center
Motor Pool
Sterrett Facilities Complex 240
Miller-Johnson Track
150 h Sout
Impact | Summer 2011 6
0
46 o US
Information/ Visitor Center 313
gate
Impact | Summer 2011 7
Dr
porate to Cor h Center rc Resea
11
S.
ey
War Memorial Hall 182 39
103
106
10
e
Ot
ld
40
115
Le
St
ie
Dr
35
Contact us
St
nt
101
102
7
an
e ok
Ke
275
e ov Gr 301
St
Dr
f ill
36
The Grove 274
in
us
22
276
e Lan
St
Ro
Rd
mp
152
I hope you will be inspired by the stories we’ll tell here and online. I know I never cease to be amazed by the accomplishments of our students and the discoveries in our laboratories. Thank you for your continuing support for our university community. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.
ck
er
Ca
154 157
Ja
n so
ap
st
181 War Memorial Chapel
Dr
6
This is a close l l up of a e Ma Av i e building on campus 179 n g um lle o thatA lhas benefitted from C 180 privateSquires philanthropy. Student Center To see the answer or 269 177 submit a guess, visit our Newman 369 370 Facebook page (facebook. Library 368 251 com/developmentsatVT). Donaldson 178 Brown the We’ll also publish University Bookstore answer in the next issue of “Impact” and tell you 252 how private philanthropy 25 195 made a difference to this important Virginia Tech 26 building.24
127
Burruss Hall 176
156
Duck Pond
4
174
Drillfield 295
1
Ma
132
153
188
Dr
We
Golf Course
5
• Send a note to: Impact Editor 902 Prices Fork Road (0336) Blacksburg, VA 24061.
7
5
193
155
8
6
13
St
r
12
196
171
We want to hear from you. If you’ve supported Virginia Tech with your philanthropy, we’d love to know more about why you give and the things you’re passionate about. If you’re living the spirit of Ut Prosim in your community, please tell us about that. Maybe you’re inspired by a story you’ve read here or there’s something you would like to know more about. Perhaps there is a comment you’d like to make. We’re here and we’re listening.
8
Tu d O l 130
133
172
This is a magazine about you — your generosity, your loyalty, your university. You are, after all, our most valuable resource. You are the donors who support our students and faculty and you’re the people who live Ut Prosim by serving Virginia Tech and your own communities. You are our ambassadors. We care about what you think, and we want to give you a publication that you’ll find meaningful and useful.
• Call 540-231-2805
e rn
S t 202
N.
Pe
4
• Email impact@vt.edu
201
277
Why all the changes? Largely because of your input. Last year, we surveyed our audience and received some wonderful feedback that we’ve put into practice in this new issue.
Elizabeth A. “Betsy” Flanagan Vice President for Development and University Relations
204 e r rg B a203
134
You have likely noticed a significant change to this issue of “Impact.” We’ve created a livelier format to better accommodate a broader focus on your philanthropy and the remarkable effect it has on this university. We’ll be running more photos and more campus news.
Elizabeth A. “Betsy” Flanagan
r S t
126
3
Changes
ge
18 7 2
Impact
2
Burrows/ Burleson
460 314
German Club
Cent Stor 24
Impact Feature
New Virginia Tech Scholarship Available for Students from Chesapeake, Virginia Virginia residents who graduate from any of the seven high schools in the Chesapeake Public Schools division and meet certain academic criteria will automatically qualify for scholarships at Virginia Tech under terms of a recent $1.29 million donation to the university from the Harry Bramhall Gilbert Charitable Trust.
“Amid the continuously rising cost of college tuition and fees, even middle income families, especially those with more than one child, are finding the cost of a college education a significant financial burden,” Glasser said. “We are delighted that the Virginia Tech Foundation has accepted the The trust is named for Harry Bramhall Gilbert, a management and the administration of the Harry former Navy officer and architect who died in 1982 Bramhall Gilbert Meritorious Scholarship … to help while a resident of Norfolk. Retired attorney Stuart ease this financial burden for Chesapeake families.” Glasser, of Chesapeake, administers the trust along with Robert Larson, of Henderson, Nev., who is The first scholarships under the program are expected to be issued in August 2011. The the brother-in-law of its namesake. scholarship is structured so that a percentage of Glasser said he and Larson are confident Gilbert its market value will be divided equally among “would wholeheartedly approve of our decision to establish this meritorious scholarship fund at qualifying students each year. The gift, made late in 2010, is the largest ever by the Chesapeake-based trust, which also has made major scholarship donations to the College of William and Mary, James Madison University, and the University of Virginia.
Based on patterns of enrollment and achievement at Virginia Tech by students from the Chesapeake The trust created a larger endowment for the school division over the past few years, scholarship at Virginia Tech than at other approximately 40 students are expected to qualify universities because a greater number of Chesapeake students enroll at Virginia Tech each for scholarships, said Glasser. year, Glasser said. Chesapeake Public Schools Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Patricia Chesapeake Public Schools alumni can qualify for Powers called the scholarship “a truly extraordinary the one-time, one-year scholarship if they have at opportunity for our Chesapeake students.” least a 3.4 grade point average after earning 90 or more Virginia Tech credit hours. Students need Powers also said, “We are most grateful to Mr. not demonstrate financial need in order to qualify Glasser and to the Harry Bramhall Gilbert for the scholarship. Charitable Trust for this generous educational gift. The gift of education lasts a lifetime and certainly is going to be appreciated.” Virginia Tech.”
Impact | Summer 2011 9
GET YOUR
Impact
Department
ALL-AMERICAN
TRADING CARD
John Casali
Corporate and Foundation Giving
UPS Supports Engineering Program for 15th Year with $40,000 Donation The United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation has, for the 15th consecutive year, awarded an academic grant to Virginia Tech’s Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the amount of $40,000 for 2011.
Schlumberger Donates Software to Department of Geosciences
S c h l u m b e r g e r, the world’s leading technology Funds will be used to support doctoral students in supplier, project the Grado department’s human factors engineering/ m a n a g e m e n t , ergonomics graduate program. and information 4D digital rendition of seismic “The primary use of the money is for support of solutions to the data created with Schlumberger software. doctoral students who are undertaking practical, oil and gas indusapplied research in ergonomics, safety, and try, has donated human factors engineering,” said John Casali, the several licenses for its software, Petrel and Ocean, John Grado Professor of Industrial and Systems to the Department of Geosciences in the College of Science at Virginia Tech. The software allows scienEngineering. tists to view seismic data in 3-D or 4-D models. It is Casali made his first proposal for the UPS grant the same software exploration and production comin 1995, and since has served as the foundation’s panies use to discover oil and gas reservoirs. coordinator at Virginia Tech. UPS has awarded Virginia Tech is committed to providing the right tools approximately $750,000 under this particular grant for its students to enter the marketplace, pushing to the College of Engineering, thereby funding the research boundaries of resource identification more than three dozen doctoral students. and modeling, and sparking new interest in science Casali’s relationship with UPS also has resulted in through outreach. The Schlumberger software will representatives from the corporate giant serving give Virginia Tech students the opportunity to use on the Industrial and Systems Engineering Advisory the industry leading software in conjunction with Board since the mid-1990s. Don Wittke, corporate research and curricula in departments such as engineering manager at UPS and a current member geosciences, physics, mathematics, chemistry, civil, of the advisory board, was instrumental in assisting and environmental engineering. “We are extremely grateful to Schlumberger for with the proposal for this year’s grant, Casali said. this generous gift,” said Lay Nam Chang, dean of Based in Atlanta, the UPS Foundation identifies the College of Science at Virginia Tech. “With the specific areas in nonprofit effectiveness, economic licenses for this software, we will further enhance and global literacy, encouraging diversity, our spirit of innovation and expand the boundaries community safety, and environmental sustainability of study and research at all levels within the college and the university.” in issuing its grants.
Impact | Summer 2011 10
You’re the team behind the team. At Virginia Tech, we’re fortunate to have an All-American team of donors whose generosity helps us excel in both athletics and academics. Kirk Spitzer is on that team. He and his wife, Leila, helped fund the south end zone expansion of Lane Stadium and the construction of our new basketball practice facility. They’re also supporting the Signature Engineering Building project for the College of Engineering. And they endowed a scholarship for undergraduates in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
OUR ALL-AMERICAN TEAM Member: Kirk Spitzer '67 Hometown: Richmond, Va. Programs supported: Alumni Association, Athletics, College of Engineering, and Student Affairs. Visit www.vt.edu/All-Americans to make your own card!
Visit www.vt.edu/All-Americans to meet more donors like Kirk or share your own story about giving to Virginia Tech. While online, you can also create your own Hokie trading card, just like the one Kirk is holding. The cards are free, simple to make, and available to anyone.
MAKE YOUR CARD TODAY AT WWW.VT.EDU/ALL-AMERICANS
Phone: 540-231-2801 or 800/533-1144 | Fax: 540-231-2802 Office of University Development (0336), University Gateway Center Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 | www.givingto.vt.edu
Impact Feature
On Fire
Virginia Tech opens new foundry for students in engineering, art, and architecture
Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering is continuing its tradition of hands-on, mindson education with the newly opened Kroehling Advanced Materials Foundry, a metal-casting facility located just off campus on Plantation Road.
The 4,500-square-foot, $1.7 million facility includes a 125-kilowatt induction furnace capable of melting aluminum, copper and bronze, iron and steel; various mold-making equipment including no-bake and ceramic shell; a rapid prototype; and other high-tech equipment that students likely will find themselves using in the metal-casting and related industries. The facility, which has been hosting classes for undergraduate and graduate students since January, 2011, was dedicated April 5, 2011, with an open house. On hand for the event were John H. Kroehling, a decorated World War II veteran and 1948 graduate of the College of Engineering, and his wife, Joan. Kroehling, a member of the advisory board for Virginia Tech’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, provided initial funds of $500,000 for the foundry project, overseen by the Virginia Tech Foundry Institute for Research and Education (VT-FIRE) program. The group’s mission is to support student interest in the area of foundry science and the metal casting industry. FOUNDRY continues
Impact | Summer 2011 12
Impact | Summer 2011 13
FOUNDRY continues
“When I was sitting in advisory committee meetings in [materials science and engineering], I could not really contribute much to what they were doing. None of my experience seemed to be of any help there,” Kroehling said, adding that his major was in ceramics engineering, since merged into the materials science and engineering program.
In addition to housing classes for the Departments of Materials and Science Engineering, Engineering Education, Industrial Systems and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering, the new facility also will serve students in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies’ School of Visual Arts and the industrial design program.
Ishwar Puri Named N. Waldo Harrison Professor Ishwar Puri, professor and head of the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, has been named the N. Waldo Harrison Professor by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
“I wanted to give back to the university for the education I received, and our son received, and our granddaughter is receiving.” Kroehling
John H. Kroheling ‘48 Ishwar Puri
The N. Waldo Harrison Professorship was established in 1987 by College of Engineering alumnus Nathaniel Waldo Harrison. Harrison served as a member of General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s staff at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces in Frankfurt, Germany, during World War II, and later created the professorship to acknowledge the extraordinary education he received at Virginia Tech. The professorship is for a five-year period.
Café in Newman Library Made Possible Because of Donor Support But Kroehling saw a need. And he took action. “The VT-FIRE [program] seemed to be slow going, it wasn’t moving. They needed a building,” he said. At the time, Virginia Tech had one laboratory in the basement of Whittemore Hall in which small aluminum castings were made in an introductorylevel course. Kroehling’s donation for a new foundry kick-started corporate donations of money and equipment. Construction began in spring 2010. “It was just the seed money, but from then on, it started moving fast,” Kroehling said.
“In the College of Engineering, we pride ourselves in our hands-on, minds-on education,” said Richard C. Benson, dean of the Virginia Tech College of Engineering. “You see that in all of our literature. It is very real and it goes back many decades, as any alumnus can remember. What our students do in design and manufacturing, just making things, is just really quite rare. … There are a few small foundry operations to be found at other schools, but there’s nothing to compare to the scale of what we have here.”
Kroehling already was a major contributor to Virginia Tech through scholarships and fellowships to the College of Engineering and the university’s Department of Statistics, from which his son graduated in the early 1980s. “I wanted to give back to the university for the education I received, and our son received, and our granddaughter is receiving,” said Kroehling, who spent 20 years at DuPont working in metal foundries and the refractories industry. He also founded his own company, J.H. Kroehling Associates Inc., which he still operates. Kroehling has a granddaughter who is now a freshman on an engineering track at Virginia Tech.
Among the engineering faculty leading in the foundry’s inception was Bob Hendricks, a professor with the Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, and Paul Huffman Jr., an adjunct instructor within the same department who also is president of Roanoke, Va.-based Dominion Metallurgical Inc. Huffman is an alumnus of the college. Hendricks said the equipment — induction furnace, casting area, mold-making equipment, and the like — used in the foundry match those of high-tech companies. It’s also Earth friendly, with strong controls of fumes and other pollutants, and a computer-monitored lighting system that will conserve power usage.
Impact | Summer 2011 14
The next time you’re visiting Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus, make sure you take time to enjoy a cup of joe at the new café in Newman Library. What used to be the referencedesk area is now a café that seats around 100 people. Tom and Ann Clark of Las Cruces, N.M., parents of Erin Clark Henry (biochemistry ‘01) and Lisa Ann Clark (communication ‘04), made a generous donation that helped get the renovation project off the ground, and money from the Parents Fund also helped make this great new study spot possible.
Impact | Summer 2011 15
Impact Feature
Leadership Tech Program Benefits from New Endowments
She joined the program as a sophomore and left it after that year to pursue other leadership experiences in student government, but for many students the program is a four-year experience.
Dan Maguire ’94 and J.P. Foley ’92, Dominion Business Solutions Inc.
The Dominion Business Solutions Inc. Leadership Endowment created by that company’s founders — Dan Maguire (management science ’94) and J.P. Foley (management science ’92) — will allow more robust leadership training for the juniors and seniors who work with younger students in the Leadership Tech program.
Mistafa Hafid ‘11 and Christina Wudijono ‘11 led a group of sophomores who created a presentation as part of the Leadership Tech program.
When a dozen Virginia Tech students gathered in Squires Student Center during the spring 2011 semester term to plan a community service project, one of their goals was to help others. But another of their aims was to develop valuable skills, such as planning, presenting, working with a team, and leading.
All of the students involved, including two seniors who helped facilitate the project, were part of a university program called Leadership Tech. The program has grown considerably in recent years. Thanks to several new endowments established by alumni, Leadership Tech is poised to make an even greater impact.
Carolyn Smith Culicerto (communication ’83) said she endowed a fund to support the program “I’ve always liked organizing projects,” Catherine because leadership is the type of skill that can Daniel (management ’13) said while taking a short benefit students professionally and personally, break from the meeting. “This is good leadership regardless of their major or career. experience, and it gets you out working in the real “I hope students in the program realize that world before you get out of school.” having leadership skills has a variety of uses,” the Daniel, a native of Halifax, Va., was one of 10 Charlotte, N.C., resident said. “These skills don’t sophomores who designed and delivered a one- just prepare you to be a corporate CEO or governor hour presentation on healthy cooking to two- of Virginia. While those goals might be yours, dozen members of an international women’s these skills also prepare you to be confident in any group run by the YMCA. situation, whether it be a PTA presidency or in a family dynamic.”
Impact | Summer 2011 16
Students who enter the program in their first year focus on their own strengths and developing a leadership style that works for them. As sophomores, they learn team dynamics. Juniors may work as facilitators helping freshmen students in the program, but they often also design and perform community-service projects. Seniors or graduate students have an opportunity to serve as facilitators for sophomore teams. The sophomores who wound up giving their presentation to the international women’s group in March took the initiative to implement their project a year earlier than is typical for the program. Nevertheless, their program, which included a cooking demonstration and group meal, was well received, said Anne Goullier-Moore, who runs the international women’s program and is the YMCA’s office manager.
“We think this particular program has the potential to really grow into something,” said Foley, of South “I was very impressed” she said. “They really did Riding, Va. a wonderful job answering questions. They had a The Division of Students Affairs launched PowerPoint presentation. They had handouts, and Leadership Tech in 2004 to teach students they were very well prepared.” valuable skills while also inspiring them to become active citizens. It attracted 30 students in its first The seniors who oversaw the sophomores who gave year, but participation had grown to 300 students the presentation were Mistafa Hafid (biochemistry as of September 2010, Assistant Director of Co- ’11) and Christina Wudijono (human nutrition, Curricular Leadership Programs Alison Dunn said. foods, and exercise ’11). They joined Leadership Tech as freshmen and remained in it throughout “We take a skills approach to leadership and use their college experience. community engagement projects as our learning “Leadership is one of those key words that laboratory,” she said. everyone throws around, but Leadership Tech is a The formula has proven popular. Judging from the accomplishments of students who have participated lot more than just something to put on a résumé,” said Wudijono, a native of Ashburn, Va. “You learn in the program, it has also proven effective. about yourself, take a lot of personality tests, and “Leadership Tech was one of the first things I really examine your strengths and weaknesses. got involved in at Virginia Tech,” said Kristina That really helps you to work with others better.” Hartman (biological sciences ’10), who went on to serve as undergraduate representative to the Hafid, whose hometown is Leesburg, Va., said he Virginia Tech Board of Visitors in her senior year joined Leadership Tech to challenge himself and and, when interviewed, was working as a law develop new skills. clerk for New River Valley Intellectual Property “I was kind of shy in high school,” he said. “I was Law, a firm located in the Virginia Tech Corporate involved in sports and stuff, but was never in Research Center. a leadership position where I was in charge of “I think it’s important because it allows students to get involved in something bigger than themselves and it teaches them a lot of personal responsibility,” Hartman said of Leadership Tech.
something. I figured I should try something that was out of my comfort zone. I figured that by giving Leadership Tech a shot, I might get something out of it. I’ve actually gotten quite a lot.”
Impact | Summer 2011 17
Carolyn Smith Culicerto ‘83 with daughter, Anne
Culicerto is also a member of the Women in Leadership and Philanthropy Council. To learn more about the council and how it is making a difference at Virginia Tech, please visit wlp.givingto.vt.edu.
Impact Feature
Generosity of a Former Student Leader Helps Students Broaden Their Experience Bob Jones (political science ‘83) and his wife Emily brought four of their five children to the university to sign a fund agreement creating a scholarship. “I just wanted my children to understand and appreciate the responsibility that we all have, to different degrees, to give back,” said Jones of (left to right) Sawyer, Jack, Katherine, and Charlie
While serving in student government may be a valuable experience for any student, it was particularly relevant for Jones, who went on to earn a law degree from the University of Mississippi and work on Capital Hill before entering private practice. Today, he runs a public policy practice group as a partner at Alston & Bird LLP, a moreAlong with serving in Virginia than-800-lawyer firm with offices nationwide. Tech student government and working as a resident advisor, Jones said it was easy to decide to give back to an Jones was in the Phi Kappa Sigma institution that helped prepare him for a fulfilling fraternity. He also said he “can’t career, but choosing how to allocate his support think of any intramural sports — took more time. He said he choose to help the other than water polo — that I Division of Student Affairs because it runs such a didn’t play.” diverse range of extracurricular programs. keep students from taking advantage of the many extracurricular programs at Virginia Tech. He said he learned a great deal from being involved in many such programs while in Blacksburg.
Bob Jones was happy to be elected president of Virginia Tech’s student body in 1982, but there was a downside. He was no longer eligible for the resident advisor job that helped pay his room and board.
Alexandria, Va., resident created the Robert C. and Emily S. Jones Family Scholarship, within the Division of Students Affairs, for students with financial need who wish to pursue leadership activities. An earlier scholarship Jones created within the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences also is earmarked for student leaders.
Many years later, Jones (political science ’83) remembered that situation while contemplating Jones said he created the newer scholarship to rehow to support his alma mater. As a result, the duce the likelihood that financial concerns would
Impact | Summer 2011 18
Jones’ tenure as a student leader saw several significant developments for the university. Student representatives joined Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. Legal representation was added to the services available to students who pay the Blacksburg campus activity fee. Blacksburg Transit, a local bus system, was launched. While working on those and other projects, Jones would often interact with high-ranking school officials, including then-Vice President of Student Affairs Sandra Sullivan and then-President William Lavery. Jones said Sullivan, in particular, “kind of took me under her wing and taught me many of the skills I didn’t have before but still use everyday.”
“The primary reason for anybody being in college is to receive an excellent education, so you can’t have anything [outside of class] that takes away from that,” Jones said. “But I think the extracurricular activities supplement the classroom education you get and provide valuable life lessons that make you more prepared for the workforce and make you a better contributing member of whatever workforce team you join.” Thanks to the scholarships Jones has created, future students may be able to spend less time working just for a paycheck, and more time developing their leadership abilities in worthwhile programs outside of class.
Impact | Summer 2011 19
Impact Feature
Harry Dorn
Webster Santos
Patricia Dove
Leo Piilonen
Harry Dorn, Patricia Dove, Leo Piilonen, and Webster Santos have very different research interests, but they also have much in common. All four are members of the College of Science faculty at Virginia Tech. All four are highly regarded in their field. And, as of fall 2010, all four have an important new tool to use in advancing their work — a named professorship or faculty fellowship.
Endowed Professors Serve as
Ambassadors for the College of Science “They are all supremely gifted,” said college Dean Lay Nam Chang, who was part of the selection committee that approved the appointments. “They already have recognition even without being named to these positions. There were quite a lot of nominees … but it was felt that these four embody the desires of the donors who created these positions.” Named positions are prized both by the faculty members who receive them and the colleges that use them to reward, retain, and recruit eminent scholars, Chang said.
New programs to get more Virginia students interested in nanotechnology is one idea that Dorn is interested in exploring using money from his fellowship, which was created by A.C. Lilly Jr., a retired vice president for Philip Morris who earned his bachelor’s degree in geological sciences and Ph.D. in physics from Virginia Tech. Lilly said he earmarked the fellowship for an expert in nanotechnology because “my own research interests were in tiny things. I worked with X-rays; I worked with electron microscopes; I worked in a lot of areas where small things were very important.”
“They help to bring visibility to the college, and by Dorn is a chemistry professor who heads a research extension, Virginia Tech as a whole,” he said. group that has received funding from numerous agencies and is involved in several promising lines For the faculty members, he continued, these positions typically bring some discretionary money of inquiry, including a method of encasing atoms of otherwise toxic metals inside carbon molecules. that can be used for purposes that otherwise could In the future, this method may be used to create be hard to fund through traditional research grants, such as travel to conferences, reaching out to more effective contrast agents that will improve potential students, or bringing discoveries to market. the quality of magnetic resonance imaging used to detect diseases. AMBASSADORS continues Impact | Summer 2011 20
Hahn Hall South, home of the Virginia Tech Department of Physics
Impact | Summer 2011 21
AMBASSADORS continues
“The medical area is probably the most advanced, in terms of applications,” said Dorn, whose group has a partnership with Luna nanoWorks to manufacture carbon-encased metals in Danville, Va. “But it also has a lot of potential applications in other areas, such as photovoltaics, new solar cells, and new opto-electric devices.”
the college as I travel around the United States and the world. Everywhere I go, I am promoting Virginia Tech and its excellence in science.”
“I think scientists are becoming much more sophisticated in understanding and seeing the marketability of their discoveries, but it’s a difficult and long process, and they may not have had the time to develop those skills because they’re so involved in their science,” Mary Blackwood said. “We hope this particular position will encourage putting the right people together to promote discoveries and their marketability.”
“They are all supremely gifted. ...these four embody the desires of the donors who created these positions.”
Physics Professor Leo Piilonen doesn’t expect his work to lead to new medicines or other products, but to a greater understanding of some of the universe’s most mysterious, sub-atomic Promoting other such partnerships between phenomena, such as antimatter and neutrinos. researchers and industry was the goal of Mary and He plans to use funding from a senior faculty Willis Blackwood — whose respective Virginia fellowship created by physics alumnus Bill Tech degrees are in psychology and business — Hassinger to promote the recently created Virginia when they created a fellowship for a junior faculty Tech Center for Neutrino Physics. Money from the member to which Assistant Professor of Chemistry Webster Santos was appointed.
! d e t i v n i e r ’ u Yo
We’re Opening Our Doors on November 12, 2011. Explore our picturesque campus. See our exciting research. Interact with faculty and students. Spend a day at the commonwealth’s most comprehensive and innovative university.
We’re inventing the future, and we’d love to show you how at our open house. For more information about our open house, visit www.vt.edu/openhouse, email openhouse@vt.edu, or call 540-231-2190.
That is a goal Santos shares. His research group is seeking to create compounds able to disrupt the progression of diseases, including AIDS and cancer. Some of his discoveries already are licensed to a startup company created in partnership with Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia. Money from the Blackwood fellowship allowed Santos to go to a conference on bringing science to market, which will help him to start an entrepreneurial program at Virginia Tech in the near future.
Dean Lay Nam Chang Dean Lay Nam Chang
fellowship will make it possible to bring some of the world’s most prominent researchers in this area to speak on campus, Piilonen said.
“Technically, the neutrino is one of the most challenging things to actually study experimentally,” said Piilonen, who added that basic questions about the neutrino remain, “I want to be able to use my organic chemistry including whether a neutrino and its anti-matter knowledge to solve problems in medicine — in are actually distinct or are one and the same. reality,” Santos said. “At the end of the day, I really Hassinger said he created his fellowship to help his want to be able to make a therapeutic drug.” school but also views the type of basic science done Patricia M. Dove, professor of geosciences, was in physics to be one of “the most thrilling things any human being can do — to discover something named the C.P. Miles Professor of Science. completely new.” “Endowed professorships are not common in the College of Science,” she said. “and therefore I am “Whether their goal in creating named faculty positions is to promote knowledge for its own deeply humbled by this great honor.” sake or for its commercial potential, donors like Established in 1986 through a gift from Melvin Hassinger, Blackwood, Lilly, and Young all help “Cy” Young, the C.P. “Sally” Miles Professorship the college as a whole with their generosity,” said of Science honors the Virginia Tech graduate who Chang, whose college was created in 2003 when spent 59 years teaching and coaching at his alma the College of Arts and Sciences was separated into mater. The professorship supports an outstanding two more specialized entities. faculty member in the college. “It is, in some sense, a powerful endorsement of A leading geochemist, Dove has made major the quality of work in the college that people contributions to research in the biogeochemistry would give so generously to help our faculty,” he of Earth processes, the physical basis of said. “We’re a young college, but have to compete biomineralization, and geochemical controls on with the world’s greatest institutions, and these geophysical properties. positions help ensure we can do just that.” “Mr. Miles was deeply committed to this university,” College of Science Communications Manager Catherine Dove said. “With this new title that carries his Doss contributed to this story, which also ran in the name, it reminds me that I am an ambassador of spring 2011 edition of her college’s magazine.
18 7 2
Invent the Future Impact | Summer 2011 23
When the College of Science was created in 2003, Physics Professor Lay Nam Chang was appointed as its dean for a three-year term. In March, following an extensive review and selection process, Provost Mark McNamee reappointed Chang as dean. Chang joined the Virginia Tech faculty in 1978.
Robert Turner (architecture ‘72) arrived at Virginia Tech having never been on an airplane, but that soon changed. A year in, he participated in a program that sent students to Austria, Italy, and Greece to experience different cultures and types of architecture. “It was fantastic,” said Turner, who had grown up in Martinsville, Va., about two hours away from Virginia Tech. It turned out to be just the first of many architecture-related trips abroad for him, though he would later travel to design buildings, not just study them. A couple years after graduating, Turner joined the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), one of the world’s largest architectural firms. Before long, he was working on international projects. Turner made partner at SOM by his mid-30s. High-profile projects he led included the Atlantico Pavilion in Lisbon, Portugal, and master plans for the University of Malaysia, and the financial district at Canary Wharf in London. He retired from SOM at age 50, but not from architecture. After leaving, Turner was busy designing the home near Blacksburg where he still lives part of the year, when a developer he knew suggested they enter two design competitions for buildings in Paris.
An International Architect “We won both of them, so at that point I just got a flat in Paris and I’ve been living there [part of the year] ever since.”
ARCHITECT continues
Alumnus Robert Turner has led major projects throughout the world.
Impact | Summer 2011 24
Impact | Summer 2011 25
The Le Palatin building in greater Paris, designed by Robert Turner, who provided the photo.
The Sequana complex in Paris, designed by Robert Turner, who provided the photo.
ARCHITECT continues
“Anything complex is fun.”
For example, he drew his inspiration for his awardwinning Atlantico Pavilion in Lisbon (see cover When asked what he enjoys about designing photo) from the key role the structure was to play buildings or development plans, Turner replied, in a world’s fair that took place around the 500th “Anything complex is fun.” anniversary of the first voyage of Portuguese At the time, he was working on an appropriate explorer Vasco de Gama. project for someone with such an outlook: an “You enter and the entire ceiling is made out of eight-story building that will span 50 meters of timber,” Turner said. “The whole concept of doing active railroad tracks in Paris. that was to make a reference to the timber ships of The tracks made it impossible to dig a traditional foundation at the site. Turner designed a truss to wrap around the structure two stories above the ground and bear much of the building’s weight. Only six comparatively small building columns will have to touch the ground. For this project and several others in Paris, Turner partnered with the Arte Charpentier architecture firm.
Turner said he tries to come to each project with an open mind. Instead of imposing a signature look on his projects, he is guided by the situation that has created demand for a
the time, the inside of the hull of a ship.”
Experiencing buildings firsthand Turner said his first trip abroad was a tremendously important experience in his development as an architect. Another such experience, he said, was his first job out of college, assisting the architectural photographer Ezra Stoller. The position allowed Turner to spend days inside buildings designed by some of the world’s most renowned architects, including Philip Johnson, Louis Kahn, Richard Meier, I.M. Pei, and SOM.
For an architect, being able to tour notable buildings, rather than just study them from books or building, as well as local building methods. plans, is extremely valuable, said Turner. He believes his travel experience, both domestic and abroad, was one of the reasons SOM hired him. “I do the concept design and work with them on the While interviewing, he showed photographs he design development, and they do the construction took in Guatemala. He was sent to work on the documents, the planning dossier,” said Turner. Banco de Occidente in Guatemala City soon after Turner said he tries to come to each project with an being hired. open mind. Instead of imposing a signature look “At one point at SOM,” Turner said, “I and a techon his projects, he is guided by the situation that nical person were responsible for hiring. If a kid has created demand for a building, as well as local came for an interview, the first question I would building methods. ask was where they had traveled, and if they hadn’t there was no way they would get a job with us.”
Impact | Summer 2011 26
“One of the best gifts anyone could receive” Nicole Cavanaugh (architecture ’05) was the first recipient of the Robert Turner Fontainebleau Study Abroad Scholarship, and she says it expanded her horizons. “Thanks to the scholarship from Robert Turner, I landed an internship at a French architecture Nicole Cavanaugh firm and spent a year in Paris after graduation exploring the culture and city,” said Cavanaugh, the scholarship’s 2004 recipient. “I would have never imagined living abroad before my experience in Fontainebleau.” Today, Cavanaugh is a designer with the cg+s firm in Washington, D.C., where she is working on renovations of Wilson High School that are due to complete this fall. She said her scholarship experience “really had a profound impact on my work and my path after graduation,” and added that “I feel very honored to have had this opportunity, and hope to be able to pass that gift on someday.” A version of this story also ran as a spotlight on the Virginia Tech homepage and included a photo slideshow of Turner’s work. Visit www.vt.edu/spotlight/ achievement/2011-05-16-turner/turner.html to read it.
Turner does more than recommend that aspiring architects travel; he makes it possible for them to do so at his alma mater, where he has also served on the College of Architecture and Urban Studies Advisory Council. In 2004, Turner established a scholarship that every other year sends a student from the School of Architecture + Design to attend the summer program at Fontainebleau, a UNESCO world heritage site near Paris. He has also supported a new program for students to study in Cairo, and is a member of the university’s Ut Prosim Society for especially generous donors, as well as the Legacy Society for those who make planned gifts. Turner said the opportunity to live and work abroad “has expanded me as an individual,” and been one of the most satisfying aspects of his career. For someone who benefitted from travel so much, it seems fitting that he gives back by providing others the opportunity to do the same, and university officials are grateful that he does. “His care for the institution and its faculty, students, and international reputation has been a great contribution to the college and university,” said College of Architecture and Urban Studies Dean Jack Davis.
Impact | Summer 2011 27
Impact Feature
Bequest Makes a Lasting Impact on the College of Engineering
College of Engineering Receives Record Gifts This spring the university announced its “The monetary value of such a gift is largest single donation ever and its largest tremendous, but equally important is that a gesture of this magnitude is certain to bequest ever realized. The two gifts, both directed to the College inspire all who support our programs and those who will reap the benefits of the of Engineering, totaled more than $42 world-class education that our College of million. Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger announced them — along Engineering provides,” he said. with a separate, $3 million commitment Steger also announced $3 million in support of support for engineering — at an April for the project from the Quillen family of Southwest Virginia, and the receipt of more press conference. than $17 million from the estate of Robert “These three gifts, along with many others received since 2003 — when we launched E. Hord Jr. of Richmond, who passed away in December 2010. our $1 billion Campaign for Virginia Tech: Invent the Future — demonstrate how Hord (mechanical engineering in ‘49, private support provides a margin of M.S. power and fuel engineering ’50) excellence for our institution,” President directed his gift to the mechanical and Charles W. Steger said prior to the event. chemical engineering departments, both “This new building, as well as the many new of which will have space in the Signature scholarships and faculty assistance funds Engineering Building. The Quillens’ support provided by donors over the life of our was led by alumnus Michael J. Quillen (civil campaign, are helping our largest college engineering ’71, M.S. ’72) of Bristol, Va. to raise the bar even higher for engineering Virginia Tech anticipates $50 million in education in Virginia.” state support and $50 million in private On an extraordinary day for the university, Steger disclosed that an anonymous donor committed $25 million toward the Signature Engineering Building planned for Virginia Tech.
Robert “Bobby” Hord (right) with his friend, Ed Burkhardt, who provided the photo.
Virginia Tech’s departments of mechanical and chemical engineering will benefit from the largest single bequest ever realized by the university — more than $17 million from the estate of Robert “Bobby” Hord, of Richmond, an alumnus who passed away in December 2010.
Many companies rely on Virginia Tech for engineering talent and support the proposed project as way of ensuring a highly-qualified workforce in the commonwealth, said John Sparks (mechanical engineering ’74, M.S. 76, Ph.D. ’81), who appeared alongside Steger and Benson at the gift announcement. Sparks lobbied for state support of the Signature Engineering Building and is a director at Aerojet, a major space and defense contractor with two operating locations in Virginia. “We in industry need a large supply of bright, creative, hit-the-ground-running engineers — the type we get from Virginia Tech,” Sparks said. For more information on the Signature Engineering Building, including floor plans and interior and exterior renditions, visit www.eng.vt.edu/signaturebuilding.
Hord as a young man. Photo courtesy of Judy Godsey
Hord was born in 1920 and grew up in the state capital. He enrolled as a member of the class of 1941 at what was then Virginia Polytechnic Institute, served in World War II, and earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1949. He added a master’s degree in power and fuel engineering a year later, worked in the railroad industry, and was a tremendously successful personal investor.
During his career, Hord worked in the mechanical department of the Norfolk and Western Railway before leaving to work for the Norfolk, Franklin, Both departments Hord chose to support will and Danville Railway, said Robin Chapman, a establish a professorship and a scholarship in spokesman for Norfolk Southern Corp., which his name. now operates at least part of both railways. “His gift creates four endowed funds,” said Richard The money Hord donated “all came from Benson, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Chair and investments, in essence over a 40 to 50 year period,” dean of the College of Engineering. “Two of them said Colin Campbell, who was Hord’s financial will help students now and long into the future. The advisor and investment manager for much of that other two will help us continue to recruit and retain time. “He was a great investment researcher and a world-class members of our faculty.” very brilliant individual.”
Impact | Summer 2011 28
donations for the project. The current plan is for a four-story, 153,000-square-foot building near the corner of Prices Fork Road and Stanger Street.
College of Engineering Dean Richard Benson said the new building is essential to address growing enrollment demand, particularly at the undergraduate level. He said his college would like to admit more students, but requires sufficient facilities.
Hord “didn’t believe in spending money for things he didn’t need,” and lived modestly in the home in which he was raised, but he was passionate about investing, with a mind toward making a major contribution to his alma mater, said Judy Godsey, the trustee of Hord’s estate.
Burkhardt said Hord had an extraordinary talent for picking stocks, particularly ones from smaller, technology-related companies.
“He’d see something about a company and at the drop of a hat he’d pick up the phone and call the president of that company and ask 100 questions “He loved Virginia Tech because he credited about what they were doing. He was very forward it with making him as knowledgeable as he when he wanted to find out something.” was about so many different things, especially Hord was not shy about calling up giant companies engineering,” she said. with questions, either.
Hord’s intelligence and broad knowledge on a Thomas Gerbracht, of Erie, Pa., fielded a call from variety of subjects made a lasting impression on Hord more than a dozen years ago while working many of his friends. in marketing at General Electric. They developed “Using the word brilliant to describe him wouldn’t a friendship, and continued to have regular be overstating it,” said Ed Burkhardt, who met conversations long after Gerbracht retired. Hord in the mid-1960s while both worked for “I’m of the opinion that he was one of the most Norfolk and Western, and is now president of Rail intelligent people with whom I have ever spoken,” World Inc., of Chicago, Ill., a railroad management Gerbracht said. “He was just an extremely and consulting company. “He was also one of the interesting guy.” most independent guys you could ever meet.”
Impact | Summer 2011 29
Impact
Department
Building the Future:
How philanthropy is reshaping Virginia Tech’s campus
The Visitor and Undergraduate Admissions Center A two story glass wall will provide a beautiful view of campus to visitors who take advantage of what is likely to be one of our most prominent new buildings.
One benefit of building the Visitor and Undergraduate Admissions Center, open this summer, is that it gives an appropriately memorable impression for the many prospective students and their parents who visit each year. But the 18,155-square-foot building, located near the Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, was also designed to be an enjoyable place to visit for alumni or anyone else with an interest in Virginia Tech. One of the building’s most prominent features is a two-story, glass-walled atrium that not only offers a stunning view, but contains multimedia kiosks with videos featuring students and faculty. There will also be an exhibit about Virginia Tech’s global impact, which will highlight distinguished alumni living abroad and some of the international programs the university runs, said Randy Stith, the university’s director of visual and broadcast communications. Several donors directed gifts toward the project. Money from the Hokie Parents Fund was also earmarked for the building, which replaces a small, vinyl-sided structure on Southgate Drive that for many years was a first stop for tens of thousands of visitors to the university. In contrast, the new center “has been referred to as a campus jewel,” said Visitor and Information Center Manager Sharon Sarver of the new building. Sarver says her office typically sees as many as 50,000 people in a a given year, the vast majority of which are prospective students and their families. The new building will be far more convenient for visitors like that, because it will also contain the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, which had been located in Burruss Hall. In the new building, students or parents will be able to stop in, get information and parking passes, then meet with admissions officials, all in the same building.
Impact | Summer 2011 30
The Visitor and Undergraduate Admissions Center
The Hahn Horticulture Garden is nearly six acres of teaching and display gardens on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. Established in 1984 by horticulture faculty, the garden serves undergraduate students and the local community as a learning resource. Garden features include perennial borders, water gardens, shade gardens, a meadow garden, and the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion. Peggy Lee Hahn, a passionate gardener, was the wife of Virginia Tech President T. Marshall Hahn Jr. During her life, Peggy was a frequent visitor to and ardent supporter of the garden. It was renamed for her in 2004 after she and her husband made a pledge to support the garden. Since then, a pavilion and a meadow garden have been added. Each bears her name. Peggy Hahn
Peggy passed away in 2009, but her legacy lives on. In 2010, the Peggy Lee Hahn Memorial Endowment for Garden Excellence was created in her honor. The endowment provides unrestricted support for the most pressing needs of this special place. For more information on the garden, visit www.hort.vt.edu/hhg. If you would like to support the mission of the Hahn Horticulture Garden, you can volunteer, join the Friends of the Garden program, attend educational and fundraising events, or simply give a gift. To make a gift in support of the garden, visit www.givingto.vt.edu or contact garden director Holly Scoggins at 540-231-5783 or perennials@vt.edu.
Hahn Horticulture Garden Impact | Summer 2011 32
Impact | Summer 2011 33
Impact
Department
One Smart Way to Give
Six ways real estate gifts can help accomplish personal goals
Bill Thornton spent many summers on his grandfather’s farm, and his dad owned racehorses. So it was not surprising that the Arlington, Va., native once considered becom-
Many kinds of real estate, from homes to commercial property to undeveloped land, can be donated in different ways to Virginia Tech. Each gift of real estate can offer one or more of the six advantages below — advantages that can help donors accomplish personal goals.
4. It can allow you to retain your home. You can donate your primary residence and continue to live there throughout your lifetime, either by making a gift in your will or trust, or by creating a retained life estate arrangement. With a retained life estate, you will also enjoy an immediate tax deduction for your gift.
5. It can pay you income. Some gift options let you use your gift of real estate 1. It’s tax-wise. Appreciated assets such as real estate are subject to fund a charitable remainder trust that can pay to capital gains taxes when sold. By donating lifetime income. Moreover, when funded with an appreciated property to the Virginia Tech Foundation appreciated asset such as real estate, you may find Inc., you avoid capital gains taxes that would you can significantly reduce the effective cost of otherwise be due upon sale of the property. Moreover, your income-producing gift. you receive a tax deduction for your charitable gift, 6. It can help you to accomplish your usually for the asset’s full market value. 2. It can simplify your life. Property ownership involves ongoing management and recurring expenses such as property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. If yours is an outright gift, you can typically bid farewell to managing, or paying someone else to manage, the expenses and responsibilities of ownership. You will even avoid the chore of selling property you no longer wish to own. 3. It can hold advantages for your heirs. Donating property removes it from your taxable estate, which simplifies administration of the estate and reduces estate taxes. Even more important to some donors, heirs are relieved of the burden of managing or disposing of inherited real estate. This can be especially important when property is far from heirs.
charitable goals.
A gift of real estate, whether donated during your lifetime or as an estate gift, can significantly benefit the area of your choice at Virginia Tech. For some donors, a gift of appreciated real estate is the most cost-effective way to make the most significant charitable contribution of their lives. If you’re considering a gift of real estate, contact the Office of Gift Planning early. They will help guide you through the approval and transfer process. In most instances, the real estate must be transferred directly to the Virginia Tech Foundation so that you can fully realize its tax advantages and bypass capital gains taxes. For this reason, you should typically avoid selling the property yourself. Learn more. To learn more, or to explore other gift options that meet your goals, telephone the Office of Gift Planning at 800-533-1144 or 540-231-2813, or email giftplanning@vt.edu.
Impact | Summer 2011 34
ing a veterinarian.
Bill Thornton ’56 with wife, Rita
Love for Animals Inspires Gift of Real Estate Thornton actually enrolled in Virginia Tech’s animal husbandry program with a veterinary career in mind, but found himself more attracted to classes focused on the business end of agriculture. He wound up earning his bachelor’s in agricultural and applied economics in 1956. Though he would go on to notable success in a completely different field — real estate appraisal — Thornton remained interested in animal medicine, and officials at the VirginiaMaryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine are grateful that he did.
facility known as the Translation- 1986, but now spend the colder al Medicine Complex. months in Sun City, Az. “We just thought it was just a very While Rita Thornton did not atgood cause,” Thornton said. tend Virginia Tech, she shares The term “translational medi- her husband’s enthusiasm for cine” refers to an effort within the Hokies, and jokes that, “I the medical field to bring to- had no choice when I married gether basic researchers and cli- him. I would have become a nicians. It is widely believed that football widow if I didn’t.”
doing this will improve the pro- She also shares her husband’s incess by which new drugs reach terest in veterinary medicine, and the clinical-trial stage. says she has enjoyed several tours of the veterinary college that she Supporting the veterinary coland her husband have taken. lege is just one way Thornton
has stayed involved with his alma mater. Even while living in Falls Church, Va., where he ran Techmen Realty & AppraisAlong with his wife, Rita, Thorn- al Company before retiring in ton donated 164 acres of hunt- 1990, Thornton would regularly ing land near Blacksburg to the return to Blacksburg, often for college. Their intent, inspired by football games. the memory of Thornton’s father, Samuel, was to advance research He and his wife are longtime members of the Hokie Club, within the college. and they also belong to the Ut And that is exactly what will hap- Prosim Society, a group of espepen. Significant proceeds were cially generous donors, and the generated by the sale of the prop- Legacy Society, a group for those erty. The Thorntons directed that who have made planned gifts to those funds be applied toward the university. They’ve owned construction of a new research a home in Blacksburg since
Impact | Summer 2011 35
“I guess the biggest thing I learned was just about the research — it’s absolutely fantastic,” she said. “It’s absolutely amazing to see how much they can do over there, and how eventually the research will also relate to human beings.” Thanks to her, her husband, and other supporters of the veterinary college, important discoveries in animal medicine are certain to keep coming at Virginia Tech, though they may soon be taking place in a different, brand new building.
Impact Feature
Virginia Tech Trivia
He is Lawrence Priddy, Class of 1897, who helped raise funds to build both the YMCA Building and War Memorial Gymnasium.
A Golden Hokie Opportunity:
Stanley Cohen
The YMCA Building, completed in 1899 and now known as the Performing Arts Building, was the first building on campus to be constructed of Hokie Stone. Further, it was built primarily because of private donations for YMCA use. The YMCA offices moved out in 1937, and in 1972 it deeded any interest it had in the building to Virginia Tech as part of the university’s centennial observances.
Stanley Cohen (architectural engineering ’49, M.S. civil engineering ’51) stands, at left, alongside the flight crew of a B-25 bomber whose flyover of Lane Stadium Cohen arranged last year. Crew members, from left, are Ken Glass; Paul Redlich, the pilot; and Phil Roundtree, the copilot. Cohen and Glass flew planes in World War II.
At last year’s homecoming game 67,000 Hokie football fans cheered Stanley Cohen when he was brought on the field with the flight crew after having arranged the pregame flyover of a World War II B-25 Mitchell bomber. But within the College of Engineering, the corps of cadets, and the Athletic Department, Cohen has been appreciated for far longer. “You know, I’ve had a tremendous amount of love for Virginia Tech,” said Cohen, who earned his bachelor’s in architectural engineering in 1949 and master’s in civil engineering in 1951. “I have [created] two scholarships at Virginia Tech – one in the civil engineering department that I began in 1979, and another, which is an Emerging Leader Scholarship, in the cadet corps.”
A graduate of Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Va., Cohen was an unusually driven student at Virginia Tech, taking classes in as many aspects of engineering as he could fit into a busy schedule.
Several years later, Priddy once again proved himself an invaluable member of the Virginia Tech community when he secured pledges of more than $72,000 in just 17 minutes, in order to begin construction on War Memorial Gymnasium.
While enrolled, he was inducted into two honor societies – architectural engineering’s Phi Kappa Phi and civil engineering’s Tau Beta Pi – and he He also has been a generous supporter of Virginia completed his master’s degree while also working Tech sports for many years, to the degree that as a line and grade engineer for the Washington he and his wife, Frances, are considered Golden Suburban Sanitary Commission. Hokies. The couple, who live just outside After earning his graduate degree, Cohen moved Cincinnati, Ohio, are also charter members of the to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he worked 27 years Ut Prosim Society, a select group of Virginia Tech’s as chief engineer and field manager with a major most generous donors. Cohen also is a charter construction firm. He started his own company, member of the Committee of 100 distinguished Stanley Enterprises, in 1978. The firm designed alumni of the College of Engineering. and built buildings in 15 states before Cohen COHEN continues on 38 Impact | Summer 2011 36
Impact | Summer 2011 37
Impact
Department
‘Economist’ Editor on Campus for BB&T Distinguished Lecture
The future is calling.
Greg Ip, U.S. economics editor for The Economist, was the featured speaker of the BB&T Distinguished Lecture, hosted by the Pamplin College of Business on April 14, 2011. Ip, based in Washington, D.C., covers the economy, financial markets, and monetary, fiscal, and regulatory policy. He contributes to The Economist’s blog, “Free Exchange.” He has commented frequently on radio and television, including CNBC, BBC, CNN, MSNBC, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Washington Week with Gwen Ifill, and National Public Radio. He is the author of “The Little Book of Economics: How the Economy Works in the Real World”. Greg Ip
Featuring two speakers each year, the BB&T Distinguished Lecture Series on Capitalism discusses current issues in business management and government policy, in addition to topics related to capitalism. The series is part of a Pamplin College teaching program to explore the foundations of capitalism and freedom. The program’s courses, undergraduate and graduate, examine alternative economic systems, including socialism and communism, and compare them with the economic solutions offered by free markets. Previous BB&T speakers include syndicated columnist Robert J. Samuelson, Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan, and Pamplin alumnus and Forbes newsletter editor Vahan Janjigian. The program was established in 2007 in the college’s finance department with a $1 million gift from BB&T Charitable Foundation.
COHEN continues
became semi-retired in 1993. In 1999, he was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Alumni of the Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
on complex projects that required engineering of various types, he explained. Like many successful alumni who capitalized on opportunities afforded them by their education, Cohen gives back by helping today’s students.
He attributes some of his success to the fact that he was able to learn about a variety of types of engineering while at Virginia Tech.
II. Cohen serves on the museum’s advisory board and paid the fuel cost and other expenses for the plane’s journey.
He does so not just at Virginia Tech, but at his wife’s alma mater, the University of Cincinnati, which has a Frances and Stanley Cohen Scholarship in Design and Graphics. The Cohens are highly active “There was a time volunteers and donors for several other Cincinnatiwhen I was a registered area organizations as well, including the Taft professional engineer Museum and the Tri-State Warbird Museum. in nine states, and I’m In fact, it was Cohen’s association with the latter still licensed in about that enabled him to arrange the flyover at Lane six,” Cohen said. Stadium — the first by a plane from World War
“Nobody had ever brought a World War II airplane down here and we thought we could [come and] rattle a few windows,” Cohen said, later adding: “I just felt like this [flyover] would be a really great “I took courses in steam thing to do.” power engineering, sanitary engineering, anything Judging from the cheers the plane elicited that I could fit into my program,” Cohen said. “I can’t day, many thousands agreed. And they no doubt even remember the names of all of them.” would be happy to learn that Cohen, and the Tri-
Stanley Cohen ‘49, ‘51
Having a broad knowledge of the field helped a State Warbird Museum flight crew, plan to return great deal once he was out in the workforce working to Blacksburg for many years to come.
Meet Monica Black (mechanical engineering ’13), who is not only working toward her degree, but to advance Virginia Tech. Last fiscal year, more than 14,000 alumni or friends of the university said “yes” when asked to donate by a student caller like her. Combined, they gave more than $1.6 million. Whether it’s a first gift by a recent graduate or a substantial contribution from a longtime donor, every one of the thousands of donations we receive each year is important. That’s because each gift, regardless of its size, represents a true commitment to help Virginia Tech fulfill its mission and maintain its reputation. When making an annual gift, you can choose to support any college, department, or program you wish. And you don’t have to wait for a call from Monica or her colleagues to make a difference. Visit www.givingto.vt.edu to donate online or learn more about the impact gifts make at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech Office of University Development (0336) University Gateway Center, Blacksburg, VA 24061
Impact | Summer 2011 38
540-231-2801 or 800-533-1144 | www.givingto.vt.edu
18 7 2
VirginiaTech Invent the Future®
Additional/expanded content at www.givingto.vt.edu
Impact
Virginia Tech Office of University Development (0336) Blacksburg, VA 24061 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Nonprofit Org. U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Blacksburg, VA 24060 Permit #28