17 minute read
Progress
On March 26, 2022, the Class of 1971 celebrated its delayed 50th Reunion. At the reunion parade, the class presented the initial proceeds of its 50th Reunion Campaign to the Institute: More than $15.8 million in gifts and commitments provided by 166 brother rats. Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent (far right), and David L. Prasnicki, VMI Alumni Agencies chief executive officer (far left), accept the gift from the three campaign committee co-chairmen, (from left) Buddy Bryan ’71; James Kelly ’71, class agent; and Lanny Gault ’71.—Photo by Micalyn Miller, VMI Alumni Agencies.
Over the weekend of April 22–24, 2022, the Class of 1972 celebrated its 50th Reunion. As has been a longstanding tradition, the class conducted a fundraising campaign to mark this milestone reunion. At the Saturday morning reunion parade, the Class of 1972 presented the Institute with the initial proceeds of their effort: $6,121,972 in gifts and commitments. The gift was presented by Peter Ramsey ’72, John Fick ’72, and Walter Chalkley ’72. Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, and David L. Prasnicki, VMI Alumni Agencies chief executive officer, accepted the gift.—Photo by Micalyn Miller, VMI Alumni Agencies.
VMIssion Endures 2022 Enjoys Considerable Success
By Scott Belliveau ’83, Communications Officer
Members of the VMI family—alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends— showed their tremendous support for the Institute during the online giving campaign, VMIssion Endures. All told, 931 donors—more than the goal of 900—gave $435,453.74 from April 4–7, 2022.
This was the fourth such effort conducted by the VMI Alumni Agencies, and like the previous efforts, many were involved in its development and success. “It was a wonderfully coordinated effort,” said Patti Cook, VMI Alumni Agencies director of annual and reunion giving. “Faculty and staff, everyone at the Agencies, alumni, and other members of the VMI family helped ensure this came together.”
Members of the faculty and staff, including the superintendent, appeared in promotional videos distributed to the VMI family. The message was simple and forceful: VMI’s mission—to graduate young people comprehensively prepared to be honorable, selfless, and purposeful servant-leaders— endures, as does the extraordinary way VMI accomplishes it. Moreover, those who execute that noble mission on post—the faculty, coaches, and staff—need the active partnership of those off post—alumni, families, and friends.
While the campaign’s purpose was the same as before—to raise money in support of the Institute and the Corps of Cadets—it did not have a dollar goal. Instead, the focus was on the number of donors. “We wanted to encourage participation, to give donors who might not respond to conventional fundraising appeals a chance to support the Institute,” explained Cook. “It was great to see the numbers steadily climb toward the goal and then break through it on the final day.” It is important to note that, while there was no dollar goal, a new giving record was set for this type of campaign.
Several challenges drove the participation, including two that were not preplanned by the Agencies. “We built some challenges into the campaign,” explained Cook, “like the two NCAA teams which had the most donors and the academic department receiving the most gifts would each receive an extra $1,000.
“Another challenge was set up by Bill Wieners ’85 between the Class of 1985 and the VMI New England Chapter. If the Class of 1985 had more donors, Bill would donate $1,839.11 to the VMI Class of 1985 Memorial Scholarship. If the New England chapter had more donors, Bill would donate $1,839.11 to the Col. Donald Jamison ’57 Scholarship fund.” (Editor’s Note: For the record, the Class of 1985 was victorious.)
Two anonymous alumni—one from the Class of 1965 and one from the Class of 1996— came forward with their own challenges. The older alumnus offered to donate $100,000 if the campaign met its donor goal. The younger alumnus came in during the campaign with a challenge meant to spur young alumni to show their support of VMI. If the Classes of 2012 to 2021 increased their donor count to 50 between 9:30 a.m. April 6 and 9:30 a.m. April 7, he stated he would donate $15,000 in support of VMI. “That challenge did the trick because, in those 24 hours, 98 young alumni made a gift,” Cook said.
Every campaign provides its own lessons or reveals new trends in fundraising. When asked what the VMI Alumni Agencies learned from this one, Cook replied, “Texting is becoming increasingly important, which means that cellphones and other portable devices are the means of choice for more people, regardless of age, to communicate with us as well as make donations.”
Something else long known was confirmed by the campaign: “We have a lot of great, loyal supporters, and their enthusiasm is amazing,” said Cook. “Their strong participation in this campaign reflects the confidence of the VMI family in the Institute’s enduring mission. It was a monumental effort by alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends, and we could not be more thrilled with the results.”
April 4-7, 2022
THANK THANK YOU YOU
931 931 Donors Donors $435,453.74 for VMI Cadets$435,453.74 for VMI Cadets
The VMI family came together for four days of generous support for the Corps of Cadets and the enduring mission of the Institute.
Thanks to YOU, we can ensure the VMI Mission Endures.
Most Donors 1985 58 Donors
Challenge Dollars Unlocked $127,101
Alumni 76% Parents 14% Faculty & Staff 5% Friends 4% Cadets 1%
By Scott Belliveau ’83, Communications Officer
The VMI family came forward with more than $182,000 in direct support of the Institute’s athletic program, as well as each of its 18 athletic teams, during the Compete to Win: Special Ops campaign May 3–4, 2022.
The campaign’s focus, according to Andrew C. Deal ’12, Keydet Club chief operating officer, was “enhancing the experience for our cadet-athletes—from their travel experience, to equipment, and to the overall improvement of our facilities.” Some of these things might seem small, but they are important. “If our cadet-athletes stay in a hotel and have better nutrition before an event, they’ll be better prepared to compete,” said Deal.
“It’s much the same with equipment and facilities. Better equipment and facilities help hone the competitive edge of our teams. They also aid our coaches in their recruitment efforts.”
The campaign featured video messages from Deal, various coaches, and Jim Miller, VMI director of intercollegiate athletics; a dedicated email campaign; and an enhanced social media effort. “We wanted to be sure the entire VMI family understood the need to help their favorite teams and the program as a whole.”
In two days, more than 425 people came forward with their support and directed support to every team, as well as the Athletic Director’s Discretionary Fund. Deal pointed out that many of them made their first gifts in support of VMI’s cadet-athletes. “Seeing people of all ages join the ranks of Keydet Club donors has been one of most satisfying aspects of this campaign,” said Deal. “Their participation indicates there is a growing confidence in the direction of our athletic program and the Institute as a whole.”
While the campaign is officially concluded, according to Deal, it continues to inspire donors. “Gifts are still coming in, and some people have contacted us about possible major gifts.”
“It has been gratifying to see how the VMI family has responded to this campaign. We thank everyone who participated in it and so helped ensure our cadet-athletes experience excellence in training and competition,” Deal concluded.
May 3-4, 2022 $182,000 $182,000 raised raised
More Than 425 People including 130 First-Time Donors supported 18 Teams
Payne ’58: VMI Sent the Signal
By Scott Belliveau ’83, Communications Officer
An extraordinary event happened at VMI in spring 1958: A cadet—John B. Payne III ’58— was the guest of honor at a VMI parade. He received this high honor as a reward for winning a regional research competition sponsored by the American Institute of Electrical Engineers and held at Duke University against 21 other schools. At the parade, he also received an award from the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.
But that’s not the most interesting part of an extraordinary story of pioneering work in electronics and decades of entrepreneurship.
Oddly, a career in electronics began in a woodworking class in junior high school. Payne was 14 when he took the class because he had been held back in school twice. The reason: He was challenged by dyslexia, and so had trouble reading, writing, and memorizing information. His troubles with dyslexia did not extend to other aspects of learning, however. “I always had a very strong interest in mechanical, electrical things, and math,” he explained.
Payne’s performance in woodworking apparently impressed his teacher because he was invited to join a group learning about electricity and electronics. “The first thing taught was Ohm’s Law, the most basic thing in electronics,” which “describes the relationship between current, voltage, and resistance,” according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. After the teacher demonstrated the concept, “I was fascinated and grasped the idea quickly.”
As a young high school student, Payne learned how radios work, how to read a schematic, and how to build a radio receiver. “These concepts live with me to this day, and they allowed me to accelerate my learning in later years,” he said.
While in high school in Arlington Heights, Texas, Payne began building his own ham radio equipment and won local science fairs by demonstrating it by talking to other “hams” all over the world. His achievement was more impressive because his school did not offer classes in electronics.
During a visit to a local diner, he noticed people congregating at a nearby filling station. Curious, he introduced himself and learned they were there because it was a good place to listen to police and fire calls on specially built radios.
Payne ’58
Learning that Payne built ham radio equipment, they asked if he could create a receiver that would let them listen to police cars and fire engines as well as calls in neighboring communities. It was then the entrepreneurial bug bit. “I was not one to pass up an opportunity to fund my ham equipment,” he explained.
With help from technicians at the local police and fire radio service center, Payne started work by modifying war surplus radio equipment and changing crystals’ frequency by applying sulfuric acid. Payne returned with the prototype, and someone bought it for $50 (about $525 in 2022).
Next, he built and installed devices that allowed car radios to pick up emergency calls. After selling a few to the people at the filling station, Payne offered them for sale through a newspaper ad, charging $20 each.
As a high school senior, Payne’s attention shifted from his business to his future as an electronics engineer. “By going to school, I would learn the theory behind the electronic circuits I dabbled with.”
His father, a 1921 graduate of VMI who studied civil engineering and received the First Jackson-Hope Medal, suggested VMI. His father’s tales of barracks life had been reinforced by his mother, who told him of his father’s academic success at VMI.
The family connection appealed to Payne, and as he applied for colleges, he was daunted by the prospect of filling out lengthy application forms and writing the required essays. “Dyslexia limited me when it came to English [and] writing.”
As his father helped Payne with the application process, he told him more about his experiences at VMI and how “his education there had proved a big advantage in the workplace and life in general.” Whatever he said must have been persuasive because, in early September 1954, Payne began the two-day train trip to Lexington.
Payne’s experience related to radios and electronics stood him in good stead as an electrical engineering major. “With the basic theory I was learning, everything was falling into place.” He also did well in mathematics, chemistry, and mechanical drawing.
Yet, his dyslexia made the study of history and English difficult, and it also created difficulties in the Rat Line, as he had trouble remembering material from the Rat Bible and even other cadets’ names. He flunked his second semester of English, after which VMI asked that he pass the course that summer at another school in order to return. He took the course at TCU. “I don’t know how I passed, but I did—and that was all that mattered.”
Payne pressed on—wearing academic stars his last two years—and he was rewarded for his perseverance during his 1st Class year. At the time, the electrical engineering department required its cadets to submit a research project, either a full-length paper or a shorter paper and piece of hardware. Knowing his dyslexia would hinder writing a full-length paper, he took the latter option.
At first, Payne was concerned he might not be able to get the parts he needed to create his senior research project. He went to Col. John S. Jamison Jr., Class of 1926, department head, who, along with Col. Lee J. Nichols Jr. ’44, directed him to a “cubbyhole in the lower part of Nichols Engineering Hall,” where there were surplus parts and equipment that might suit him. They also agreed to buy a new volt/ohm meter and lend him an oscilloscope.
Payne’s project—a simplified telemetry system—consisted of a transmitter-receiver pair. “It enabled me to input variable analog data to the transmitter, which sent them by a wireless radio signal to the receiver from which the data was extracted.”
Designing and building the devices demanded much of Payne’s time. “I spent many hours, days, and nights in the lab and so missed out on many activities.” Indeed, his history in the Bomb states, he “always managed to find those extra minutes to spend on his electrical monster in the E.E. lab.”
Those sacrifices bore fruit in terms of winning the research competition and giving him the confidence to pursue graduate study. During his 1st Class year, he saw an announcement of a scholarship sponsored by the Hughes Aircraft Company, a major aviation company that was a pioneer in electronics. Recipients would receive the funds to enroll in the University of Southern California’s master’s degree program in electrical engineering and work part-time at Hughes.
Excited by the idea of working for such a company while he received an advanced degree, Payne applied and submitted a request for an educational deferment from the Air Force. In mid-May, he was accepted—one of only 25 nationally—to the program, and the Air Force approved his educational deferment. With a path to the electronics industry ahead of him, Payne remembered thinking, “I am well on my way.”
Starting at Hughes in July 1958, Payne worked with senior engineers on major projects, such as developing the search radar for the B-58 bomber. He also designed a power supply system to regulate the electricity generated by the solar panels of a geosynchronous communications satellite— that system later flew into space.
In 1960, Payne graduated from USC and began pursuing his Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University. There, he conceived a method for measuring electron resonance in crystal materials, work which was the basis of his doctoral dissertation.
In 1963, he reported for duty with the Air Force, working as a project officer at the then-Rome Air Development Center in Rome, New York. There, he specialized in phased-array antenna systems and signal processing as they related to radar. Payne describes this work as “quite satisfying.” He wrote extensively and traveled nationally and internationally to present his work and served on Department of Defense and NATO committees. The Air Force recognized his work with an award in 1964.
In 1968, after being a civilian scientist at RADC for a year, he moved to the private sector. He saw an opportunity in the company Engelmann Microwave, where he established a separate division. “It was a time when microwave technology was moving into widespread practical application,” he said. “Five years after joining Engelmann, I became aware of a product that needed development, which Engelmann was not interested in pursuing.” Specifically, it was a microwave-phased locked signal source, which is used to communicate between satellites and ground stations as well as the point-to-point transmission of television, voice, and data over long distances. Payne developed this on his own in his basement. Soon, the same entrepreneurial spirit led him to strike out on his own and establish Communications Techniques Inc. As the sole supplier of such equipment, CTI grew rapidly.
Five years later, basing its product line on the technologies Payne developed in his basement, CTI soon had clients in the United States as well as Canada, India, and Europe. However, Payne needed to grow the company, and in order to do so, he hocked his house and anything else of value.
The gamble paid off, and CTI was soon an industry leader. In 1987, Payne sold the company to Dover Corporation, a Fortune 500 company led by Dick Bernstein ’65. Payne continued at the company for another three years before he retired. The company was making $15-$20 million in annual sales.
By “retiring,” Payne did not kick back and relax. He already had his eyes on a company— NURAD—a CTI customer that built aircraft antennas and radio equipment for the television industry. He purchased NURAD’s radio division and renamed it Nucomm, Inc.
Under Payne’s leadership, Nucomm became a leading manufacturer of equipment related to electronic newsgathering. Electronic newsgathering, according to Payne, “is what allows outdoor events, such as golf matches, the New York and Boston marathons, and NASCAR to send live television to the viewing public.” The same equipment allows television stations to send live programming from TV studios to TV transmitters. Nucomm’s equipment was used extensively in the United States and around the world. One of the proudest moments for Payne was when its equipment was used to provide live coverage of the opening ceremonies and all outdoor events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
In 2007, with Nucomm enjoying annual sales of $100 million, Payne again decided to sell his company. As he did with CTI, he worked for another three years and then retired.
Like many longtime entrepreneurs, he proved an utter failure at retirement. He soon began options trading on the New York Stock Exchange, an activity that soon turned quite serious. In a couple of years, he founded Mallard Investment LLC, through which he invests some of the income he realizes through options trading in startup companies.
As busy as he has been and continues to be, Payne has maintained close ties to VMI. “I go back to VMI religiously,” he says, “albeit primarily to see my daughter, Mary Beth, who is married to Colonel Mac Baker of the electrical engineering department, and their children.” He has attended his class reunions faithfully, and he has applied his technical and business experience to the Institute’s betterment by serving on the boards of VMI Research Labs and the VMI Foundation, the former from 2003–09.
He also has been a generous donor to the Institute. In 1987, he established the Jamison-Payne Institute Professorship in Electrical Engineering. Asked why it was important to him to support VMI in this way, Payne replied, “Colonel Jamison helped me get the Hughes Scholarship— which started my career—based on the strong recommendation he gave me. He was, therefore, a significant part of my success, and I’ve always felt I owed him something. So, when VMI asked for a donation, I felt this was appropriate.”
According to Col. James C. Squire, Ph.D., who has held the professorship since 2018, the funds enable him to provide critical support to cadet-led research projects. These include a robotics project in 2021, which helped Eric Munro ’21, the project’s leader, secure a Bill and Melinda Gates Scholarship to Cambridge University. “Complex projects require iterative design methods, so the support I receive from the Jamison-Payne Professorship is absolutely critical to my research advisees’ successes.”
Support from the professorship has also advanced Squire’s professional development. “I typically consult during the summers, but with the funding, I have not needed to do so. Instead, I wrote my first textbook, co-authored with Lieutenant Colonel Julie Brown [Ph.D.] of the department of English, rhetoric, and humanistic studies, for those learning the computer language MATLAB.”
It is often said that where your treasure is, so too is your heart. So, it speaks much about Payne’s devotion to VMI when he pointed out that, while he appreciated what Penn State and USC provided him in the way of education, “I only give to VMI.”
