PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID LYNCHBURG, VA PERMIT NO. 542 UNIVERSITY RELATIONS 902 PRICES FORK ROAD UNIVERSITY GATEWAY CENTER, SUITE 2100 BLACKSBURG, VA 24061 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED m agazine SSU M M ER 20 19 V O L. 41, N O . 3 V TM A G .V T.ED U m ag az in e S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 IM AG IN E TH AT At Virginia Tech, we leverage new ideas and innovative technology to create real-world solutions that have lasting global impact. That’s our role. Claim yours... vt.edu CL A IM YOUR ROLE W O R L D AT W A R The influence of World War I on Virginia Tech B U R N I N G I S S U E S A fiery course in forest ecology A DE ST IN AT IO N FO R CR EA TI VI TY A ND IN NO VA TI ON Taking better banking to new places. Did you know Atlantic Union Bank has been serving your community for over a century? It’s true. We’ve been a trusted banking partner since 1902. And, although we’ve grown over the years to become the largest Virginia-based bank—offering financial strength, industry-specific expertise, and entrepreneurial innovation—we haven’t lost touch with our customer-centric approach to banking. We are in your community every day with a full suite of commercial banking, treasury and wealth management solutions, as well as other tools that offer flexible solutions to help you reach your personal and business goals. Visit AtlanticUnionBank.com or a branch near you. #GoHokies #VirginiasBank MEMBER FDIC EQUAL HOUSINGLENDER VTAlumniMagazineADv2.indd 1 4/29/2019 4:38:10 PM TUNNEL VISION Once a picturesque village in France, Vauquois became a World War I battleground. Soldiers from both sides dug tunnels in an attempt to destroy their enemies with underground explosives. Virginia Tech’s Vauquois Experience Exhibit uses virtual technology and a physical replica to enable participants, like student Dillon Cutaiar, to learn more about the experiences of the soldiers who lived and fought in the tunnels. Turn to page 34 to read about the immersive exhibit. This collaborative project is an example of the research that is sup- ported in Virginia Tech’s Creativity and Innovation District, which is featured on page 24. CONTENTS EW CO UR TE SY O F JO E W HE EL ER ON THE COVER: Created by movement and media artist Scotty Hardwig in collabora- tion with visual artist Zach Duer, “Body, Full of Time” is a choreographic work that uses motion capture, projection, and interactive avatar designs. Photo by David Franusich, a graduate student in the School of Visual Arts. (at right) Virginia Tech’s award-win- ning FutureHAUS took center stage in New York City’s Times Square during NYCxDESIGN in May. 4 6 46 70 72 DEPARTMENTS PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE AROUND THE DRILLFIELD 16 How Tech Ticks 18 Question 19 Athletics 20 Corps 21 What's In It? AROUND THE HOKIE NATION 46 Alumna Profile: Morgan Blackwood Patel 51 Class Notes 59 Travel 62 Retro 63 Alumni Commentary 64 Family STILL LIFE END NOTE FEATURES IMAGINE THAT With dedicated spaces designed to exercise imaginations, Virginia Tech’s Creativity and Innovation District moves ideas from concept to real-world application. THE TRANSFORMATIONAL EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR On July 2, 1919, Virginia Tech unveiled a stone memorial, The Rock, dedicated to those who died in World War I. The monument's dedication was the beginning of an era of change for the university. BURNING ISSUES Students in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment are learning how to use fire to restore and protect forests. 24 34 40 VTMAG.VT.EDU | 5 Send us a message at vtmag@vt.edu. SOMETHING TO SAY? VIRGINIA TECH MAGAZINE S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 , V O L . 4 1 , N O . 3 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 4 | PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE O C DM WORLD VIEW I read with interest your article on the trip to South Africa by the 17 agricul- tural students (VT Monthly, March; also see related story page 7.) I lived in South Africa for 13 years, coming back to the U.S. in 2010. I’ve experienced being in a huge com- bine on a wheat farm, visiting Kruger National Park, living on a mountain alongside baboons outside Cape Town, living next to a grape farm in the wine district, ministering to people in the townships, and experiencing the won- derful people and foods of this richest country of Africa. I’ve watched the neighboring country, Zimbabwe, fall from the breadbasket of Africa to 95 percent unemploy- ment and talked with the people who fled to South Africa to find work so they could send money back to their families. Your students are greatly blessed, and I am pleased that they had the opportunity to see the strug- gles others face. A great article and well done. L. Eugene Hayden ’58 Raleigh, North Carolina VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION I am the uncle of Justin Graves (spring 2019, page 42.) I admire all that the Virginia Tech community has done to support my nephew’s success academically and professionally. I thank God for the VT family for cre- ating a place of study that welcomes all. Being from Tennessee, I’m a big Ten- nessee Vols fan, but I’m also a VT fan. Go HOKIES! Jessie J. Gillis Jr. Humboldt, Tennessee WINNING SMILE: Virginia Tech President Tim Sands interacts with colleagues at an event honoring numerous members of the faculty and staff. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE A PIPELINE FOR TALENT E D I T O R Erica Stacy A R T D I R E C T O R Shanin Glenn S E C T I O N E D I T O R S / W R I T E R S Mason Adams, Jenny Kincaid Boone, Olivia Coleman, Richard Lovegrove, Travis Williams, Grace Baggett (student intern), Brendan Coffey (student intern), Haley Cummings (student intern) D I G I TA L D E S I G N Bruce Harper (webmaster) P R O D U C T I O N C O O R D I N AT O R Megan Zalecki P H O T O G R A P H E R S Olivia Coleman, Dan Mirolli, Ray Meese, Erin Williams D I R E C T O R O F D E S I G N & D I G I TA L S T R AT E G Y Brad Soucy E X E C U T I V E E D I T O R Jesse Tuel S E N I O R A S S O C I AT E V I C E P R E S I D E N T F O R A L U M N I R E L AT I O N S Matthew M. Winston Jr. P U B L I S H E R Tracy Vosburgh CONTACTS STORY IDEAS AND LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: EMAIL: VTMAG@VT.EDU. MAIL: VIRGINIA TECH MAGAZINE; 902 PRICES FORK ROAD; UNIVERSITY GATEWAY CENTER, SUITE 2100; BLACKSBURG, VA 24061. ADDRESS CHANGES: EMAIL: ALUMNIDATA@VT.EDU. PHONE: 540-231-6285 BETWEEN 8 A.M. AND 5 P.M., MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. CLASS NOTES: EMAIL: CLASSNOTES@VT.EDU. MAIL: CLASS NOTES, ALUMNI ASSOCIATION; HOLTZMAN ALUMNI CENTER, VIRGINIA TECH; 901 PRICES FORK RD.; BLACKSBURG, VA 24061. ADVERTISING: IMG COLLEGE, BRANDON.FORBIS@IMG.COM, 540-641-0754. Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, or veteran status; or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees, or applicants; or any other basis protected by law. For inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, contact the executive director for Equity and Access at 540-231-8771 or Virginia Tech, North End Center, Suite 2300, 300 Turner St. NW, Blacksburg, VA 24061. I recently had the privilege of addressing the Class of 2019 during our spring commencement ceremony. The rain didn’t dampen their enthusiasm or appreciation for our commence- ment speaker, Coach Frank Beamer. These graduates have a lot to be excited about, as they go into the world with tools and experiences that will help them be suc- cessful in their careers and life in general. As members of our newest alumni class plan their post-gradua- tion future, another group of students, the Class of 2023, is pre- paring to begin their first year as Hokies in the fall. The skills and experiences they will need to be ready for the world in four years are already changing, and Virginia Tech will adapt to sup- port their success and the rapidly expanding industries that will need them. This is one of higher education’s greatest challenges: antici- pating the future, staying ahead of the curve, and developing curricular and co-curricular experiences that continue to be rel- evant and rewarding. At Virginia Tech, our commitment to excellence and our modern land-grant mission is driving a transformative process to ensure that we continue to provide an extraordinary expe- rience that meets the needs of our students, communities, and partners. This summer our Board of Visitors will affirm the university’s priorities for the future with a new strategic plan, developed collaboratively with the university community and alumni. The rapidly expanding need for talent in technology and related industries is a primary focus. As I meet with industry, govern- ment, and economic development leaders from around the country, it’s clear that Virginia Tech is well-positioned to make a difference. As the nation’s fifth largest producer of engineer- ing graduates, we are uniquely qualified to support the rapid expansion of the tech sector and related demands across multi- ple industries. The development of the Innovation Campus in Northern Vir- ginia, the strategic expansion of our Blacksburg campus, and our advancing health and research presence in Roanoke will maxi- mize our impact. And our dedication to service and outreach in the spirit of our motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), will truly differentiate Virginia Tech from the rest as we develop a pipe- line of diligent, creative, versatile leaders who are ready to meet the challenges ahead. Tim Sands is Virginia Tech’s 16th president. BEST FRIENDS: Justin Graves ’12, MAED ’14, and his dog, Charlotte, visit with Growley II, the canine ambassador for the Corps of Cadets. DRILLFIELD EXPLORING SOUTH AFRICA THROUGH AGRICULTURE SEVENTEEN VIRGINIA TECH STUDENTS SPENT A PORTION of winter break learning firsthand about South Africa as part of a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences study abroad course on food security, wildlife, and conservation. Over the course of two weeks, the students journeyed through South African agri- culture, history, economics, politics, culture, and society. “Whether it is talking about race and the challenges of re- appropriating farms in the wake of apartheid, or it is examin- ing conservation agricultural practices in an arid country with issues of food inequality, many of the challenges that make South Africa so interesting and dynamic are connected to agri- culture. Agriculture is a common thread that unites us all,” said Mark Reiter, an associate professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and Extension specialist at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center. He was one of two leaders on the trip. 16 How Tech Ticks 18 Question 19 Athletics 20 Corps 21 What’s In It? AROUND THE NEWS | DRILLFIELD | 7ZE KE B AR LO W NEWS ON SAFARI: Virginia Tech students spot a tortoise during a winter break study abroad course in South Africa. L e a r n m o r e a b o u t t h e s t u d y a b r o a d e x p e r i e n c e a n d v i e w a v i d e o a t v t m a g . v t . e d u . A D V E N T U R E A F R I C A 8 | DRILLFIELD | NEWS UNIVERSITY LEADERS SHARED PLANS and fielded questions about Virginia Tech’s new Innovation Campus and the commonwealth’s tech-talent pipe- line during a town hall in April for the Blacksburg campus community. Students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered in Haymarket The- atre inside Squires Student Center for the hour-long public event. Questions from the audience ranged from the enrollment timeline and location specifics to details about how the Innovation Campus will benefit students in disciplines other than computer science. The university expects to begin offer- ing Innovation Campus courses in start-up space in Alexandria beginning in fall 2020. But as part of an agree- ment with the state to fulfill a critical IN A GIANT LEAP FOR VIRGINIA TECH, the first satellite built by undergraduate students has launched into space. The students delivered their small satellite to Houston to be incorporated into Nano- Racks’ commercially developed CubeSat deployer. Virginia Tech’s satellite, along with two satellites from other Virginia uni- versities, launched on the payload section of Northrop Grumman’s Antares rocket, headed to the International Space Station. The project’s mission: Obtain measure- ments of the properties of the Earth’s atmosphere in low Earth orbit. As the satellites’ orbits decay due to atmospheric drag, the satellite instruments will quan- tify atmospheric density. For the past several years, an interdisci- plinary team of 50 undergraduate students from the College of Engineering and the College of Science developed CubeSat at tech-talent shortage, Virginia Tech will expand some existing programs at its Falls Church campus this fall, according to Cyril Clarke, executive vice president and provost. “Construction on the Innovation Campus will happen within the next two to five years, though the full scale of pro- grams will unfold over eight years,” said Brandy Salmon, who is founding manag- ing director of the Innovation Campus. In April, David Baker was hired as assis- tant director of governmental and com- munity affairs, based in Alexandria. In Blacksburg, Virginia Tech expects to add at least 2,000 more undergradu- ate students studying computer science, computer engineering, and related dis- ciplines over the next five years, along with 140 new faculty members. the Center for Space Science and Engi- neering Research at Virginia Tech, known as Space@VT. The project has provided students studying aerospace engineering, mechanical engi- neering, electrical and computer engineer- ing, computer science, and physics with crucial hands-on experience in both space- craft design and manufacturing. The initiative began in June 2016 as part of the Virginia CubeSat Constellation, a collaborative effort between the Vir- ginia Space Grant Consortium and four of its member universities—Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, Uni- versity of Virginia, and Hampton Uni- versity. All three of the university-built CubeSats deployed simultaneously into orbit by astronauts aboard the Interna- tional Space Station, where they will function as a constellation. VIRGINIA TECH LEADERS HOLD BLACKSBURG TOWN HALL ABOUT INNOVATION CAMPUS SATELLITE BUILT BY VIRGINIA TECH UNDERGRADUATES TRAVELS TO SPACE NEWS | DRILLFIELD | 9 VIRGINIA TECH TO FREEZE UNDERGRADUATE TUITION, INCREASE MINIMUM STARTING PAY FOR STAFF TWO RECENT UNIVERSITY MOVES will benefit undergraduates and full- time staff employees. In April, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors voted to freeze tuition for undergraduates for the 2019-20 aca- demic year. Tuition will remain at $11,420 annually for resident students. Also, to further support low- and middle-income families seeking a Virginia Tech education, the univer- sity will allocate approximately $5 million in additional resources—the largest one-year increase in its his- tory for the second year in a row— toward financial aid programs next year. This raises total institutional support for student financial aid to more than $55 million for 2019-20. In July, Virginia Tech will increase its minimum starting pay for full- time, benefits-eligible staff employ- ees to $12 per hour. The new pay rate will take effect July 10. Virginia Tech’s current minimum starting pay for full-time, benefits-eligible staff is $10.25 per hour and was last adjusted in May 2018. This increase will raise the annual salary of approximately 225 employ- ees who currently make less than $12 per hour. Approximately 312 employees who make between $12 and $13.50 per hour will also receive a salary increase. DMCO UR TE SY O F O DU B AT TE N C O LL EG E O F EN GI N EE RI N G & TE CH N O LO GY , D M MOOSE’S GREATEST SUPERPOWER is his unconditional love. During the past five years, the 7-year- old therapy dog has partnered with Trent Davis (pictured above), his owner and a counselor and coordina- tor of Virginia Tech’s Animal Assisted Therapy at Cook Counseling Center, in more than 5,000 individual and group counseling sessions. Moose also has been part of countless hours of outreach. He has become one of Vir- ginia Tech’s most beloved celebrities. In February, Moose was named the Virginia Veterinary Medical Associa- tion’s 2019 Animal Hero. The annual award is given to an animal that has performed a heroic act of service or provides daily outstanding service for humans. Moose not only embodies those qualities, but also highlights the association’s increased emphasis on mental wellness. “Moose loves you if you’re super smart, and he loves you if you got an F. He loves you if you’ve been in the hospital, and he loves you if you’re a sports star,” Davis said. “Moose doesn’t care if you have a mental health concern. He doesn’t care if you got an A or a B or if you didn’t get into college … That’s got a magic to it.” INFORMING INNOVATION: University leaders, including Brandy Salmon, found- ing managing director of the new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, discuss the future campus during a town hall in Blacksburg. LIFT OFF: Virginia Tech students Madison Brodnax and Nick Angle conduct a final in- spection of the Ceres satellite, which was named for the Roman goddess of agriculture. MOOSE, THERAPY DOG AND 'TRUE ANIMAL HERO' 10 | DRILLFIELD | NEWS STROKES ARE DEVASTATING EVENTS often associated with people over 65. But large numbers of infants have strokes, too. In the nation’s first multicenter pedi- atric stroke recovery trial, researchers and clinicians from 12 sites across the U.S. will evaluate an innovative thera- peutic approach to help 8-month-old to 24-month-old infants who have been diagnosed with strokes. Sharon Landesman Ramey, a profes- sor and distinguished research scholar at Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, is one of two lead principal inves- tigators for a five-year, $13.5 million grant to conduct the trial, called I-AC- QUIRE. The grant was awarded by the National Institute of Neurological Dis- orders and Stroke of the National Insti- tutes of Health. The Phase III trial will examine the effec- tiveness of pediatric therapy to increase upper extremity skills, gross motor development, and cognition in 240 children nationwide who experienced strokes when they were younger than 4 weeks old. Findings from the trial have the poten- tial to transform clinical rehabilitation for more than 3,000 newly diagnosed infants in the United States. RESEARCH SCHOLAR CO-LEADS NATION’S FIRST CLINICAL TRIAL FOR REHABILITATING INFANT STROKE VICTIMS NEWS | DRILLFIELD | 11 IT’S OFFICIAL—VIRGINIA TECH WILL observe Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday of October each year. As part of the university’s ongo- ing commitment to InclusiveVT, Uni- versity Council approved a resolution to observe this annual celebration of Native Americans to honor their place in history and culture. InclusiveVT is the university’s institutional and indi- vidual commitment to Ut Prosim (That I May Serve) in the spirit of commu- nity, diversity, and excellence. Vir- ginia Tech recognized Indigenous Peoples Day for the first time on Oct. 4, 2018. THE CALL WENT OUT AND HOKIES joined forces around the globe to answer in resounding fashion. More than 6,600 people gave during Vir- ginia Tech’s Giving Day, which began at noon on March 19 and ran through noon on March 20. The joint effort far surpassed last year’s participation total of 4,617 people and topped this year’s goal—5,500—by more than 20 percent. The landmark participation during the second-annual 24-hour fundraising cam- paign resulted in $2.8 million given to more than 500 areas across the university. The Giving Day effort included more than 340 ambassadors, who not only gave but encouraged others to join in, and nearly 120 matching or challenge gifts, roughly triple the 2018 total. Those gifts spanned 22 colleges and programs. Theresa Myers, a spring 2019 graduate in marketing who chaired the iSupport student giving campaign, said her mes- sage to peers was simple. “If we didn’t have this outside support, maybe half of your friends wouldn’t be able to attend such a great university,” Myers said, referencing the fact that more than 50 percent of students receive some type of financial aid. MORE THAN 6,600 HOKIES DONATED $2.8 MILLION ON GIVING DAY IN OTTER NEWS A RIVER OTTER BECAME VIRGINIA Tech’s social media sensation after it was spotted swimming in the Duck Pond in March. Jim Parkhurst, wildlife Extension specialist in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, said that otters have been observed else- where in the Stroubles Creek and Tom’s Creek systems. “I predict that it’s a young otter who could soon try to find a mate and start a family in the area around the pond,” Parkhurst said. The otter quickly became an online star. A photo on the university’s Ins- tagram account became its top post in the five years since the account was created. A photo on Tech’s Facebook page resulted in more than 6,000 reactions, plus more than 1,100 comments and 1,400 shares. Virginia Tech asked Hokies for name suggestions, resulting in a list that included Ot Prosim, Otter Sandman, Alma Motter, and Otterson Caldwell, among others. In a vote across Vir- ginia Tech’s social media platforms, Hokies overwhelmingly chose “Otter Sandman” as the otter’s name. Fo r a d d i t i o n a l d e t a i l s , i m a g e s , a n d v i d e o s r e l a t e d t o t h e s t o r i e s f e a t u r e d i n D r i l l f i e l d , g o t o v t m a g .v t . e d u . EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT. HOKIES LOVE TO GIVE: Virginia Tech’s annual Giving Day for 2019 began at noon on March 19 and ended at noon on March 20. DANCE CULTURE: Virginia Tech’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration featured traditional dances. VIRGINIA TECH TO OBSERVE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY TRANSFORMATIONAL RESEARCH: Sharon Landesman Ramey, professor and dis- tinguished research scholar at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, is co-leading the nation’s first clinical trial for infant stroke victims. AM AN DA L O M AN , R IC HA RD R AN DO LP H, K RI ST I D EC O UR CY , EW 12 | DRILLFIELD | NEWS LAST YEAR, MERCEDES ROBINSON, A third-year student at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, set her white coat aside and picked up a brief- case to pursue an MBA through Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. Robinson took advantage of a program, developed by both schools, to help future physicians attain skills needed to navigate challenges in health care management. “Earning an MBA really opened up an entire new world for me,” Robinson said. “I came away with more founda- tional business skills and a better under- standing of how organizations operate.” The combined program enabled her to earn her degree in one year, including a few courses she took the summer prior to starting the fall semester. Classes met one weekend per month and rotated meeting locations between Blacksburg, Roanoke, and Richmond. Robinson said one person who had a particular influence on her decision to do the program was Cynda Johnson, found- ing dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, who has both M.D. and MBA degrees. “Seeing how successful she’s been and the career path she has taken was definitely inspiring for me,” Robinson said. T. REX HAS A 3-FOOT- TALL RELATIVE A NEW RELATIVE OF THE TYRANNO- saurus rex—much smaller than the huge, ferocious dinosaur made famous in countless books and films, including “Jurassic Park”—has been discovered and named by a Virginia Tech paleon- tologist and an international team of scientists. The newly named tyrannosauroid dinosaur—Suskityrannus hazelae—stood roughly 3 feet tall at the hip and was about 9 feet in length, the entire animal only marginally longer than the skull of a fully grown T. rex, according to Ster- ling Nesbitt, an assistant professor with the Department of Geosciences in the Virginia Tech College of Science. In all, Suskityrannus hazelae is believed to have weighed between 45 and 90 pounds, compared with a roughly 9-ton T. rex. Its diet likely consisted of the same as its larger meat-eating counterpart. Nesbitt found the fossil at age 16 as a high school student participating in a dig expedition in New Mexico in 1998. Nesbitt and Doug Wolfe, who led the expedition, authored the paper, which was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. THIRD-YEAR MEDICAL STUDENT EARNS MBA THROUGH NEW PROGRAM RY AN A N DE RS O N , E W DIG IT: Sterling Nesbitt, an assistant professor, discovered a new relative of the Tyrannosaurus rex. TECH TIMES TWO: Mercedes Robinson, a student at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, is the first to earn an MBA through a new program that combines medicine and business. NEWS | DRILLFIELD | 13 LAURA DELAMONTE NAMED DEAN FOLLOWING A NATIONAL SEARCH, Virginia Tech Executive Vice Pres- ident and Provost Cyril Clarke has appointed Laura Belmonte as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Belmonte will begin at Virginia Tech on Aug. 1. “Laura’s strong record of scholarship, leadership, and achievement made her the ideal candidate to lead our College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences,” Clarke said. Belmonte currently serves as associ- ate dean for instruction and person- nel at Oklahoma State University. “I am honored to lead a college with a remarkable legacy of outstanding research and innovative teaching addressing all facets of the human experience,” Belmonte said. “I’m thrilled to support Virginia Tech’s visionary leadership and world-class partners and people in advancing knowledge, improving society, and celebrating diversity.” Rosemary Blieszner, Alumni Distin- guished Professor of Human Devel- opment, has served as dean of the college since 2017 and will be return- ing to the faculty in the fall. Belmonte holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Geor- gia and a master of arts and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. NEWS REEL VIRGINIA TECH VIDEOGRAPHERS HAVE BEEN HARD AT WORK CAPTURING THE UNIVERSITY’S NEWS AND EVENTS. WATCH THESE VIDEOS AND MANY OTHERS AT VIDEO.VT.EDU/. FELINE OBESITY STUDY “Fat cats” and their owners participated in a study conducted at the Virginia-Maryland Col- lege of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech to discover how owners’ perceptions of their cats’ quality of life were influenced by adding food toys to the cats’ weight-loss regimen. HOKIES GATHER FOR SPRING WEEKEND EVENTS Thousands of Hokies flocked to campus on April 13 for Spring Weekend events. The day began with the 3.2 mile Run in Remembrance, with more than 14,000 people walking and running. A family tailgate followed, along with the Hokies spring football game. ACCELERATE FESTIVAL 2019 Virginia Tech and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History held the ACCel- erate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Inno- vation Festival on April 5-7 in Washington, D.C., which showcased research in science, engineering, arts, and design. BREAKING THROUGH ADVERSITY: ANDREW YOUNG’S INSTRUMENTAL INSPIRATION Andrew Young, a junior at Virginia Tech, was born without a left arm from the elbow down. He taught himself how to play guitar. Now he’s in a band and performs solo. AN DR EA B RU N AI S YOUR GIVING HELPS our students get ready to make their mark. Support the hands-on learning that prepares them to excel. Make a difference for students with your gift today. Difference Maker GIVE BY JUNE 30. → VT.EDU/GIVE → 1-800-533-1144 16 | DRILLFIELD | HOW TECH TICKS HOW TECH TICKS | DRILLFIELD | 17 HOW TECH TICKS GRADUATION CAPS ARE MORE THAN JUST HEADPIECES THAT COMPLETE THE TRADITIONAL REGALIA. FOR MANY HOKIES, THE CAPS ARE WINDOWS THAT OFFER A GLIMPSE OF THE WEARER’S PERSONAL STYLE. STUDENTS DECORATE MORTARBOARDS WITH MESSAGES THANKING MOM AND DAD, DECLARING FUTURE PLANS, SHOWCASING HOKIE PRIDE, OR FEATURING ANY NUMBER OF CREATIVE INSPIRATIONS. JB CH RI ST IN A FR AN US IC H, JA CK M AY ER - GO VE RN O R' S O FF IC E, E W , L O GA N W AL LA CE , D M , E W , J IM S TR O UP , D M , E W , S KY LE R TA UB E CREATIVE CAPS Fo r p h o t o s a n d v i d e o f r o m s p r i n g c o m m e n c e m e n t 2 0 1 9 , g o t o v t m a g .v t . e d u . CAPPING IT OFF | 1918 | DRILLFIELD | QUESTION COMMENCEMENT WOULDN’T HAPPEN each year without a certain contingent of Virginia Tech faculty—the ones who read the graduates’ names aloud. Each year, as faculty readers prepare to pronounce thousands of names in front of com- mencement crowds, they pore over lists of graduates, scribbling meticulous pho- netic notes and praying that they won’t get sick or lose their voices. Joe Merola, a chemistry professor, has been reading names for the Graduate School for at least 15 years. Cayce Myers, associate professor of communication, reads names for the Department of Communication, while Katie Wells, director of advising for the Pamplin College of Business, splits the list of more than 1,000 Pamplin gradu- ates with two other advisors this spring. WHY IS PRONOUNCING A GRADUATE’S NAME CORRECTLY SO IMPORTANT? MEROLA: “They’ve worked hard. For international students, their families will have come from all over the world. The worst thing that could happen to them is if you mess up their name, their moment in the sun. Their time on stage is fleet- ingly small.” HOW DO YOU PREPARE TO PROPERLY PRONOUNCE SO MANY NAMES? MYERS: “I have the students call me on my office phone and leave a voicemail of their pronunciation if they think that it will be mispronounced. I then will go through the cards [with graduates’ names on them], and if I think their name will be mispronounced, I email them and have them call me. I will go back and listen to it [voicemail] five or six times. Also, on the day of graduation, I get their attention, and I say, “I am reading your name, and if you haven’t called me or emailed me, let’s get it done now.” WHAT TIPS DO YOU TRY TO REMEM- BER WHEN YOU ARE ANNOUNCING NAMES? MEROLA: “You don’t want to get too monotonous. There’s a real problem because you’re doing name after name after name. You really do want to find a way to make that student special, and so you try to pronounce it [the name] with confidence, properly, and maybe if I can manage it, with a little twinkle in my voice.” WELLS: “You’ve just got to go with what comes out. You can’t try to go back. Just say it and say it with confidence. Say it once; say it loudly and with conviction.” WHAT DO YOU ENJOY ABOUT YOUR COMMENCEMENT ROLE? MEROLA: “Over the years of being here, opportunities that I’ve been given to serve, I cherish, I really enjoy. In this case, I just love doing it, and that term labor of love is really true. As long as I don’t screw up, I know that I’m helping and contributing to the day, which is a very big day for some people.” JB QUESTION SAY WHAT? Joe Merola Cayce Myers Katie Wells ATHLETICS THE ADVANTAGE LINE AFTER A CO-OP EXPERIENCE AT WALT Disney World her sophomore year, Amelia Griese ’19 realized she’d be in Blacksburg for five years to finish her major in mechanical engineering and minors in classical studies and art his- tory, so she looked for ways to get more actively involved on campus. She settled on sport clubs. And she picked one she had never played—rugby. “Only two on our team had played rugby before college, so everybody comes in at the same level,” Griese said. As a senior, Griese helped lead the team to a spot in the national club rugby championship game (they lost to Brigham Young) while serving as one of four co-captains and the match secretary, a position that required her to schedule matches and arrange all travel logistics. “It falls on the four of us to make this team work, which can be a handful when we’re full-time students and we’re trying to play the game,” Griese said. The skills she honed helped her land a job after graduation as a production supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. “It’s easy to fix a machine, but people are more dynamic,” Griese said. “Rugby’s given me great experience dealing with people. It also gave me a lot of real-world challenges learning to manage my time and prioritize. It’s a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding.” Julie Rhoads, Virginia Tech assistant director for sport clubs, and Megan Hughes, associate director for adminis- trative services in Recreational Sports, see those rewards every day. Their office helps with guidance and logistics, but it’s the 1,100 student-athletes who partici- pate on one of the 29 different teams at Virginia Tech who make the decisions and run the teams. “We know that people who are involved in activities like sport clubs have a better sense of belonging at the university, and they feel more supported,” Hughes said. “The grittiness required can translate to other areas, like in the academic realm.” Rhoads was president of her college’s cheerleading club team, which helped lead her to her current career. “It was ‘Oh, I can do this in a real-world setting!’ It’s kind of awesome,” she said. Unlike varsity student-athletes, many of whom get at least a partial scholarship, sport club participants pay to play, with annual dues ranging from $50 to $2,500 (rugby dues are $100). Teams do get a sti- pend from the university, but they also raise money for travel, meals, and lodging. Participants also find the training and conditioning time to be competitive. Rhoads points out that the women’s field hockey team won a national champion- ship in 2018, and 18 of 29 clubs went to their respective national tournaments. And athletes in lesser known sports, such as rugby, fencing, and cricket, get a kick out of just introducing more people to their passion. “What I was looking for in team sports is accountability to other people and build- ing relationships,” Griese said. “I can walk on campus and there’s at least 50 people I know really well.” RL BONUS POINTS: Amelia Griese (right) was one of four captains for the rugby team. LO GA N W AL LA CE , M IC HA EL K IE RN AN , O LI VE R M ER ED IT H, N O SH IN A BE DI N PREPARING TO PRONOUNCE THOUSANDS OF GRADUATES’ NAMES Read the ful l story at vtmag.vt .edu. IMPORTANT PRONOUNCEMENT CORPS OF CADETS MUSEUM ON THE MOVE RM20 | DRILLFIELD | CORPS OF CADETS CLICK THROUGH LAYERS OF TISSUE. Zoom in on a kidney. Walk inside a rib cage. First-year students at the Virginia-Mary- land College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech are getting an up-close and rare look at what is inside a dog’s body. Virtual reality (VR) makes it possible. Last fall, aspiring veterinarians who were enrolled in a physical exam and clinical skills course taught by Michael Nappier, an assistant professor of com- munity practice, began using VR equip- ment during their lab time to help them visualize a mid-sized dog’s body parts. The 3D moving picture of a dog stand- ing on all fours was the brainchild of Thomas Tucker, an associate professor in Virginia Tech’s School of Visual Arts and a fellow with the Institute for Cre- ativity, Arts, and Technology. Tucker and five graduate and undergrad- uate students, crafted the images using CT scans. The project team also worked with Bonnie Smith, an associate professor of anatomy in the college’s Department of Biomedical Sciences and Pathobiology, to identify the bones in a dog’s body and to position them correctly. Unreal Engine, a software used by video game developers, powers the technology. By wearing VR glasses, clicking a button, and moving around, students can navi- gate through layers of tissue, zoom in on specific organs, and step into parts of a virtual dog’s body. There also is a special- ized section that allows for a deeper view into the dog’s skull. “I literally stood inside the rib cage,” said veterinary student Sara Farthing, after she donned the VR glasses and followed the dog’s image floating virtually in front of her. VR technology creates an immersive expe- rience, and related applications are enhanc- ing education throughout the university. Veterinary students have access to the anatomical VR technology through the college’s library for use as they study. But the veterinary VR doesn’t stop with dogs. Tucker is leading a group of stu- dents and veterinary school faculty who are creating a VR cow for instructional use. They hope to complete it by the summer’s end. And look for a VR horse in the future. JB WHAT'S IN IT? VIRTUAL REALITY WHAT'S IN IT? | DRILLFIELD | 21 INSIDER INFORMATION: Victoria Umana uses virtual reality technology, which received funding through a University Libraries Open Education Faculty Initiative Grant. SH AY B AR N HA RT IF YOU SPOT A BRIGHT ORANGE TENT while strolling across Virginia Tech’s campus this summer, step inside. You may find pennants hanging along the tent’s edge, an alumnus’s World War II uniform, or candid photos from the days when Lane Hall was still the cadet bar- racks. You might even see yourself star- ing back from one of the photos. The Corps of Cadets’ Pop-Up Museum started two years ago as a way to evoke memories and showcase a few of the items from the Corps of Cadets Museum. The traveling mini-exhibition celebrates alumni, veterans, and history. The goal is to provide the community with an oppor- tunity to learn about the corps and uni- versity history through artifacts that date from as far back as 1872, when Addision Caldwell enrolled as the first student. Educational programming is the cor- nerstone of museum curation, and the pop-up museum creates spontaneous opportunities for the curator and cadet historians to talk with visitors about the corps’ history and its foundational ties to the university. A permanent museum space will be housed within the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building, the third build- ing planned in the revitalization project that brought two new residence halls to the Upper Quad. Pearson Hall opened in 2015, and New Cadet Hall opened in 2017. These buildings surround Lane Hall, the original barracks, which is now on the commonwealth and federal lists of historic buildings. Meanwhile, corps artifacts are on exhibit on the fourth floor of Newman Library. Although space is limited in Newman, there are acres of campus on which to expand the museum—if only for a few hours—through the pop-up museum. Samantha Riggin is the Corps of Cadets’ museum curator. TECHNOLOGY THAT’S GONE TO THE DOGS L o o k f o r t h e P o p - U p M u s e u m d u r i n g r e u n i o n w e e ke n d s a n d o t h e r l a r g e e v e n t s o n c a m p u s . P O P P I N G U P Watch as veterinary students experience anatomy virtual ly. V iew a video at vt .mag.vt .edu. UNLEASHED 22 | DRILLFIELD | MOMENT THERE’S A LOT OF TALENT OUT THERE IN KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. THEY SHOULDN’T BE DISCREDITED." Saket Bikmal, student OTHER-FOCUSED SAKET BIKMAL, A RISING SOPHOMORE studying computational neuroscience, is living a life focused on others. Inspired by his younger brother, Himal Bikmal, who was diagnosed with low-functioning autism at an early age, and the corresponding challenges his family faced trying to secure treatments and needed accommodations, Bikmal has developed a commitment to helping indi- viduals affected by the disability. Although Himal Bikmal cannot do many things for himself, he can paint. His art led Saket Bikmal and their father, Harish Bikmal, to co-found Zenaviv, a business that helps artists with special needs sell their work. According to the company’s website, “The name Zenaviv is derived from the Japanese word ‘zen,’ meaning enlightenment, and the Hebrew word ‘aviv,’ meaning spring, or colors of spring.” More than 66 percent of the profits from the art sales go directly to the artists, with the rest going back into the company to continue their mission. Zenaviv’s clients include businesses and homeowners. Bikmal’s education at Virginia Tech is a step toward his long-term goal to syn- thesize business and scientific research to become a “neuropreneur”—a designer of biomedical devices to help those with special needs. Bikmal is passionate about increasing awareness of spectrum disor- ders like autism. His goal is to empha- size each individual’s unique abilities and skills, so that they are not overlooked in the broader context of the disability. “There’s a lot of talent out there in kids with special needs,” said Bikmal. “They shouldn’t be discredited.” Bikmal was drawn to Virginia Tech’s specialized neuroscience program and the opportunities to explore relation- ships between computers, the brain, and disease pathology. As a first-year student, he was involved with Bio- activity, a biomedical design team, as well as the Neuroscience Club. While he was still in high school, Bikmal researched synthetic neurochemistry with the National Institutes of Health and tested drug effects on non-small cell lung cancer with the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition to continuing work with Zena- viv, Bikmal has set his sights on medi- cal school and starting his own company. Whatever the future may hold, Bikmal’s desire to serve is fueling his direction. “Even if I fail at one thing, I can always find another way to help people,” he said. Grace Baggett was a student intern with Virginia Tech Magazine. MOMENT DEBBIE TILLOTSON ’78 WAS LOOKING for a way to support the Corps of Cadets and engage her son and daughter-in-law in the family tradition of giving back to Virginia Tech. She found it by becoming the first Hokie to take advantage of the Virginia Tech Foundation Donor-Advised Fund, a new way to structure gifts to the university. “Working with the university’s Office of Gift Planning was quick and easy, and my donor-advised fund and stock transfer were handled efficiently,” Tillotson said. Donor-advised funds allow people to receive immediate tax benefits from a making a gift and still take their time to THE VIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION DONOR-ADVISED FUND decide which causes to support. Over the course of this decade, their popularity has grown dramatically. Across the nation, they accounted for 4.4 percent of charita- ble giving by individuals in 2010. By 2017, that had grown to 10.2 percent, according to the National Philanthropic Trust. Tillotson has used her fund to support several programs in the Corps of Cadets, including an Emerging Leader Scholar- ship and the Corps Leadership and Mili- tary Science Building project. Her son Ian ’15 and daughter-in-law Allison ’15, both serving in the Air Force, used the fund to establish a Giving Day challenge to help motivate other corps alumni and cadets to make gifts, too. A POWERFUL NEW GIFT OPTION The donor-advised fund also proved an ideal way for Minoka Gunesekera ’13 to structure a gift of real estate to support the Cranwell International Center. Gunesekera’s parents moved from Sri Lanka to Blacksburg in 1984 so her mother could earn a Ph.D. in biochemistry. They were among those cheering when the Cranwell International Center opened in 1986, and Gunesekera remembers finding a sense of community through that center as a child. Now, the Bhadra and Chrys Gunesekera Memorial Excellence Fund helps others feel equally at home. “I caught the ‘giving bug’ and hope to inspire others,” Gunesekera said. “The process was easier than I expected, and someone walked me through it. There was this journey of thinking about what it means to leave a legacy and serve others.” To learn more about the Virginia Tech Foundation Donor-Advised Fund, visit give.vt.edu/daf, email giftplanning@vt.edu, or call 540-231-2813. Debbie ’78, Allison ’15, Ian ’15, and Dan Tillotson Minoka Gunesekera ’13 DONOR ADVICE | DRILLFIELD | 23CO UR TE SY O F TH E TI LL O TS O N F AM IL Y, C F O C IMAGINE THAT | FEATURE | 25 IM AG IN E TH AT A DE ST IN AT IO N FO R CR EA TI VI TY A ND IN NO VA TI ON N THE EASTERN EDGE OF VIRGINIA TECH’S BLACKSBURG CAMPUS, WHERE THE UNIVERSITY INTERSECTS WITH DOWNTOWN, THE VIEW OF THE FUTURE IS CLEAR. HERE, THE UNIVERSITY IS MAPPING OUT A PLAYGROUND FOR THE INNOVATORS, INVENTORS, AND MAKERS WHO WILL BUILD THE WORLD OF TOMORROW. FINDING SOLUTIONS FOR COMPLEX PROBLEMS THAT RANGE FROM WATER CONSERVATION AND FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS TO ENERGY DEMANDS AND TRANSPORTATION CONGESTION WILL REQUIRE EXPERTISE FROM MANY SOURCES. FOR A GLOBAL COMMUNITY, THERE IS NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL STRATEGY. BY CREATING SPACES THAT BRING TOGETHER POETS AND SCIENTISTS, ENGINEERS AND ARTISTS, AND CHEMISTS AND HISTORIANS, VIRGINIA TECH IS LEVELING THE FIELD, ADVANCING CROSS- CULTURAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND EMPHASIZING THE COMBINED STRENGTHS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, BUSINESS, AND THE HUMANITIES. THE $250 MILLION CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DISTRICT CAPITALIZES ON EXISTING PROGRAMS AND FACILITIES WHILE CREATING NEW SPACES AND MAKING LARGE-SCALE CHANGES TO OTHERS. THE GOAL: TO GALVANIZE INNOVATION, FROM CONCEPTION TO COMMERCIALIZATION. O LO GA N W AL LA CE , A M AN DA L O M AN , O C, K YR IA KO S TS O UK AL AS , L O GA N W AL LA CE , " BO DY F UL L O F TI M E" - ZA CH D UE R, S CO TT Y HA RD W IG BY MASON ADAMS 26 | FEATURE | IMAGINE THAT IMAGINE THAT | FEATURE | 27 geographic extension of President Tim Sands’ Beyond Bound- aries vision—specifically the concept of students and faculty from a variety of backgrounds living and working together in a shared community. The idea was to combine areas of strength for Virginia Tech so that individuals working across disciplines can come together and create. Additionally, Rikakis wanted the district in Blacksburg to engage with Virginia Tech’s outposts in Roanoke and Northern Virginia. “We created aspirational plans where the Creativity and Innova- tion District would become a key feeder of innovation talent for the metropolitan D.C. area, and the partnerships and resources that would develop in metropolian D.C. would significantly support the district in Blacksburg,” Rikakis said. With a proven track record for projects that transcend traditional boundaries, ICAT stands as an example of how connections pro- vide value for university researchers, students, and private part- ners. The institute fosters creativity and critical reflection in a living illustration of Sands’ Beyond Boundaries vision. Attracting scholars from around the globe who work side- by-side in campus facilities such as the Cube at the Moss Arts Center, ICAT extends the reach of the district to the world. In April, ICAT partnered with the Smithsonian Lemmelson Center for Invention and Innovation to present the ACCel- erate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Innovation Festival at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The festival showcased creative projects emerging from the nine public and six private schools that make up the Atlan- tic Coast Conference. Additionally, the Creativity and Innovation District will expand creative influences from the eastern side of campus. A 596-bed residence hall is among the buildings planned for the area. The new construction, which is expected to be finished by summer 2021, will house two living-learning communities: Studio 72, for students interested in the arts and design, and Innovate, for those who want to pursue entrepreneurship. Student-athletes will also live in the residence hall. Nicky Cruz, a rising junior pursuing degrees in fashion mer- chandising and design and multimedia journalism with a minor in popular culture, lived in Studio 72, which is currently located in Pritchard Hall, during the 2018-19 academic year. Virginia Tech’s landmark district will be anchored by the Moss Arts Center; the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technol- ogy (ICAT), which includes the Center for Human-Computer Interaction and the Center for Research on SEAD Education; the School of Performing Arts, including Theatre 101; and the School of Visual Arts, including the Armory Gallery. Squires Student Center, Newman Library, the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown, and the Media Building will round out the district. Several will retain their traditional functions while offering enhanced spaces to foster creativity and innova- tion. The Media Building, however, will undergo a comprehen- sive renovation to support the initiative. “What we’re developing with the physical district and technolo- gies is all about student learning and giving students the oppor- tunity to develop in creative ways,” said Ruth Waalkes, associate provost for the arts and executive director of the Moss Arts Center. “It’s really about being able to engage with people across difference. That can mean art students working with engineers or computer scientists or collaborating across different lan- guages or cultural practices.” According to Cal Ribbens, head of the Department of Com- puter Science, “identifying a particular region of campus and intentionally creating space for this kind of learning will create more opportunities and a bigger impact that will affect entre- preneurship, partnerships with the private sector, and recruit- ment of talented students, staff, and faculty. “[The district] engages students in tackling broad problems that span disciplines. It’s important for students to get exposure working with people who think differently, who communicate differently, because they’re going to be part of diverse teams throughout their working lives,” Ribbens said. Although the Creativity and Innovation District exists in a defined location on campus, the environment supports tech- nology and other features that reach far beyond Blacksburg. “Bridge spaces” will allow companies, students, faculty, and other scholars to work in close proximity to create, incubate, and bridge ideas into viable businesses. The collaborations will connect to existing initiatives in Blacksburg, Roanoke, and Northern Virginia. “It’s not a district that says, ‘We’re going to do this particular project,’” said Knapp. “Instead, we’re saying, ‘If you’re interested in the creative process, from imagination to innovation, this is where you come to work with a like-minded community, no matter what your disciplinary origins.’” The district was conceived by Thanassis Rikakis, professor of bioengineering and performing arts and former provost, as a “Studio 72 is open to all majors, so we have a wide range of stu- dents studying different subjects,” Cruz said. “Seeing how art, science, engineering, or any other major differs with respect for creative process has introduced me to new ways of thinking and new points of view.” Ella Davis, a rising junior majoring in geoscience, chose Studio 72 as a way to keep in touch with her artistic interests even as she pursued a science degree. Davis said the blend of students pushes her to communicate more effectively about her scien- tific work and has helped her better understand how concepts transcend disciplines. “I think my favorite thing I’ve discussed with other people so far is how we all use very similar vocabularies, but we all have sit- uational definitions,” Davis said. “How I talk about the geome- try of rock beds and faults uses the same words an architecture major might when talking about the geometry of their designs, but we mean two completely different things.” The new residence hall will boast 30,000 square feet of public space devoted to artistic, performance, and research-based experiences to support engagement and meaningful connec- tions within the district, Blacksburg, and the world. Plans for the facility include apartments for residential faculty. The special living arrangement, which exists in other environments across campus, will allow instructors to be fully immersed and to engage with students in ways that will enrich the community. While the eastern side of campus is abuzz with construction and planning activities associated with the developing district, Virginia Tech leaders, faculty, and researchers are already recognizing the value of these creative collisions. The resulting projects and their outcomes will define and describe success for the district. "WE CREATED ASPIRATIONAL PLANS WHERE THE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DISTRICT WOULD BECOME A KEY FEEDER OF INNOVATION TALENT FOR THE METROPOLITAN D.C. AREA, AND THE PARTNERSHIPS AND RESOURCES THAT WOULD DEVELOP IN METROPOLITAN D.C. WOULD SIGNIFICANTLY SUPPORT THE DISTRICT IN BLACKSBURG." THANASSIS RIKAKIS, PROFESSOR OF BIOENGINEERING AND PERFORMING ARTS LO GA N W AL LA CE LO GA N W AL LA CE , J IM S TR O UP 28 | FEATURE | IMAGINE THAT | FEATURE | 29 RE SE AR CH PR OJ EC TS SHAKESPEARE’S GARDEN This theatre installation, created by a team of faculty from the School of Performing Arts, the School of Visual Arts, and ICAT, used the spatial audio capabilities of the Cube to create a specialized immersive sound and visual experience. Partici- pants meander along a path through the virtual space, listening to Shakespearean texts performed by Virginia Tech students. PROSTHETIC SENSORS A Virginia Tech professor and a team of undergraduate student researchers have made inroads in integrating electronic sensors with personalized 3D-printed prosthetics, which could one day lead to more affordable electric-powered prosthetics. HONEYBEE DANCES Two assistant professors and their teams decoded the language of honeybees in a way that allows scientists around the world to interpret the insects’ highly sophisticated and complex com- munications. The researchers discovered a universal calibration that translates honeybee communications across sub-species and landscapes. By deciphering the messages encoded in the insects’ movements, called waggle dances, the teams hope to better understand the insects’ preferred forages and the loca- tions of these food sources. BELLEIIVR An ICAT grant funded the creation of BelleIIVR, which allows the study of subatomic particle physics using virtual reality. The team used the Cube to create a virtual supercollider that allowed an untethered, locomotive virtual-reality exploration of parti- cle physics. Now, the team has created a computer version and is working on one for mobile devices. “ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO TAKE CLASSIC WORK LIKE SHAKESPEARE AND THRUST IT INTO THE FUTURE HERE IN THE CUBE IS REALLY DYNAMIC. THAT IS SOMETHING THAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN ONLY HERE AT VIRGINIA TECH." RUTH WAALKES, ASSOCIATE PROVOST FOR THE ARTS AND EXEC- UTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MOSS ARTS CENTER THE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DISTRICT BRINGS TOGETHER SCIENTISTS AND ARTISTS COMMITTED TO EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE. THESE RESEARCHERS MAY EMPLOY NEW METHODS OR INTERPRET RESULTS THROUGH SEEMINGLY DISPARATE LENSES. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN GREAT IDEAS MEET GREAT MINDS? LE O P IIL O N EN , E W EW , L O GA N W AL LA CE Learn more about the projects, events, and classes in the Creativ ity and Innovation Distr ict at vtmag.vt .edu. OUTSIDE THE BOX 30 | FEATURE | IMAGINE THAT IMAGINE THAT | FEATURE | 31 EV EN TS “IT’S NOT A DISTRICT THAT SAYS, ‘WE’RE GOING TO DO THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT.’ INSTEAD, WE’RE SAYING: ‘IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS, FROM IMAGINATION TO INNOVATION, THIS IS WHERE YOU COME TO WORK WITH A LIKE-MINDED COMMUNITY, NO MATTER WHAT YOUR DISCIPLINARY ORIGINS.’” BEN KNAPP, FOUNDING EXECU- TIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR CREATIVITY, ARTS, AND TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATE: ACC SMITHSONIAN CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION FESTIVAL ACCelerate, a partnership between Virginia Tech and the Smith- sonian’s National Museum of American History that was first launched in 2017, celebrates creative exploration and research at the nexus of science, engineering, arts, and design. At the 2019 festival, which featured research projects from universities across the Atlantic Coast Conference, nearly 62,000 visitors interacted with innovators and experienced new technologies. VIRGINIA TECH SCIENCE FESTIVAL Since 2014, the Virginia Tech Science Festival has offered dozens of free hands-on, minds-on learning interactive booths and activities to showcase physics, space, engineering, commu- nication, geology, health and medicine, history, transportation, computers, chemistry, and more. Nearly 5,000 visitors of all ages attend the festival each year. The university funds trans- portation to enable school children from underserved areas to attend the festival. ICAT CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DAY ICAT Creativity and Innovation Day demonstrates Virginia Tech’s latest innovations combining science, engineering, arts, and design through dozens of experiences, performances, demonstrations, expo-style exhibits, and a panel discussion. CUBE FEST Cube Fest features spatial music, immersive aural experiences, and 3D audio technology. The annual festival brings together international audio technology experts, computer engineers, music technology experts, musicians, and composers who pres- ent lectures, conduct workshops, and perform original compo- sitions specifically created for high-density loudspeaker arrays. THROUGH SPECIAL EVENTS, CAMPS, AND PERFOR- MANCES, THE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DIS- TRICT REACHES PEOPLE OF ALL AGES FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE. THESE EXPERIENCES CONNECT EDU- CATORS AND SCIENTISTS WITH STUDENTS, BUSINESS LEADERS, AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS. WILL OUTREACH INSPIRE THE NEXT SCIENTIFIC BREAKTHROUGH? JIM S TR O UP , E W , " SE E M O RE " - S AM B LA N CH AR D, R M , E W 32 | FEATURE | IMAGINE THAT | FEATURE | 33 CL AS SE S AN D SP AC ES THE CUBE The Cube is a highly adaptable space for multidisciplinary, col- laborative research and experimentation. Both a state-of-the-art theatre and a high-tech laboratory, the four-story Cube offers visualization, motion tracking, and immersive 3D audio. Users can experience total immersion in virtual realities. Research- ers have developed immersive environments in the Cube that allow them to interact with anything in the world in real time, from the smallest subatomic particle to the largest building. The Cube is home to one of the largest multichannel audio systems in the world, with 150 independently operating loudspeakers. THE SANDBOX The Sandbox is an idea incubator. Teams meet to brainstorm, discuss visions, and roll up their sleeves to start projects. The flexible meeting space encourages collaborative creativity with moveable furniture, dry-erase boards, and a projection array. DIGITAL STUDIOS Students use the Digital Arts and Animation Studio, located in the library, to access high-end tools used in the production of digital film, web design, and animation. In the Digital Inter- active Sound and Intermedia Studio, researchers and students merge contemporary technology with traditional performance to pursue new forms of artistic expression and multimedia art. USING HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING TO BOOST STUDENT CREATIVITY A partnership between the Division of Information Technol- ogy, the School of Visual Arts, and ICAT, this advanced ren- dering class blends architecture, industrial design, and interior design. Students boost their technology skills, learning advanced techniques to create complex animations. SERVICE/USER EXPERIENCE CLASS A demonstration of Virginia Tech’s Beyond Boundaries ini- tiative, this class brings together students in industrial design, computer science, and business, and is co-taught by faculty from each discipline. Teams of students create projects to solve prob- lems related to disability and aging. The class emphasizes Vir- ginia Tech’s motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). MEDIA BUILDING The former school building is being transformed through a pro- cess in which architecture students and faculty members are embarking on their own “living lab adventure.” The students and faculty are creating spaces to meet their own needs. IN THE CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION DISTRICT, VIR- GINIA TECH IS PROMOTING STUDENT COURSEWORK AND DEVELOPING SPACES THAT BLEND ACADEMICS, SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, AND RESEARCH STUDIES TO SUPPORT THE SORT OF BOLD THINKING THAT WILL LEAD TO REAL SOLUTIONS FOR GLOBAL CHALLENGES. HOW DO CREATIVE COLLISIONS AFFECT LEARNING? LO GA N W AL LA CE , A M AN DA L O M AN EW , J IM S TR O UP , E W EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR I THE TRANSFORMATIONAL World War I marked a great juncture in history, ending the Gilded Age and making way for the modern era. The conflict forever altered the nature of warfare, with industrialization producing changes of scale in weapons, tactics, and casualties. The Great War left an enduring mark on Virginia Tech, too. The early university emphasized military edu- cation, so many students and graduates served on fields of battle. On the Blacksburg campus, three iconic landmarks memorialize their wartime sac- rifices: The Rock, which stands on the Upper Quad; War Memorial Gym, which was dedicated to Hokies who served; and the Brotherhood Pylon, which bears the names of those who died in the line of duty. World War I transformed Virginia Tech in more subtle but influential ways as well, prompting decisions that changed the school’s direction and established a solid foundation for the future. As Virginia Tech evolves, a simple prevailing ideal connects the global-facing university of today to its pre-war iteration as a military-focused institution— the spirit of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). VI RG IN IA T EC H CO RP S O F CA DE TS M US EU M , E W BY MASON ADAMS 36 | FEATURE | THE TRANSFORMATIONAL EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR I ALUMNI WHO FOUGHT IN WORLD WAR I World War I veterans with a connection to Virginia Tech totaled 2,297 in uniform: 2,155 in the Army, 125 in the Navy, 19 in the Marine Corps, six in the Coast Guard, one in the British Army, and one in the French Foreign Legion. One alumnus was awarded the Medal of Honor, seven the Distinguished Service Cross, and one the Navy Cross. At least eight were awarded the Silver Star. The Hokies influenced the conflict through their courageous actions and leadership. Probably the most well-known is Capt. Lloyd W. Williams, Class of 1907, who commanded the 51st Company in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines Regiment. In 1918, Williams’ division was deployed to support the French army at the Battle of Belleau Wood. The unit arrived to find the allies retreating. A French colonel advised Williams to follow suit, but legend has it that the captain memorably responded, “Retreat, hell! We just got here!” (The first two words of that quote live on as the motto of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment and Alpha Company within the Corps of Cadets, of which Williams was an alumnus.) THE ROCK On July 2, 1919, Virginia Tech President Joseph Eggleston delivered his final commencement address. That same day, the Class of 1919 unveiled a stone memorial dedicated to “Our Dead Heroes Over There.” Known as The Rock, the memo- rial includes the names of 11 alumni who were killed in action and stands in honor of all graduates who lost their lives during World War I. According to the corps guidebook, “while not dedicated so, [The Rock] is also a symbol to all former VTCC graduates who have died in conflict.” From that day forward, as cadets pass The Rock, they salute if in uniform or place their hands over their hearts if in civilian clothes. That tradition was established by an editorial in the June 12, 1919, edition of The Virginia Tech student newspaper: “This thought, though simple, has a meaning which should always stand before our eyes, and it 'tis this: The memorial (not a mon- ument) will be unveiled during Finals, and from that day hence let every student of V. P. I. salute or uncover to the memory of eleven brave warriors, and respect the small space it covers with the respect due the King of England, always being proud of V. P. I., her records, and her son.” “The Rock’s creation introduced a distinction between combat deaths in France and deaths in other places from causes such as disease, training accidents, and deaths at sea,” said Ewing. “At least two names seem to be missing from the Rock,” said Daniel Newcomb ’13, M.S. ’17, an alumnus and advisor who oversees “VPI in World War I,” a research project connected to Virginia Tech’s experiences in the war. “Lt. Harry Clay Wil- liams and Priv. Maury Lake both died and are buried in France. It’s possible they weren't listed because they hadn’t graduated or because their deaths were yet unknown at the time of The Rock’s dedication. “If one includes those who died in training, the total number of Hokies who died from causes related to World War I is at least 26,” Newcomb said. “However, a definitive number may never be known, due to the deaths of students who left Virginia Tech in the midst of their undergraduate studies to serve in the war.” Later, Williams led an assault at Belleau Wood. Although the mission routed the Germans, the lead Marine unit was devas- tated; only one of the 10 officers and 16 of the 250 enlisted men survived. Again, Williams ignored advice to retreat. During the skirmish, he was gassed and injured by shrapnel, but refused treatment. “Don’t bother with me,” Williams was heard telling medics. “Take care of my good men.” Williams died when a shell exploded as he was being evacuated from the battlefield. He was posthumously promoted to major and received three Silver Star citations and a Purple Heart. Many Virginia Tech alumni saw combat during the final two years of World War I. Twenty-six Hokies died in service, and another 26 were wounded. “It is important to understand that more than one-half of Amer- ican deaths in World War I were caused by disease, not by front line combat, and almost all of these deaths by disease came in the final three months of the war during the Spanish influenza epi- demic,” said Tom Ewing, a history professor and associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. “These pro- portions are slightly different for Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) men. Approximately one-fifth of the names on the Pylon for World War I were men whose deaths were attributed to disease, including several men who died in Virginia before they ever left for service. Eleven of these men were killed in action or died from wounds on the front lines. The remaining deaths were due to acci- dents or from an unknown cause. At the time, all of these deaths were classified as war-related deaths. As we think about the mean- ing of military service, it is important to continue to think holisti- cally about the costs of war.” Although the men experienced untold hardships and bore wit- ness to war’s grim realities, for some, resilience was manifested by retaining a positive perspective and even a sense of humor. In a survey after the war, Leonard Gaines, Class of 1917, who served as first lieutenant in the Army, noted his impressions of the fight- ing: “It was good fun until you were hit.” THE 11 NAMES ON THE ROCK: CAPT. LLOYD W. WILLIAMS (CLASS OF 1907) LT. HOWARD THORNTON BARGER (CLASS OF 1916) LT. ROBERT LEWIS BUTLER (CLASS OF 1915) LT. J. FRANK CLEMMER (CLASS OF 1920) LT. JEROME M. CUDLIPP (CLASS OF 1912) LT. JAMES WAYNE FRANCE (CLASS OF 1915) LT. ALFRED RORER HARVEY (CLASS OF 1915) LT. ARTHUR BLACKIE MOORE (CLASS OF 1917) LT. SYLVESTER BAKER MOORE (CLASS OF 1916) LT. SETH WHALEY MURRY (CLASS OF 1916) PVT. J. CAMPBELL BERKELEY (CLASS OF 1912) RETREAT, HELL! WE JUST GOT HERE!" -Capt. Lloyd W. Williams, 1907 DON'T BOTHER WITH ME. TAKE CARE OF MY GOOD MEN." -Capt. Lloyd W. Williams, 1907 Captain Lloyd W. Williams | 37 › HONOR AND DUTY: A cadet salutes as he passes The Rock. DMCO UR TE SY T HE L LO YD W . W IL LI AM S CO LL EC TI O N (C O LL /7 7) A T TH E M AR IN E CO RP S AR CH IV ES A N D SP EC IA L CO LL EC TI O N S | 39 HOW WORLD WAR I CHANGED TECH The war and the years that followed set in motion cascading effects that transformed the institution into a comprehensive modern land-grant university. At the beginning of World War I, Virginia Tech students, all of whom were white males, were required to spend all four years of their education in the Corps of Cadets. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Tech and military institutions across the coun- try became primary sources of officers. “The American army at the start of war was only 100,000 sol- diers,” said Newcomb. “By the end of the war, it was 4 million. If you went and signed up and had a college education, chances were you were going to become an officer.” By the end of the war, Virginia Tech had become home to a sprawling unit of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC), a national project intended to create soldiers by simultaneously providing military training and a college education. Somewhere between 400 and 600 soldiers—about half of the total number of students at the time—were in an SATC camp at Virginia Tech when the war ended. None of them would see combat. The years following World War I ushered in a time of transition for the university. Eggleston resigned from his post as Tech’s sev- enth president in 1919 to become president of Hampden-Syd- ney College. Julian Ashby Burruss, Class of 1898, was named the university’s eighth president. Under Burruss, the corps requirement fell from four years to two. In a related move, Virginia Tech de-empha- sized military education to advance the land grant-related fields of agriculture and engineering, which subsequently defined the university for much of the 20th century. Nearly a century later, the shifts that World War I spurred mark a bright line in the university’s history, highlighting a juncture that made possible developments that would play out over decades: the university’s outreach to returning World War II veterans in the late 1940s, the acceptance of women and African Americans in the ’50s and ’60s, elimination of the corps requirement alto- gether, and development of the Principles of Community, which have opened the door for a student body that is more diverse in a multitude of ways. Students in the first-year experience class traced Ware’s journey to Europe through his letters to his future wife, learning about techniques for preserving history by performing them. “They didn’t learn top down about World War I as a military endeavor,” Becker said. “What they learned was absolutely from the bottom: What’s going on with this individual and his col- leagues and his friends and who he is serving with? We came from the bottom up.” Liv Wisnewski, a rising junior majoring in history and theater, read two of Ware’s letters in which “he talked to his wife about their kids, their finances, how he hoped to come home soon, and what he did and didn’t like about being overseas.” Wisnewski continued her study of Ware with an independent project. She examined Ware’s life after the war, including the dis- integration of his first marriage, his extended time in Europe, and his eventual return to the U.S. “To read the letters of someone who lived such a different life from me—what brought him joy, what brought him pain, what made him feel worthless, which he wrote several times— was interesting,” Wisnewski said. “It reinforced what I already enjoyed about history: The idea that people have always been people and have always had concerns and small happinesses, and other things they experience differently than anyone else.” The class and project developed Wisnewski’s skills as a historian and deepened her appreciation for Virginia Tech. “Now when I walk past [The Rock], I have a sense of respect and a new sense of pride for it,” Wisnewski said. The inscrip- tions now represent more than just a list of names. “These people existed and went to school here and weren’t just figures in history who went off to war.” STUDENT RESEARCH ON LETTERS OF VIRGINIA TECH ALUMNI IN WORLD WAR I Newcomb collaborated with Ewing to design a project to research the life stories of Virginia Tech alumni and students who served in the war. The resulting database incorporates information from official records and historical letters, along with personal accounts from the family members and descendants of those who fought. “Studying the experiences of VPI men in the war raised important questions about why Americans go to war, how and why the U.S. government becomes involved in international conflicts, and how these experiences are remembered,” Ewing said. “Studying VPI in World War I has shaped my thinking about the ways that veterans today are regarded, how we remember wars that we have fought recently and are still fighting, and what kinds of questions must be asked about potential involvement in military conflicts.” First-year history students in 2016 and 2017 aided the effort. By participating in the data collection, the students learned firsthand about techniques for documenting history. The 2017 class drilled down into the letters of Joseph Ware Sr., Class of 1903. Ware was a professor and commandant of the Corps of Cadets from 1911 to 1914, as well as the father of the flight test engineer for whom the Joseph F. Ware Jr. Advanced Engineering Laboratory is named. The students each transcribed a letter written by Ware that had been stored in an archive in Special Collections. They collaborated on tricky or challenging excerpts. The transcriptions are now available in Special Collections. “We wanted students to recognize that they have a responsibility to preserve history as much as the [upperclassmen],” said Trudy Harrington Becker, senior instructor in the Department of History. Battery F. 60th Regiment Coast Artillery, Fortress Monroe, Virginia, March 1918. Joseph Ware Sr. 38 | FEATURE | THE TRANSFORMATIONAL EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR I RESEARCHERS RECREATE A FRENCH BATTLEGROUND In early spring, the fourth floor of Newman Library hosted one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of World War I: the French village of Vauquois. Pocked with underground tunnels, Vauquois was pummeled by artillery fire from 1914 to 1918. Funded by a grant from the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology, Virginia Tech researchers vis- ited Vauquois in 2016. Using laser scanning and pho- togrammetry, the team re-created the underground passages in a virtual reality environment, then con- structed a mock shaft complete with era artifacts. “All of this is rolled together to create an immersive environment that allows people to learn what it was like to be there at Vauquois before and during the war,” said Todd Ogle, University Libraries executive director of applied research in immersive environ- ments and simulations, who worked with colleagues from the VT Visualizing History Team to develop the virtual experience. “It’s really an activity that typifies the sort of research and development that can happen in [Virginia Tech’s] Creativity and Innovation District and brings together faculty and students from a number of disciplines,” Ogle said. “You had people from computer science, education, libraries, visual arts, and performing arts all working together to create this virtual experience.” ‹ SINCERELY YOURS: Liv Wisnewski, a rising junior, studied the wartime letters of Joseph Ware Sr., Class of 1903. › TECH TIME TRAVEL: Using virtual reality technology, students can travel through time to experience the World War I tunnels at Vauquois, a French village. PH O TO C O UR TE SY O F JO SE PH F . W AR E CO LL EC TI O N S PE CI AL C O LL EC TI O N S, U N IV ER SI TY L IB RA RI ES , V IR GI N IA T EC H, E W VI RG IN IA T EC H CO RP S O F CA DE TS M US EU M , E W BURNINGISSUES BURNING ISSUES | FEATURE | 41 MOLLY HUNT TILTS A DRIP TORCH. INSIDE THE CANISTER, A LIQUID MIXTURE OF GASOLINE AND DIESEL FUEL SHIFTS FORWARD AND SIPHONS DOWN, MAKING A FULL CIRCLE AROUND THE FUEL TRAP LOOP BEFORE REACHING THE LIT WICK. HUNT, A FORESTRY MAJOR IN THE COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT, BEGINS TO POUR FIRE. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIDGE, FORESTRY MAJOR EMILY NEWCOMBE LIGHTS A PARALLEL LINE. THE RADIO ON NEWCOMBE’S SHOULDER CHIRPS AS VOICES DIRECT HER MOVEMENTS. AT THE PERIMETER OF THE BURN, STUDENTS AND MEMBERS OF THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY STAND GUARD, READY TO PREVENT ANY WAYWARD SPARKS FROM CROSSING THE FIRE LINE. THE FIRE STARTS SMALL. AS THE FLAMES GROW, THEY BURN BRANCHES AND SINGE THE LOWER BARK OF TREES. EVENTUALLY, FLAMES CLIMB 10, THEN 20 FEET HIGH. . THIS IS A WORK DAY FOR STUDENTS IN VIRGINIA TECH’S WILDLAND FIRE: ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT COURSE. TODAY’S ASSIGNMENT: A PRESCRIBED BURN. BY DAVID FLEMING AD AM C O AT ES Fire has always played a role in the forest ecology of southwest- ern Virginia. “If you look back on the history of our forests, fire has been a natural part of a forest’s life,” said Adam Coates, assistant pro- fessor of forest fire ecology and management in the Depart- ment of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation. “Wildfires may have ignited when a lightning strike occurred during drier conditions. The fire would move and meander until precipitation extinguished it, a stream or water body cre- ated a boundary to contain it, or it ran into fuels that would not ignite. We also know that Native Americans used fire to clear land for agriculture or to maintain wildlife habitat. “Many older trees have been harvested to expose their annual growth rings,” he continued. “Often, you can see in the rings when fire events happened, and you can tell that some of the fire events were occurring when the trees were dormant during cold months, what we think it did a long time ago,” Coates said. “To some degree, we have novel forests now. We took fire away, and in doing that we’ve changed the dynamics of our forests. So trying to put it back is a complicated and challenging process. But it’s also pretty interesting.” For Molly Hunt, working in forestry has always been an ambition. “I grew up in the woods,” said Hunt, a May 2019 graduate. “I have a huge passion for conserving the land and protecting the woods, and I came to Virginia Tech to learn how to do that.” The wildland fire course inspired Hunt to join the New River Valley Wildland Fire Crew. Monthly training activities spon- sored by the group helped her work toward an Incident Qualifica- tion Card, a requirement for fire crews working on federal lands. Prescribed fires are not appropriate for every portion of our current landscapes. Some areas have gone extended periods without fire, and other management activities might be needed before prescribed fire can be considered as an option. Careful consideration and planning are necessary for prescribed fire, long before anyone can ignite fuel on the landscape. On the day of the burn, the first stage of prescribed fire imple- mentation on the ground typically involves shovels and rakes, but—if one is lucky and terrain permits it—preparations might include a bulldozer. “Once we determine the general area we want to burn, we con- struct a boundary around it,” Coates said. “The key is to remove any potential fuel from the line so the fire can’t cross.” For the 11-acre burn conducted on Virginia Tech’s Fishburn Forest to enhance wildlife habitat, the crew used heavy machin- ery to dig a portion of the fire break, a perimeter around the burn area where the ground is cleared to bare soil. Students completed the circle using metal rakes and leaf blowers. Personal protective equipment includes fire-resistant clothing, work gloves, fire-re- sistant boots with 8-inch tops and Vibram-soles, and hard hats. The fire burns with surprising speed, the dormant fuel of the forest quickly exhausted. When it is out, the students march onto the blackened landscape, using steel rakes to check the ash layer for dormant hotspots and taking measurements of the depth of the burn in the layers of soil. when forest fires from lightning strikes would be unlikely to occur. So we’re in an area that was once dominated by repeated and fre- quent fires, both naturally occurring and man-made.” The rise of development, and particularly the movement toward urban living over the past century, has led to efforts designed to prevent naturally occurring fires in order to protect people and property. “As a result, we have forests in Virginia that have large accumu- lations of fuel in places where a long time ago fire would have burned off that excess,” Coates said. “Controlled burns allow us to return the forests to a balance that once occurred naturally, while making sure that wildfire can’t reach where people live.” The forests of Appalachia, less studied than drier landscapes where wildfire is a more prevalent occurrence, present compelling new areas of research related to fire use and prevention. “We’ve gone so long without fire being prevalent on the land- scape that it’s really hard to put fire back and expect it to do The students also study the movement of the smoke and mon- itor the perimeter to confirm no sparks have crossed the divide into the wider forest. They check tree stumps and pour cold ash and dirt over the heat to fully exhaust the fire. In one corner, a stand of pitch pines has survived. The trees will grow new shoots from epicormic buds activated by the heat. New branches will grow at angles, developing layers of bark that protect inner layers from future fires. In spring, the trees will drop their cones onto the ash and rich soil, and seeds will emerge from these cones. 42 | FEATURE | BURNING ISSUES BURNING ISSUES | FEATURE | 43 A HISTORY OF FIRE PREPARING TO LIGHT I GREW UP IN THE WOODS. I HAVE A HUGE PASSION FOR CONSERVING THE LAND AND PROTECTING THE WOODS, AND I CAME TO VIRGINIA TECH TO LEARN HOW TO DO THAT." Molly Hunt ’19 FIRED UP: Senior forestry major Emily Newcombe uses a drip torch to ignite brush along the established fire line. EVER GREEN: Many pine species benefit from prescribed fire. These trees will grow new shoots from buds activated by the heat. CH RI S DU KE S HE LE N T HO M PS O N 44 | FEATURE | BURNING ISSUES BURNING ISSUES | FEATURE | 45 Across the U.S., few universities employ professors dedicated to teaching and researching fire ecology. Coates’ position reflects Virginia Tech’s commitment to studying the role that fire plays as a tool for foresters and as a naturally occurring event that demands preparedness. The availability of a fire expert on campus also broadens research opportunities. “We have some really terrific, highly specialized faculty here,” Coates said, “and having a designated ‘fire guy’ like me, someone who can put fire on the ground and study the energy being pro- duced by it, really creates unique opportunities for collaboration. We can better understand how fire might affect soil or water, for example. This helps us fit both prescribed fires and unplanned wildfires into the broader context of forest management.” According to Coates, climate change has increased the urgency for studying forest fires. He cites the spate of wildfires in North Carolina, Georgia, and eastern Tennessee in late 2016 as a precursor to what Appalachia could face in coming years. “Only three ingredients are needed to create flames: heat, oxygen, and fuel. If you consider weather patterns and how they affect fire, you have to think about periods of wetting and drying and how they affect vegetation. In the context of fire, living and dead vegetation become fuel. When we receive abundant rainfall, vegetation responds with new growth. If we have extended periods of dry weather after that abundant new growth has occurred, that vegetation becomes dry and easier to ignite,” Coates said. “Under these conditions, all it takes is one major wind or storm event, or someone being careless or malicious with fire, and the results are these seemingly anomalous wildfires. We’re seeing rising temperatures and changes in the dynamics of moisture, and we’ve got to get a grasp on how these events occur so we can make efforts to prevent them, or at least minimize poten- tial damage for people and their property.” Education is also essential. Coates intends to work with com- munities across the region through the Firewise USA program, aimed at educating residents in suburban and developing areas on how to build houses and maintain properties in ways that reduce fire risk. Coates also hopes to develop a designated center for fire research. “I have an infrared camera and numerous devices that measure heat, and we’re able to use all of these tools to conduct research in the field,” Coates explained, “but we don’t have a central- ized burning chamber or table experiment space to take smaller amounts of material and run research. It’d be great to be able to manipulate variables in a controlled setting, to create certain types of fires with specific vegetation under specific environ- ments and measure how they burn. We’ve talked about devel- oping a facility where we could do that type of research with a high level of accuracy. That’s the next step.” David Fleming is a staff writer for the College of Natural Resources and Environment. Conducting a burn with the Virginia Department of Forestry gives students one-on-one time with professionals, transfers classroom learning to the field, and creates an experience that helps bring a new generation of foresters to the field. “We ask the students to tell us what they’re seeing as the burn is happening,” Coates explained. “Afterwards, they’ll start to make inferences from the experience. And because each fire is such a unique event, we’re asking them to be the scientists of the event, to be the ones asking the questions and working out the answers. “It’s perfect on-the-job training,” he continued. “The work of con- ducting a burn briefing, laying out the objectives, and doing the preparation is what the students are going to wind up leading when they’re on a job. You can see their faces light up with excite- ment about the work we’re doing, and that’s when you know you’ve got ’em. That’s when you know they’re hooked.” FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE FOREST YOU CAN SEE THEIR FACES LIGHT UP WITH EXCITEMENT ABOUT THE WORK WE’RE DOING, AND THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU’VE GOT ’EM. THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW THEY’RE HOOKED." Adam Coates, assistant professor of forest fire ecology and management THE WILDFIRE CHASER SENIOR EMILY NEWCOMBE SPENT THE SUMMER OF 2018 ON A WILDLAND FIRE CREW BASED IN IDAHO. THE TEAM FOUGHT FIRES ACROSS THE WESTERN U.S. “THE BIGGEST FIRE WE SAW WAS AROUND 450,000 ACRES,” NEWCOMBE SAID. “IT WAS MOSTLY GRASS AND SAGEBRUSH THAT RAN REALLY QUICKLY. WE’D GET TO ONE LOCATION AND FIND THAT THE FIRE HAD RUN OFF, AND THE HEART WAS 30 MILES AWAY FROM WHERE WE EXPECTED IT TO BE.” NEWCOMBE, WHO HAS COMMITTED TO WORKING THIS SUMMER ON ANOTHER WILDLAND FIRE CREW IN DARBY, MONTANA, SAID THAT WORKING AS A WOMAN IN THE FIELD HAS BEEN A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE. ‘THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW YOU GOT ‘EM’ BURN NOTICE: A pre-burn briefing, where tasks are assigned to crew members and safety measures are reviewed, is a critical part of any prescribed burn. Emily Newcombe CH RI S DU KE S DM THE BUILDING WHISPERER ON EACH AFTERNOON’S COMMUTE, MORGAN BLACKWOOD PATEL CRITIQUED THE PROGRESS ON A BARBECUE RESTAU- RANT UNDER CONSTRUCTION ALONG THE MIDLOTHIAN TURNPIKE IN THE RICHMOND AREA. Mind you, she was riding home from daycare, because she was a toddler. Her early curiosity has served her well. Blackwood Patel, a 2003 industrial and systems engineering (ISE) graduate, is now regarded as one of the most prominent women in commercial real estate in the mid-Atlantic, according to Spencer Stouffer, vice chairman at the Cushman & Wakefield brokerage firm. From 2015 to 2018, as a vice president for The Meridian Group, a private equity firm and one of the region’s premier developers, Blackwood Patel helped to shape The Boro District, a mixed-use development in Tysons Corner, Virginia, that blends residen- tial, office, retail, dining, and entertainment spaces across about a dozen new and repositioned properties and 25 acres. Real estate is a traditionally siloed industry—a property is routed from the acquisitions team to the designers and architects to the developers to the brokers to the landlords and property man- agers—but Blackwood Patel thinks less about a single asset and more about managing the brand of an entire development. That thinking is evident across The Boro District, where she focused on offering a unified experience for tenants, making eight repo- sitioned office buildings feel right at home amid the new assets. HOKIE NATION AROUND THE ALUMNA PROFILE | HOKIE NATION | 47EW 51 Class Notes 59 Travel 62 Retro 63 Alumni Commentary 64 Family Morgan Blackwood Patel ’03 “It’s as well-branded and connected a development as I’ve ever seen in North- ern Virginia,” said Stouffer, who placed tenants for Meridian. “Morgan’s vision to give it a sense of place was remark- able. The result is the most prominent and successful mixed-use development in Northern Virginia in a decade. It has changed the market.” Gary Block, chief investment officer and partner at Meridian, said the firm’s investment philosophy is to provide an unparalleled experience to tenants. “Morgan helped us synthesize and exe- cute on that thesis,” said Block, adding that she was the first to express the idea that tenants would actually seek out a Meridian building just like a traveler might look for a Ritz-Carlton hotel. Blackwood Patel likes to absorb the vibe of a building and imagine its next life. “I feel like the building whisperer,” she said with a laugh. Planning a develop- ment, she ponders the human factors, such as whether a parking garage seems sunny or dreary or how people will inter- act with a green wall full of plants. In a tight labor market, where employees want to brag about their office digs on Insta- gram, innovation matters to employers. As Blackwood Patel tells investors, “I’m an engineer, but I talk about feelings all day.” tems Engineering, including one year as chair. When she joined the board, “I didn’t know what a force she was,” said Don Taylor, former ISE depart- ment head and now Virginia Tech’s vice provost for learning systems inno- vation and effectiveness and Charles O. Gordon Professor of Industrial and Sys- tems Engineering. “She quickly proved that we made a great decision.” At her first board meeting, Blackwood Patel displayed a willingness to take charge and give of her time. “Within about 10 minutes, you can figure out that Morgan is a leader,” Taylor said. “She has a very strong servant-leader orientation.” As advisory board chair, Blackwood Patel championed the growth of ISE’s Excellence Fund, an endowed fund that generates earnings to support stu- dent activities, such as sending a stu- dent to a conference, bringing a speaker to campus, or helping students con- duct research. Gifts to the fund come in all sizes. “As Morgan described it once, we call it ‘the-nickels-and-dimes-that- add-up fund,’” said Eileen Van Aken, ISE department head and professor. “When everybody gives $25, it really adds up,” Blackwood Patel said. “You have a direct impact on people. It’s not some nebulous thing.” HOSTING Blackwood Patel, who served for years on the Women in Leadership and Philan- thropy Council and the Alumni Associ- ation Board of Directors, is now one of three chairs for Virginia Tech’s upcom- ing capital campaign, alongside Lynne Doughtie ’85 and Horacio Valeiras ’80. Her decision to step into the role makes sense in the context of her favorite under- graduate memory: standing up on many Fridays in Professor Brian Kleiner’s senior EMBRACING In the evening hours, Willis P. Black- wood ’72 would often spread out blue- prints on the sunroom floor at home, red pen in hand, to evaluate the prog- ress of his development company’s shop- ping-center projects. And his daughter Morgan, after some explanation, began to understand the drawings. “She got into the business, tangentially, pretty early,” Blackwood said. “She had an affin- ity for it at an early age.” Drawn to drafting classes and architecture in high school, Blackwood Patel found industrial and systems engineering to be a perfect fit. In her first year at Virginia Tech, she earned top marks in a course in which students disassembled and assem- bled such objects as lawnmowers and disposable cameras. And there was no question she would become a Hokie. Her father and mother, Mary Nolen Black- wood ’73, met on a blind date on Hallow- een as undergraduates, and nearly 30 in her extended family are alumni. In the real estate and private equity fields, Blackwood Patel often finds that she’s the only woman in a meeting. She counters with confidence and authentic- ity, embracing rather than suppressing her differences. With her stature in the industry, Black- wood Patel “has really done a won- derful job mentoring and embracing younger women in our industry, and she has been a champion for all of her peers,” Stouffer said. “She treats everyone equally, whether they’re in their first year or they’ve been doing it 30 years.” SERVING In 2018, Blackwood Patel finished a five- year term on the advisory board for the Grado Department of Industrial and Sys- design class and inviting 100 classmates to her house for a barbecue. The campaign will emphasize not only philanthropy but also engagement. Philanthropy drives Virginia Tech’s excellence, because state funds and tuition can’t finance the full costs of empowering students and faculty to solve world-scale problems. And engagement means building and strengthening Hokie bonds—reconnecting with classmates, alumni mentoring students, and much, much more. “There’s never a time when you can't help someone,” said Blackwood Patel. “It is looking internally and asking, ‘How can I make a difference?’ My company could host an intern. I can take phone calls from students. I can welcome a new graduate into the area and broaden his network by introducing him to people.” Van Aken marveled at Blackwood Patel’s willingness to connect with students. “She’s serious about it. She makes the time. Hokies aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and not just sit on the sidelines— and Morgan is out on the field.” Blackwood Patel and her husband, Manish Patel, are now even more moti- vated to help. They recently welcomed their first child, son Jules, via a gesta- tional carrier. Overwhelmed that another person would give them such a gift, the Patels felt a renewed sense of the good- ness of humanity. BUILDING In mid-2018, Blackwood Patel began transitioning away from Meridian. She launched a consulting business called Greystreak—at the same age, inciden- tally, as her father when he launched his business—to help clients develop and execute on new visions for old assets. She is also collaborating with another Hokie to develop document-management soft- ware for real estate assets. “I knew what I wanted to do when I was 4 years old,” Blackwood Patel said. “I took a sort of winding path to get here.” At the time of an interview at her home in March, Blackwood Patel was easing back into a work routine, meeting with colleagues and friends at restaurants and coffee shops—and, naturally, she took along 3-month-old Jules, who was prob- ably taking mental notes. JT EW48 | HOKIE NATION | ALUMNA PROFILE THERE'S NEVER A TIME WHEN YOU CAN'T HELP SOMEONE. IT IS LOOKING INTERNALLY AND ASKING, ‘HOW CAN I MAKE A DIFFERENCE?’" Morgan Blackwood Patel ’03 INCREASING RETURNS: Following the example set by her parents, Blackwood Patel is committed to serving Virginia Tech students. Read the ful l story about Blackwood Patel at vtmag.vt .edu. ADDENDUM RÉSUMÉ HIGHLIGHTS 2003 Bachelor’s in industrial and systems engineering, minors in business and French 2003-07 Supply chain and strategy consulting, Accenture, New York City 2007-09 MBA program at Harvard 2009-11 Director of marketing for a business focused on energy use in buildings, Redlands, California 2011-14 Development executive, Clark Energy Group, working on large energy-effi- ciency projects, Arlington, Virginia 2015-18 Vice president, Meridian real estate private equity, Bethesda, Maryland 2018 Launched Greystreak, a real estate consulting business, McLean, Virginia 50 | HOKIE NATION | NETWORKING CLASS NOTES A TIMELESS TRADITION A lot can change in 80 years, but many would say Virginia Teske Smith’s favorite aspect of Virginia Tech has stood the test of time. “Every person on campus spoke to a stranger, every stranger. They just said hello or something,” said Smith, a member of the Class of 1939. “When you’d come back several years later and walk the campus and everyone greeted you, it was just such an overwhelming experience.” Having just celebrated her 100th birthday, Virginia Smith returned to Blacksburg to celebrate her 80th reunion in May. Accompanied by her son, Henry B. Smith III ’69, she was acknowledged as a Virginia Tech Centenarian and awarded a piece of Hokie Stone by the Old Guard Society of Golden Alumni during their annual celebration. ’55 CAREER George E. Keller II, Charleston, W.Va., received the 2017 Distinguished West Virginian Award. ’64 CAREER R. Bradley Chewning, Harrisonburg, Va., was named to the Department of Civil and Environmen- tal Engineering Academy of Distin- guished Alumni at Virginia Tech. Homer Hickam, Huntsville, Ala., was featured in an interview series by Sara Connell, a best-selling author and writing coach. ’68 CAREER Martin Peter Azola, Bal- timore, Md., published a book, “The Azola Legacy-50 Years Rebuilding Baltimore.” ’70 CAREER Raleigh "Leigh" Milton Felton III, South Boston, Va., assumed pastoral leadership for Boydton United Methodist Church. Edward R. Pittman, Lancaster, Va., was elected senior vice president of VCB Financial Group. ’73 CAREER Jere R. Mitchell, Colum- bia, Mo., retired as technical director of the National Association of Animal Breeders. Nancy Pachuta Anderson, Greens- burg, Pa., was named interim CEO for Westmoreland Cultural Trust. ’74 CAREER Elizabeth "Ann" Dunnington, Blacksburg, Va., was honored with emerita status by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. Edward Phillip Hickman Jr., Horntown, Va., is serving a one-year term as chairman of Potatoes USA, the marketing and promotions board of the U.S. potato industry. He is the first chairman from Virginia. Steve Allen Orndorff, Broomfield, Colo., is CEO of Canalis Pharmaceu- ticals, a subsidiary of Teewinot Life Sciences. George Todd Wright, Hilton Head Island, S.C., received the Order of the Palmetto from South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. ’75 CAREER John Robert Lawson II, Newport News, Va., was named Vir- ginia Business Person of the Year. Jane Craig Sebok, Congers, N.Y., published "Time Changes Everything," a book for young adults. Joel Stone Sr., Glen Allen, Va., received the inaugural 2019 Thomas Champion for Industry Award. ’76 CAREER Marni E. Byrum, Alexan- dria, Va., is president of the Virginia State Bar. John Thomas Patton, Blooming- ton, Ind., was elected as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. CLASS NOTES | HOKIE NATION | 51 Alumni, we want to hear what you’ve been doing. Mail career, wedding, birth, and death news to Class Notes, Virginia Tech Alumni Association, Holtzman Alumni Center, 901 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, VA 24061; email the information to classnotes@vt.edu; or submit the news online at vtmag.vt.edu/submit-classnote.php, where photos may also be uploaded for consideration. For assistance, call 540-231-6285. ALUMNI AT NETFLIX HOKIES IN LA NETWORKING EVENT The alumni relations office hosted a Hokies in LA networking event March 19 at the Netflix headquarters. The event, which drew about 140 Hokies to the streaming giant’s headquarters, fell on the university’s second annual Giving Day and served as a West Coast hub. During the event, Michelle Kruseic ’95, Adam Abrahamson, ’06, David Silberstein ’10, and Tom Bagamane ’83 participated in a panel discussion moderated by Senior Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations Matt Winston ’90. (Participants are pictured in image at bottom right.) Kruseic is an accomplished actress best known for her roles on “Hawaii Five-O,” “Com- munity,” “ER,” “Star Trek Deep Space Nine,” “General Hospital,” and more. Abrahamson is currently the director of digital content for the “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” Silberstein is the co-founder of Megahouse music and is an accomplished music producer and manager for some of the biggest hits like “Moves Like Jaggar” by Maroon 5. Bagamane founded The Giving Spirit, a nonprofit that provides the homeless with survival assistance. Virginia Teske Smith ’39 Henry B. Smith III ’69 ST EV EN M AC KA Y PH O TO S BY T RO Y HA RV EY 52 | HOKIE NATION | CLASS NOTES MERGING INTERESTS When finance professor George Morgan suggested that two of his former students get to know one another, lit- tle did he know that the CEOs would later lead a merger to reconstruct something from their past: “a great Virginia- based regional bank,” like the ones they once worked for. Mike Clarke ’83, CEO of Access National Corp., and John Asbury ’87, president and CEO of Union Bankshares Corp., didn’t cross paths as students at Virginia Tech, but met a couple of years ago at a meeting of bank CEOs in Richmond. The completion of the merger, with Union acquiring Access, was announced in February. The combined company will have total assets of $16.8 billion, deposits of $12.2 billion, and loans of $11.9 billion. Read more about Clarke and Asbury at magazine.pamplin. vt.edu/issues/spring-2019/va-bank-merge/. CLASS NOTES | HOKIE NATION | 53 FOR MORE INFORMATION, INCLUDING DETAILS ABOUT OTHER FUTURE EVENTS, VISIT ALUMNI.VT.EDU/EVENTS SAVE THE DATES Sept. 4 Hokies in 757 Sept. 7 Pamplin College of Business Tailgate Multicultural Alumni Tailgate Sept. 12 Women in Business Sept. 14 Corps of Cadets Reunion Vet Med Tailgate Sept. 27 Chapter Officers Forum College of Architecture and Urban Studies Tailgate Family Relations Tailgate College of Science Tailgate Sept. 28 HokieTalks Oct. 2 Hokies in Federal Government Oct. 10-11 Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board Meeting For more information, including a complete listing of events, visit alumni.vt.edu/events. Gary Keith Morrill and Kristin Ruestow Morrill ’91, Blacksburg, Va., were named Virginia Tech 2019 Family of the Year. Sanjay Mahesh Shah, Voorhees, N.J., is iManage managing director for Asia. BIRTH James Charles Galonsky, Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., a daughter, 1/01/19. ’89 CAREER Robert L Hogan, Charles- ton, W.Va., joined the Pittsburgh office of Rawle & Henderson LLP as Of Counsel. Wendy Lu Critchfield Kesslak, Sarasota, Fla., is an associate at RE/ Max Alliance Group in Siesta Key. Kathleen Mary Murtagh, Arlington, Mass., was appointed to the Massachu- setts Department of Transportation board of directors. James Edwin Plowman, Leesburg, Va., was elected to a circuit court judgeship in the Virginia 20th Judicial Circuit serving Loudoun, Fauquier, and Rappahannock counties. Robert Lee Richter Jr., Abingdon, Md., joined Independence Blue Cross as consultant relationship manager. Janet Watt Steele, Fort Mill, S.C., joined Clemson University’s Extension team as a forestry agent for Orange- burg, Calhoun, and Lexington counties in South Carolina. ’81 CAREER William Ronald Aimutis Jr., Denver, N.C., is director of the N.C. Food Processing Innovation Center. Jennifer Moore Rock, Fuquay Va- rina, N.C., is chief accounting officer with Zillow Group. Paul Alan Grachow, Port Saint Lucie, Fla., retired from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where he was the audiovisual and media services specialist. Martin Styer Frankhouser, Beth- lehem, Pa., is the national director of American Humane's farm program. Russell David Housley, Herndon, Va., was named to the Diamond Key Security Advisory Council. Brian R. Murphy, New Castle, Va., was honored with emeritus status by Virginia Tech. Joseph Clinton Rivers, Suwanee, Ga., is the vice chairman of the Na- tional Chicken Council for 2018-19. Robert Christopher Rosenthal, Edgewater, Md., joined Vallit Advisors as a partner. Janis Pinchefsky Terpenny, Centre Hall, Pa., was named to the Wayne T. Davis Endowed Dean's Chair and appointed dean of the Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee. ’82 CAREER Kathleen Blomstedt Tim- ko, Far Hills, N.J., was named to Rut- gers University's Customer Experience Certificate Program Advisory Board. William David Francis, Jacksonville, Fla., is chief compliance and human resources officer for Dewberry. Paul Barnes Mustian, Richmond, Va., is firm administrator with Chris- tian & Barton. ’83 CAREER Michael Wayne Clarke, Vienna, Va., joined the Union Bank- shares Corp. board of directors and was named a Wells Fargo Distin- guished Speaker. Donya Cecilia Lester, Linden, Ind., received an Alumni Award of Excel- lence from the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environ- mental Sciences Alumni Association. Anthony Vernon Marshall, Mc- Donough, Ga., was reappointed to the Georgia Council on Aging. Robert Alan Rapaport, Virginia Beach, Va., was inducted as a Class of 2019 Fellow in the College of Work- ers' Compensation Lawyers. Ellen Vance, Henrico, Va., retired as chief human resources officer of Shel- tering Arms Hospital on 2/4/19. ’77 CAREER Tim H. Mullins, Rich- mond, Va., was named the 2019 Best in State Wealth Advisor by Forbes. Gregory C. Thompson, Fort Lauder- dale, Fla., is executive vice president and chief financial officer of KEMET Corp. WEDDING John Milton Hiner- man Jr. and Marjorie Elizabeth Jones ’79, Washington, D.C., 02/27/19. ’78 CAREER Richard Lee Anderson, Woodbridge, Va., announced his can- didacy for Virginia House District 51. David Warner Miller, Louisville, Ky., authored “Employed Physician Networks: A Guide to Building Stra- tegic Advantage, Value and Financial Sustainability,” which was published by the Health Administration Press. Katherine Ellen Quesenberry, Ridgefield, Conn., is chief medical officer at New York City’s Animal Medical Center. ’79 CAREER Carl Billian, Marietta, Ga., operates a multidisciplinary head injury clinic in Atlanta, Georgia. David Christopher Dunbeck, Phil- adelphia, Pa., is executive director of the Center for Nonviolence and Social Justice at Drexel University. ’80 CAREER Thomas Benton Kelso II, Southport, N.C., published “Fractured.” Claudia Kitchen Cotton, Suffolk, Va., is CEO of Tidewater Builders Association. Raymond Jeffrey Kmetz, Liver- more, Calif., is chief business officer with Ascentage Pharma. Kurt James Krause, Norfolk, Va., is president and CEO of VisitNorfolk. Brian Allen Talbert, West Lafayette, Ind., was inducted into Purdue Uni- versity's Book of Great Teachers. Douglas Keyes Wiltsie, Fairfax Station, Va., is vice president of operations for the Defense Systems Customer Group for Science Applica- tions International Corp. Suzanne Hall Wood, Mooresville, N.C., is senior vice president and chief financial officer with Vulcan Materials Co. ’84 CAREER James Friend Dickerson, Zion Crossroads, Va., was selected as the 2018 Realtor of the Year by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. Thomas Edward Hughes, Cam- bridge, Mass., was named CEO at Navitor Pharmaceuticals. Geoffrey Randall Jesberg, Dallas, Texas, is president of FlexRay. Jesse Richardson Jr., Morgantown, W.Va., received the Excellence in Agricultural Law for Academia Award from the American Agricultural Law Association. ’85 CAREER Betsy Gano Brumback, Winchester, Va., retired from MidAt- lantic Farm Credit after 28 years. Jon Charles Emanuelson, Leland, N.C., began pastoral leadership at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Lewiston, Massachusetts. Brent James Fields, Ashburn, Va., was named associate director in the Division of Investment Management at the Securities and Exchange Com- mission. Michael Donald Freund, North- brook, Ill., was appointed managing director with Rittal North America LLC. Bettina Kay Ring, Charlottesville, Va., who was appointed secretary of agriculture and forestry by Gov. Ralph Northam, received the Sir William Schlick Memorial Award from the Society of American Foresters and was elected a Fellow of the society. Also, she was awarded the 2018 President's Award from the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. William Matteson Sisson, Avon, Conn., was named executive director of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development North America. ’86 CAREER Louise Holt Calderwood, Arlington, Va., is director of regula- tory affairs with the American Feed Industry Association. Arthur Glenn Davis, Phoenix, Ariz., was named president of Vela Insurance Services, a Berkley Company. Kevin Barry Sullivan, Weston, Mass., received the 2019 AIA Archi- tecture Firm Award, the highest honor the American Institute of Architects can bestow on a practicing architecture firm in the U.S. Christopher Lewis Swan, Virginia Beach, Va., is chief revenue officer with Dispersive Networks. Raghuram Tadepalli, Elon, N.C., was named 2019 Beta Alpha Psi Outstand- ing Dean. ’87 CAREER John Craig Asbury, Richmond, Va., is the head of Union Bankshares Corp. and a member of the finance department's advisory board. Phillip Rodney Blevins, Montpelier, Va., is president and CEO of Domin- ion Energy's Southeast Energy Group. Edward Robert Green, Ashburn, Va., is a project executive at Gilbane Build- ing Company in Washington, D.C. Brenton Jan Keefer, Scituate, Mass., was elected to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative's Board of Directors. Percival George Ricketts, Pembroke Pines, Fla., has developed a four-year guided journal available through online bookstores. Jackie Rustigian, Alexandria, Va., retired from Army Civil Service. ’88 CAREER Allison Parker Andrews, Richmond, Va., joined the Monroe Park Conservancy as director. Nigel Anthony Greene, Elkins Park, Pa., moderated a Pennsylvania Bar Institute seminar on truck accident litigation. Jeffrey Scott Kellerhouse, Vinton, Va., is director of pre-construction for Breeden Construction. Peter Jay Merkle, Alexandria, Va., is head of the Federal Aviation Adminis- tration's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office. Mike Clarke ’83 John Asbury ’87 M IC HA EL F O LT A, JU ST IN N AU M AN N (A TL AN TI C UN IO N B AN K AN ENERGIZING VISION Fifteen years after meeting and making entrepreneurial plans as new students, Rob Wallace ’00 and Walter Barnes ’00 are realizing a vision with a unique project in the clean energy sector. Leaning on Wallace’s expertise in solar energy develop- ment, Power52 Foundation provides workforce develop- ment opportunities in the solar energy sector for at-risk and underserved individuals living in Baltimore and sur- rounding counties. And Barnes, president of PM Consulting Group, was selected to chair the board’s foundation. To date, the company has trained more than 100 people of all backgrounds and provided 30 megawatts of solar projects that will produce 40,000 megawatt hours of clean energy for 2,500 middle- and low-income households. Read more about their work at eng.vt.edu/magazine/sto- ries/fall-2018/rob-and-walter.html. CLASS NOTES | HOKIE NATION | 55 Barry Irvin Matherly, Richmond, Va., was named to lead a new econom- ic development entity to promote 11 Southeastern Michigan counties. Kelly “Kathleen” McNany Gorman, Cranford, N.J., is principal with Novo- gradac and Company LLP. Edward V. McAndrew, Mechan- icsville, Va., is chief operating officer with AIS Network. Floyd Cameron Palmore, Powhatan, Va., is an associate and senior project manager with Dewberry. Andrew Ferguson Warren, Blacks- burg, Va., is the Town of Christians- burg’s assistant town manager. ’96 CAREER Marc Christopher Brade, Wytheville, Va., is fire chief with the Town of Wytheville. Mary Carroll, Pacifica, Calif., is executive director of the Department of Emergency Management in San Francisco, California. Robert Allen Jessee, Abingdon, Va., is plant manager for the Clinch River power generating plant. Scott Richard Kizner, Harrisonburg, Va., is superintendent of Stafford County Public Schools in Virginia. 54 | HOKIE NATION | PROFILE ER IC A CO RD ER FOR YEARS, WASHINGTON, D.C., WAS a big sports city without a championship team. So, in 2018, when the Washing- ton Capitals won the Stanley Cup, the city went wild. But nowhere was the excitement more palpable than at Monumental Sports and Entertainment, which owns and operates the Capitals. Six Virginia Tech alumni, Darren Montgomery ’95, Greg Turner ’04, Ryan Shapiro ’10, Megan Garner ’10, Travis Lucente ’15, and Lauren Zavaleta ’17, were working for Monumental in sales and marketing at the time. (Lucente has since taken a position with a differ- ent employer.) They compared the feel- ing to game days at Lane Stadium. “You almost felt like you were in Blacks- burg at a Hokies football game because everybody in D.C. was rocking the red, as we say,” said Montgomery, senior vice president of Capitals’ sales and arena events at Monumental. To celebrate the Stanley Cup win, team owner Ted Leonsis gave championship rings to nearly everyone working in the stadium—including the Virginia Tech alumni. “It was something that was very unex- pected, but … it was really cool for him to be able to go above and beyond for the rest of the organization,” Shapiro said. According to the alumni, D.C. is filled with Hokies. “If I’m wearing Tech gear, someone will call out, ‘Let’s go,’” said Turner, senior director of sales and suites at Monumental. Most of these alums grew up in the greater Washington, D.C., area, so when they returned to the city to work, they were happy to encounter fellow Hokies. “So many people that come from [D.C.] go to [Virginia Tech], so it’s nice to come back and just have even more of a connection with the Hokie community,” said Zavaleta. Virginia Tech has had a presence in Northern Virginia since 1969. Now, with Amazon’s decision to build a second headquarters in National Land- ing and the newly announced Innovation Campus, that presence is expanding. “It’s going to be huge,” Lucent said, “a pipeline of tech talent coming in and staying and working.” The Monumental Hokies have plenty to keep them busy, but they always find time to represent Hokie Nation. “Four hours north, Virginia Tech still has a strong presence,” Montgomery said. OC O C PUT A RING ON IT: (above) Tech alumni sport their championship rings. (below) Six Virginia Tech alumni (listed in the above story) were employed by Mon- umental Sports when the Washington Capitals brought home the Stanley Cup in 2018. Rob Wallace ’00 Walter Barnes ’00 Timothy Edward Pierce, Laurel, Md., was named to the board of direc- tors of Junior Achievement of Central Maryland Inc. WEDDING Pamela Sue Speed, Roanoke, Va., and Brian “Stork” Seal, 10/07/18. ’92 CAREER Jay Allen Altizer, Dallas, Texas, is president of North America for GES. Paul Chodak III, West Milford, N.J., is executive vice president-generation with American Electric Power. James Harry Jarrett, Baltimore, Md., was appointed chief revenue officer for VXI Global Solutions. Joy Horner Kauffman, Washing- ton, D.C., hosted a “Whole Foods for Whole Body Health” class. Christopher S. Waltz, Glastonbury, Conn., was named principal at Shepley Bulfinch. BIRTH Paul Joseph Zahorchak and Susan Marie Stanley-Zahorchak ’04, Roanoke, Va., a daughter, 8/28/18. ’93 CAREER Jeffrey Brian Deibel, Glen Allen, Va., is vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond in the Supervision, Regulation, and Credit Department. Neal Franklin Wellons, Virginia Beach, Va., is vice president of finance and accounting at Chartway Federal Credit Union. ’94 CAREER William Wesley Griffith III, Madison, Ala., joined Peco Foods as chief operating officer. Tamara A. Kloecki Nelsen, Bloom- ington, Ill., is executive director of the Minnesota AgriGrowth Council. Angela Cutler Rambeau, Duluth, Ga., is director of planning and development for the City of Georgetown, South Carolina. ’95 CAREER James B. Daniel II, Amelia Court House, Va., received the Vir- ginia Forage and Grassland Council’s Harlan White Distinguished Service Award. Colin Brooks Winchester, Lancaster, S.C., opened Fitness Machine Techni- cians in Charlotte, North Carolina. ’90 CAREER Cynthia Ann Arnold, Long Lake, Minn., was appointed to the Citrine Informatics board of directors. Timothy Albert Booth, Yonkers, N.Y., performed in “Mamma Mia” at Mill Mountain Theatre. Shirley Elizabeth Winfield Dre- wry, Disputanta, Va., is the deputy county administrator in Prince George County. Thomas Peter Fabrie, Richmond, Va., is chief financial officer at INGENCO, a renewable energy company. Susan Tinsley Gooden, Richmond, Va., was named interim dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Govern- ment and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a recipient of the YWCA Richmond's 2019 Outstanding Women Awards. Michael P. Maxwell, Hartland, Wis., was named an adjunct faculty lecturer by the School of Business, Carroll University. Aimee Michelle Golden Johnson, Seattle, Wash., was named Chief Mar- keting Officer with Zillow Group Inc. Ralph Allen Trinter, Irmo, S.C., is vice president of field operations with McCrory Construction. ’91 CAREER Joyce Agnes Cacho, Edwards, Colo., a member of the board of directors for Sunrise Banks, was named one of 19 Directors to Watch by Directors & Boards Magazine. Jennifer Poff Cooper, Christians- burg, Va., is a public relations specialist for the Virginia Department of Health, New River Health District. She has been published in the collection “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Life Lessons from the Dog." David "Buzz" Neil Crosby, Raleigh, N.C., was selected to serve on the board of directors of the Wake Tech Foundation. Katherine Jean Hubbell, Silver Spring, Md., received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who's Who. William L. Murray, Richmond, Va., is senior vice president-corpo- rate affairs & communications with Dominion Energy. STANLEY CUP RINGING IN THE WHEN AVERY SEFCIK ’03 HOSTED events at his home in Richmond, Vir- ginia, guests frequently marveled at the elegance of the space. The interior decor featured touches of modernism in the dark blue hues, traditionalism in the old stone walls, and naturalism in the green- ery sprinkled throughout. According to Sefcik, visitors often asked: “Who did you pay to do your house?” “I didn’t pay anyone to do my house,” said Sefcik. “I can’t afford that.” But the common question inspired him to develop his unique talent. Sefcik, a blog-writer turned interior designer, is now the owner of Avery Frank Designs, a full-service interior design firm in Richmond, Virginia. A graduate of the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Sefcik QUESTION | HOKIE NATION | 57 Sue Ellen Pressman-Dosik, Ar- lington, Va., is president-elect of the American Counseling Association for 2019-20. Mark A. Roy, Oakton, Va., is exec- utive vice president for Hourigan's Hampton Roads office. Mark Carson Walker, Sterling, Va., earned the Large-Scale Manager designation from the Community Association Institute. Brad E. Williams, Peterstown, W.Va., is president of The Safariland Group. ’97 CAREER Timothy James How- land, Blacksburg, Va., is project manager with Facility Logix. Gladys B. West, Dahlgren, Va., was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame. Stephanie Johnson Kalantarians, Williamsburg, Va., is vice president and stockholder of GuernseyTingle. ’98 CAREER Erkan Baloglu, Tulsa, Okla., is vice president of drug dis- covery and medicinal chemistry with resTORbio Inc. Michael John Burgiss, Marietta, Ga., is chief product officer with DealerPol- icy, LLC. Hau Huu Doan, Charlotte, N.C., opened Banh Mi Brothers restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Larry Anthony Patrizi, Purcellville, Va., is executive vice president and provost at the American College of Financial Services. Thomas Joseph Pierri II, San Francisco, Calif., is general manager of Hotel Zoe, a luxury boutique hotel at Fisherman's Wharf. Kai O. Torkelson, Mount Crawford, Va., is the Norfolk Naval Shipyard commander. Jing Zhou, Bristow, Va., company president, will lead the international expansion business effort for Pintec Technology Holdings Ltd. ’99 CAREER Amanda C. Boone, Bridgeton, N.C., is the public utilities director in Elizabeth City. Heather M. Massie, New York, N.Y., presented her award-winning, interna- tionally acclaimed play about actress and inventor Hedy Lamarr, “HEDY! The Life & Inventions of Hedy Lamarr” at the Cube in Virginia Tech’s Moss Arts Center. Jocelyn Loren Oldham, Richmond, Va., was voted as best wedding soloist in a Richmond Bride survey. Rachel Varner Smith, Lewisburg, Pa., is vice president of human resources at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg. Caitlin Beck Stella, Los Angeles, Ca- lif., is CEO of Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Michael D. Zehner, Holliston, Mass., is the planning and development director for the Town of Nags Head, North Carolina. WEDDING Brian Isaac Seal, Roanoke, Va., and Pamela Speed, 10/07/18. ’00 CAREER Stephen L. Ambruzs, Roanoke, Va., received a business placemaker award during the City- Works (X)po community develop- ment conference. Jeffrey M. Ellis, Moseley, Va., is area construction manager at HHHunt Homes. Louis Joseph Molinini, Oakton, Va., is the Mid-Atlantic Project & Devel- opment Services Market lead at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. James Andrew Moore, Baltimore, Md., received the 2019 Soul Justice in Education Award from the American Educational Research Association and the 2019 Asa G. Hilliard Model of Excellence Award. Vijaybalaji Padmanabhan, Irving, Texas, is a director with KKR & Co. LP. Maurizio Porfiri, Brooklyn, N.Y., was named a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Christopher Russell Reading, India- napolis, Ind., was recognized with the 2018 Distinguished Alumnus Award from Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus. Ryan W. Smith, Springfield, Va., is a partner in the Mechanical Patent Pros- ecution practice group at Oblon. Wayne Allen Wilkinson, Vienna, Va., is executive vice president and chief operating officer with Ace Info Solutions. WORDS TO WALLS transitioned his background in language arts into a more visual craft. He studied the trade under an older designer in what Sefcik referred to as a “Devil Wears Prada” experience. Just two years later, Sefcik emerged with a successful business and many lessons to share on design. WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU FOLLOWING CURRENTLY IN DESIGN? “The magazines I read, they keep me updated on trends. I go toward mag- azines like Elle Decor, Architectural Digest; that’s the aesthetic that I like. It’s a bit more exciting, bold, more daring. One thing that I’ve done in my house is lacquer, which is super high-shine paint, and you’ll see it in New York, in D.C, in Europe a lot. At night, when the lights are on, it’s an amazing effect.” HOW DO YOU WORK WITH A BUDGET, AS YOU DID WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED? “It does constrain you, but paint is still cheap. You can take something, simply add paint to it, a small piece of art that you found at an antique mall and really change a room just by being bold. The trend today is that everything is grey or white, and that’s pretty, but take a risk. People will be saying, ‘Wow, that looks great.’” HOW DO PEOPLE FIGURE OUT THEIR OWN STYLE? “It takes time for people to figure out their own style. Usually, it is really a gut thing. If you’re in a store, and you see something you love, if it’s a gut feeling, go for it. If you like it immediately when you see it, you’ll love it for a long time. On a basic level, buy the magazines—it is so important to be able to rip the pages out and put them on a board. Read them, look at what’s exciting to you, rip them out—that’s how you learn what you like, what you don’t like, what your style is.” WHAT ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS? HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR DECORATIONS FRESH AND EXCITING? “I mixed it up this year—I usually do a lot of fresh greenery, which is really beauti- ful and a traditional thing that you see all over Europe, see it at the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, but it does dry out quickly. This year, I did a different feel, where I used manmade garland. That was all flocked, which is when they have the fake white snow on them. There’s more of a modern feel to it all as opposed to simple greenery.” Brendan Coffey, a junior majoring in communication, is an intern with Virginia Tech Magazine. BIRTH Lisa Fletcher Pace, Houston, Texas, a son, 8/7/18. ’02 CAREER Mark William Abbott, Spring, Texas, is director of engineer- ing with ValvTechnologies Inc. Katherine L. Andersen, Winchester, Mass., is a senior market manager covering health care corporate finance in the U.S. for Silicon Valley Bank’s national life science practice. Daniel James Hibbard, Sterling, Va., is vice president of electronic systems at Trident Systems. Kenneth Edward Nicely, Roanoke, Va., is superintendent of Roanoke County Public Schools. Gary V. Parker Jr., Chesapeake, Va., is business development manager for Watts' drainage products and solutions in the eastern U.S. Heather Slayton, Murfreesboro, Tenn., is assistant state forester for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry. BIRTH Amanda Lee Halks Drezek, Amesbury, Mass., a son, 03/18/19. ’03 CAREER Michael J. Barber, Huntington, Vt., is general counsel for Green Mountain Care Board in Montpelier. Anna Rebecca Shaffer, Arlington, Va., is senior vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Andrew Joseph Schulman, Fairfax Station, Va., is diocesan OPCF director for the Diocese of Arlington. BIRTH Michelle C. Dominguez, Washington, D.C., a son, 2/28/19. ’04 CAREER Richard Matthew Bemben, Arlington, Va., was elected director of the electronics practice group with Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein and Fox. Benjamin Hall Moore, Venice, Fla., is superintendent of Catholic Education for the Diocese of Venice. Danielle Wight Nelson, Washing- ton, D.C., received the 2018 Silver Medal for Meritorious Achievement for leading the U.S. Department of Transportation’s efforts to develop a strategic plan for the interagency Coordinating Council on Access and Mobility. BIRTH Scott Lamar Pearce, Alexan- dria, Va., a daughter, 1/7/19. Justin Kenneth Leiter, Rockville, Md., a daughter, 2/28/18, and a son, 03/14/19. ’05 CAREER Douglass Robbin Baner- jee, Dallas, Texas, is senior managing director at Greysteel. Youlander Moring Hilton, Suffolk, Va., was appointed to the board of Paul D. Camp Community College and received the Joint Forces Staff College Commandment’s Appreciation letter. Andrew Huber, Roswell, Ga., is product strategy manager with GWC Warranty. Abhijit “A.P.” Vijay Patel, Ashburn, Va., is vice president of marketing and distribution strategy and operations with Choice Hotels International Inc. George Anthony Preston, Wood- bridge, Va., was one of four winners in the Virginia Lottery's inaugural "Made in Virginia" program. Robert Ryan Ruff, Signal Mountain, Tenn., is senior vice president of strategic growth at Aflac Inc. Carol Elizabeth Watson, Cumber- land, Md., was named 2018 Teacher Educator of the Year by the Pennsylva- nia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. Erin Michelle Webb, Richmond, Va., earned an Emerging Professional Award from the American Institute of Architects Virginia. Christopher Lee Young, Oakton, Va., joined Miller, Miller & Canby's Business and Tax Practice Group. BIRTH Daniel Blakey Heatwole and Lindsay Anne Williamson Heatwole, Virginia Beach, Va., a daughter, 04/04/19. Dorothy Pendleton Heimlich, Me- chanicsville, Va., a daughter, 9/6/18. ’06 CAREER David Eric Collins, Blacksburg, Va., launched an online magazine, blacksmithingmagazine.com. 56 | HOKIE NATION | CLASS NOTES CO UR TE SY O F AV ER Y SE FC IK Avery Sefcik MASTERING THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE TRAVEL | HOKIE NATION | 59AL EX AN DE R SH AL AM O V Rose Bradshaw Jeter, Buchanan, Va., prompted by farming stress, proposed policies on mental health that were adopted by the commonwealth. Lorena “Rena” Jo Johnson, Glade Spring, Va., operates Highland Dairy, a pilot farm for a new design for milking by DeLaval. Robert David Ritchie, Aldie, Va., is head of software practice at Science Applications International Corp. Dawn Marie South, Richmond, Va., formed a family law firm, DeBoer- South, PLLC. Ashley W. Winsky, Henrico, Va., joined Gentry Locke as a partner in the Transportation, Insurance, and Civil Litigation practices. ’07 CAREER Kali Jane Casper, Blacks- burg, Va., is assistant planning director with the Town of Blacksburg. Kyle Matthew Kramer, Forest, Va., is one of Engineering News Record Mid-Atlantic's 2019 Top Young Professionals. Namrata Loomba, Gainesville, Va., joined Blank Rome LLP’s Washington, D.C., office as an associate in the Con- sumer Finance Litigation group. Jeffrey Robertson Mettam, Brook- lyn, N.Y., is principal with Oak Hill Capital Partners. BIRTH Ashley Rood Spinetto and Jonathan Neil Spinetto, Herndon, Va., a daughter, 11/15/18. ’08 CAREER Lindsay Christine Bade, Lynchburg, Va., is project manager with Banker Steel. Anna E. Carpenter, Virginia Beach, Va., is associate principal at Hanbury. Joshua Yost Haddad, Virginia Beach, Va., purchased the Thomas Crown Studios. Govindaraj Dev Kumar, Berwyn Heights, Md., published an article on salmonella in the January 2019 issue of the Journal of Applied and Environ- mental Microbiology. Brian Anderson Peters, Raleigh, N.C., received his doctorate in edu- cational research and policy analysis from North Carolina State University and is now associate director of aca- demic advising programs and services at the school. Manisha Pravinchandra Patel, Greensboro, N.C., received the 2018 Young Alumna Award by Elon Law's Women's Law Association and was recognized by Business North Carolina magazine as one of North Carolina's top lawyers for family law for the second year, earning the Legal Elite distinction. She is the 2019 president of the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys. Andrew Graham Satterfield, Midlo- thian, Va., is vice president of Scott Insurance in Richmond. Scott V. Totman, Vienna, Va., is vice president of engineering with DivvyCloud. BIRTH Laura Valentine Breedlove, Vestavia Hills, Ala., a son, 7/5/18. Andrew Paul Showalter, Fairfax, Va., a daughter, 11/12/18. Andrew Shepard Rivenbark and Virginia Tyler Dougherty Riven- bark ’11, Suffolk, Va., a daughter, 8/16/18. Christopher Edward Sopko, Gloucester, Va., a daughter, 12/13/18. ’09 CAREER Virginia Louise Lessard Davila, Chesapeake, Va., is vice presi- dent of S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. BIRTH Kathleen Berger O'Brien, Saint Louis, Mo., a son, 8/7/2017 and a daughter, 01/10/19. Brian Edward Smith, Bel Air, Md., a son, 01/09/19. Megan Lloyd Varrone, Washington, D.C., a daughter, 03/12/19. ’10 CAREER Anthony Caleb Bauer, Los Angeles, Calif., joined HNTB's na- tional tunnel group as national tunnel practice operations manager-west. Skyler Glen Cooper, Dallas, Texas, is regional manager for Marcus & Millichap. Caitlin Anne Grady, State College, Pa., is the inaugural Faculty Fellow of Penn State University's Center for Security Research and Education. Atsuko Watanabe, Washington, D.C., earned a Ph.D. from the Uni- versity of Warwick in 2017 and is an associate professor at Hosei University in Japan. 58 | HOKIE NATION | CLASS NOTES WEDDING Caroline Marie McWilliams Alsup, Roxbury, Mass., and Justin Summer Brown, 11/3/18. Dennis Preston Hollich, Fairfax, Va., and Emma Pearson-Hollich, 12/14/18. BIRTH Emily Hughes Hicks and Alan B. Hicks ’11, Arlington, Va., a son, 4/4/18. Lindsay Cobb Whit, Crozet, Va., a daughter, 04/08/19. ’11 CAREER Brenton Byrd, Elberon, Va., is principal at Sunnyside Elemen- tary School in Dinwiddie County. Lindsay Nicole Chapon, Lyndhurst, Ohio, is director of food and beverage for Hotel Revival. Emily Marie Feeney, Olney, Md., is manager of capital markets and invest- ments with Noble Investment Group. Danielle Marie Jakubowski, Atlan- ta, Ga., is project architect at Blackney Hayes Architects in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Olivia Nicolai Marshall, Blacksburg, Va., joined Caplin & Drysdale as an associate in the political law group. Evan Layne Synstad, Los Gatos, Ca- lif., relocated to Charlotte, North Caro- lina with Gilbane Building Company. WEDDING Emily Hollingsworth Reed, Fairfax, Va., and William Wes- son, 10/20/18. ’12 CAREER Kevin Dean Rice, Bris- tow, Va., is chief operating officer of B3 Group Inc. Chevon Nichole Dunnings Thorpe, Blacksburg, Va., is director of inclu- sion, diversity, and equity in the Col- lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. ’13 CAREER Andrew Walton Beal, Wake Forest, N.C., is communica- tion specialist for the North Carolina Department of Commerce, an adjunct instructor of political science for Vance-Granville Community College, and secretary of the Franklin County Board of Elections. Marcus Benjamin Cadman, Burke, Va., is an associate with Dewberry. Robbie M. Garnes, Lawrenceville, Va., is assistant principal at Dinwiddie Middle School. Alexandra Paige Mitchener, Blacks- burg, Va., is commercial assistant portfolio manager for Hampton Roads with Thalhimer. Betty Knott Spiers, Stony Creek, Va., an instructional specialist for innovation and development, is the 2019 Division Teacher of the Year for Dinwiddie Public Schools. Alan Kirk Thibault, Blacksburg, Va., is the winemaker for Ashton Creek Vineyard. WEDDING Demetrius Jeremy Lunsford and Alicia Kattariya Ever- ette ’15, Cincinnati, Ohio, 11/10/18. ’17 CAREER Saiara Musarrat Adrita, Blacksburg, Va., was keynote speaker at The Daily Star O- and A-Level awards presentation ceremony at Shaheed Suhrawardy Indoor Stadium at Mirpur. Kathleen Anne O’Dell, Dublin, Va., received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching for K-6 Math from the National Science Foundation. Faizan Ahmed Hasnany, South Rid- ing, Va., is the Chicago Bulls basketball analytics associate. ’18 CAREER Victoria Lee Arczynski, Falls Church, Va., has created her own tie-dye business, Just Vicky Thingz, and was featured on ABC7 News- Good Morning Washington. Rachel Christine Dodson, Rhoad- esville, Va., joined Clevengers Corner Veterinary Care. Owen Matthew Hoagland, Da- vidson, N.C., joined Federal Capital Partners as an analyst on the asset management team. Linda Carol Jantzen, Annandale, Va., is on the adjunct research staff for the Institute for Defense Analyses’ Information Technology and Systems Division. Jasmine Alethia McNeil, Manassas, Va., was hired to the architecture staff at HEWITT. Oliver Charles Joseph, Worcester, Mass., is on the consultant medical staff with privileges in psychiatry at AdCare Hospital. Adam Paul Holbrook, Madison, Va., joined Cushman & Wakefield, Thalhimer as portfolio manager. Elyssa Shaye Bernstein Mackey, Henrico, Va., joined the King Agency as social media manager. ’14 CAREER Bennett Thomas Wil- loughby Eastham, Blacksburg, Va., is an associate at Christian & Barton LLP with the bankruptcy and creditors' rights and commercial litigation practice groups. Siddhartha Roy, Blacksburg, Va., was named one of ten 2019 New Faces of Civil Engineering by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Sydney Katherine Vaughan, Roa- noke, Va., accepted a research position at Brown University. ’15 CAREER Kelly J. Cross, Cham- paign, Ill., joined University of Neva- da's Engineering Department Kathryn Dean Jackson, Glen Burnie, Md., joined Pessin Katz Law, P.A. as an associate in the medical malpractice group. Gregory Alfonso Polinger, Blacks- burg, Va., is a project manager with Bognet Construction Co. Alec Yuzhbabenko, Blacksburg, Va., is associate principal with Hanbury. WEDDING Chandler Alice Regina Eaglestone and Kyle Robert Krc- maric ’18, Bedford, Va., 08/10/18. Alicia Kattariya Everette and Demetrius Jeremy Lunsford ’16, Cincinnati, Ohio, 11/10/18 ’16 CAREER Ashley Laken Ad- ams, Blacksburg, Va., is a portfolio analyst with AMJ Financial Wealth Management and earned the Certified Financial Planner designation. Erica Kelley Grant, Mechanicsville, Va., launched a startup, Quantum Lock. Nancy Hardie Leonard, Clover, Va., is 2019 Virginia’s Region 8 Superin- tendent of the Year for 2019. Fo r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t A l u m n i A s s o c i a t i o n t r a v e l t o u r s , g o t o a l u m n i .v t . e d u / t r a v e l . ALUMNI.VT.EDU/TRAVEL Feb. 18-March 1 New Zealand and the Circumnavi- gation of the South Island Feb. 21-March 3 Egyptian Wonder March 2-13 Tanzania: During the Great Migration April 14-22 Windmills, Tulips, and Belgian Delights April 22-28 California Rail Discovery May 6-18 Insider’s Japan TRAVEL TOURS MAKE A MEMORABLE TRIP BETTER: TRAVEL WITH FELLOW HOKIES. THE VIRGINIA TECH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFERS TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALUMNI AND FRIENDS. EACH YEAR, THE ASSOCIATION SELECTS MORE THAN 20 TOURS. 2 0 2 0 A L U M N I March 5-15 Legends to Lagoons Experience the black-sand beaches of Papeete, relax on the beaches of Moorea, and see the coral churches of Fakarava. Visit the tallest waterfall in the world in Nuku Hiva and explore the marine life of Rangiroa. $4,299 per person (airfare included from select cities) TI M F O RD 60 | HOKIE NATION | ALUMNI PROFILES LO GA N W AL LA CE , C HR IS TI N A FR AN US IC H, P HO TO C O UR TE SY O F TH E M IL KE N F AM IL Y FO UN DA TI O N WE NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT PEOPLE, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND HOW THAT IMPACTS DAY-TO-DAY LIFE. NEW PRODUCTS ARE IMPORTANT, BUT SO IS THE QUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT." Ranjani Siriwardane M.S. ’80, Ph.D. ’81 ALUMNAE PROFILES | HOKIE NATION | 61 HOME- COMING College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Tailgate College of Engineering Tailgate College of Natural Resources Tailgate College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Tailgate Graduate School Tailgate Ex Lapide Tailgate Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine Tailgate Class of 1969 50th Reunion Highty-Tighty Reunion For more information, including a complete listing of events, visit alumni.vt.edu/events. The carbon dioxide can then be stored underground permanently or used to produce other goods. Chemical looping could reduce emis- sions from coal-burning energy plants, but the process is expensive. Siriwardane and the team at NETL are continuing to conduct research and investigate oppor- tunities to team up with industrial part- ners to find economical ways to develop the process on a commercial scale. In addition to her research, Siriwardane mentors graduate students at West Vir- ginia University. She said working with the students is rewarding because of their enthusiasm and new ideas. Siriwardane hopes to inspire the next generation of engineers to consider environmental quality when developing new products. “Environmental quality is very import- ant,” said Siriwardane. “We need to be concerned about people, the environ- ment, and how that impacts day-to-day life. New products are important, but so is the quality of the environment.” Haley Cummings, a junior majoring in public relations, is an intern with Virginia Tech News. VIRGINIA TECH ALUMNA RANJANI Siriwardane is an award-winning researcher and inventor who is working toward an environmentally safe way to convert fossil fuels into energy. A native of Sri Lanka, Siriwardane, who earned a master’s and a Ph.D. in physi- cal chemistry from the College of Science at Virginia Tech, is a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Morgantown, West Virginia. She holds 21 U.S. patents for various inven- tions focused on oxygen carries, chem- ical looping, and chemical stability. She also has received three R&D 100 awards. Known as the “Oscars of Innovation,” these awards honor revolutionary ideas in science and technology. Recently, Siriwardane and her team at NETL have been using a method known as chemical looping to convert fossil fuels to electricity and capture carbon. The process produces a nearly pure stream of carbon dioxide that can be captured without using the extra energy often required to separate gas streams. BEST IN CLASS IN ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, STUDENTS and faculty filed into the Virginia Heights Elementary School gym. “We thought [the school] was being rec- ognized, but then [the speakers] started talking about how one teacher would be recognized with $25,000,” said Car- oline Eschenbach, a third-grade literacy teacher. “I thought, ‘No way’—then they called my name.” Eschenbach, a 2010 Virginia Tech grad- uate, and now, a Milken Educator Award winner, was ushered to the front of the room, which was roaring. For 30 years, the Milken Educa- tor Awards, often called the Oscars or Grammys of teaching, have rewarded and inspired excellence in education. The awards target early-to-mid career educa- tion professionals in the U.S. Eschenbach was the lone winner in Virginia for the 2018-19 school year. In the classroom, Eschenbach empha- sizes literacy and critical thinking. She exposes her students to reading materials that range from books to news articles and creatively reinforces their learning. According to Eschenbach, third grade is an often transformational, yet tumultu- ous year for students. “We are a school that receives Title I funding and has a diverse population of students,” said Eschenbach. “A lot of these kids come from more challenging experi- ences that make it difficult to have a more even playing field in terms of testing.” Despite these challenges, the read- ing scores for Eschenbach’s students have been phenomenal, thanks to her hands-on, relationship-building style. “Rhymes, rhythms, dances, and whatever it may take to make more of an impact” are all classroom standards, according to Eschenbach. “You build rapport first and have academics second.” FUELING CARBON CONSCIOUSNESS OCT. 17-18 Brendan Coffey, a junior majoring in communication, is an intern with Virginia Tech Magazine. Ranjani Siriwardane Caroline Eschenbach ’10 AS PRESIDENT OF THE VIRGINIA TECH Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, I have the honor of speaking at com- mencement each spring. There’s little that compares to the feeling in Lane Sta- dium on graduation day. Recently, I asked the Class of 2019 to reflect on their time at Virginia Tech. I asked our newest group of alumni to think about what makes our university special and to always show their Hokie pride. This year, as my time as board president ends, I find myself also thinking back on my time at Virginia Tech. As a four- term member of the Alumni Association board, I’ve seen our university move and advance in exciting ways. Like those new grads in Lane Stadium, I’m nostalgic about the past AND enthu- siastic about what’s next. During my time as president, Virginia Tech made an impact in many ways, including the announcement of the Innovation Campus in Northern Vir- ginia, and made history when the Fralin family in Roanoke made the largest gift our university has ever received. We also started new traditions—Giving Day and Reunion Weekend—and com- mitted ourselves to storied legacies, such as the Old Guard Society of Golden Alumni. We watched our student athletes excel in ways that make all of us Hokies proud. The men’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament; we celebrated a national champion in young Mekhi Lewis, who earned that prize in wrestling as a freshman; and the women’s softball team won the ACC reg- ular season title, while the indoor track and field team claimed the conference championship. And, of course, our foot- ball team retained the Commonwealth Cup for the 15th consecutive year after defeating that school from Charlottesville. These successes, and many more, are examples of how Virginia Tech contin- ues to grow and have relevance in lives and communities across the state, region, country, and globe. What I’ve observed during my time as board president is a university prepared for the future and poised to change the world. In July, Deseria Creighton Barney will become our leader of the association board. She has been an active member of the Hokie alumni community, and I am excited about her leadership and the great work she will do representing you. I hope you’ll join me in congratulating Deseria. It has been an honor beyond measure to serve our beloved alma mater in this par- ticular role. I hope I’ve had a fraction of the impact on our alumni community as that same community has had on me. GO HOKIES! Mark S. Lawrence ’80 is vice president of governmental and external affairs at Carilion Clinic and president of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors. HONORED TO SERVE ALUMNI COMMENTARY | HOKIE NATION | 63SK LE R TA UB E 62 | HOKIE NATION | RETRO DENIM DAY DO-OVER Retro M IC HA EL F O LT A, S PE CI AL C O LL EC TI O N S VIRGINIA TECH HELD ITS FIRST DENIM Day 40 years ago, and although partic- ipants might suggest the event was less than successful, denying the existence of the LGBTQ+ community at Virginia Tech became nearly impossible. “You cannot say that people in 1979 did not know that there were gay students [at Virginia Tech],” said Nancy Kelly ’81. Then co-president of the university’s Gay Student Alliance, Kelly helped lead the event that asked Hokies to sport denim in support of gay rights and resulted in a flurry of animosity that lin- gered for decades. Last summer, Kelly returned to campus for the first time since her graduation and was surprised by the university’s efforts to be more inclusive. “I started looking around and seeing all these little rainbow things. I was blown away there was an LGBTQ+ Center,” Kelly said. The visit was the first step in launch- ing this year’s “Denim Day Do-Over,” an event that recognized the 40th anniver- sary of the original day and was held in conjunction with Pride Week, April 1-8. The celebration marked the first return to campus for many LGBTQ+ alums and for many solidified the importance of what they endured four decades earlier. MA STYLING: Participants in Virginia Tech’s Denim Day Do-Over gathered for a photo in the Moss Arts Center. (at right) News clippings and promotional fliers from the first Denim Day on the Blacksburg campus are a part of the historical archive. Read more about the Denim Day Do-Over at vtmag.vt .edu. FLASHBACK SCATTERED SHOWERS: A brief weather delay didn’t dampen the spirits of the families, grad- uates, or speakers, like Mark Lawrence ’80, at the 2019 spring commencement. 66 “We got married on the roof of War Memorial Chapel and took photographs on the Drill- field.” ——Hayley Nixon McCord ’17, Henrico, Virginia, who mar- ried Nick McCord ’17, 10/13/18. 7 “Hokies past and future: Adam Pace snuggles with his grandmother, Catherine G. Fletcher ’69.” ——Lisa Fletcher Pace ’00, Houston, Texas, who welcomed a son, Adam James, 8/7/18. 8 “Another little Hokie came into this world as Oliver Dewey Hicks.” —— Emily Hicks ’10, Arlington, Va., who along with Alan Hicks ’11, welcomed a son, Oliver Dewey, 4/4/18. 9 “We met at Virginia Tech in 2013 and got married at a rooftop venue in Roanoke, Va., surrounded by friends, family, and the Blue Ridge Moun- tains.” ——Chandler Eagleston ’15, Brandon, Fla., who married Kyle Krcmaric ’18, 8/10/18. FAMILY | HOKIE NATION | 65 7 LISA F LE TC HE R PA CE ’0 0 GR AC E HA RT ER IC A HA LL ER P HO TO GR AP HY JO SA M AN TH A LE TO 8 9 1 2 3 4 5 64 | HOKIE NATION | FAMILY 1 “We are proud to introduce our future Hokie, Rowan De- nise Spinetto, Class of 2040.” ——Ashley Rood Spinetto ’07, Herndon, Va., who along with Jonathan Spinetto ’07, welcomed a daughter, Rowan Denise, 11/15/18. 2 “Our Hokie marriage began with a wedding on a perfect fall day.” ——Alicia Everette Lunsford ’15, M.S. ’16, Cincin- nati, Ohio, who married Deme- trius Lunsford ’16, 11/10/18. 3 “We are happy to share the news of our new arrival with our fellow Hokies.” ——Christi Santora ’08, Chesterfield, Va., who along with Jason Santora ’09, welcomed a daughter, Avery Ruth, 12/6/18. 4 “Just married and ready to shout the happy news to ev- eryone.” ——Emily Reed Wesson ’11, Fairfax, Va., who married William Wesson, 10/20/18. 5 “Evelyn Anne looks forward to her arrival in Blacksburg with the Class of 2040 as a fourth-generation Hokie. Her alumni family includes aunt Sarah Woodford Bratton ’14, uncle Paul Bratton ’13, grand- parents Howard and Linda Woodford ’82, and great-grand- father Howard “Winston” Woodford ’50.” ——Anna Clark Woodford Seibert ’09, Bea- vercreek, Ohio, who along with Matthew Thomas Seibert ’07, welcomed a daughter, Evelyn Anne, 4/23/18. FAMILY BE LL A BA BY P HO TO GR AP HY KR IS TI E LE A PH O TO GR AP HY AS HL EY R O O D SP IN ET TO ’0 7 LI SA R O GE RS ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. 66 | HOKIE NATION | IN MEMORIAM IN MEMORIAM Listing includes notices shared with the university between June 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2017. The next edition will include those recieved between Oct. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2017. ’55 Robert Watts, Parksley, Va., 10/20/18. John F. Nelson Jr., Charleston, W.Va., 12/9/18. Dean M. Carter, Oldsmar, Fla., 10/24/18. Willi m Eason Price Jr., Burling- ton, N.C., 10/30/18. Robert Lee Gray, Avon Park, Fla., 8/5/18. ’56 William Carney Gibbs, Virginia Beach, Va., 8/17/18. John H. Travis, Asheville, N.C., 6/21/18. Arthur H. Garst Jr., Roanoke, Va., 11/18/18. Dale Rogers Gregory, Tarpon Springs, Fla., 8/27/18. Donald E. Bishop, Lebanon, Tenn., 9/5/18. Franklin D. Brown, Penhook, Va., 8/24/18. Robert P. Burwell, Greensboro, N.C., 11/6/18. Irwin Miller, Vonore, Tenn., 11/22/18. Emil Anthony Viola, Chesapeake, Va., 11/24/18. James Olin Ferguson, Colonial Heights, Va., 8/29/18. ’57 James Luther Towe, ound Hill, ., 10/24/18. Terry C. Drew, Fredericksburg, Va., 7/24/18. James William Shiner, Max Mead- ows, Va., 11/18/18. Frank Gordon Christian Jr., Ra eigh, N.C., 6/24/18. John William Roller, Edinburg, Va., 8/3/18. Roger Lee Williams, Free Union, Va., 9/22/18. Edward M. Soucek, Radford, Va., 9/19/18. Roy Barrett, Danville, Va., 11/24/18. Frank Blair Bishop III, Richmond, Va., 9/27/18. Frederick Winford Finney, Vin- ton, Va., 10/13/18. Edgar Farrin to Pierce, Midlo- thian, Va., 9/27/18. Billups Esterbrooke Lodge, Paw- leys Island, S.C., 12/1/18. Jack F. Neel, Albemarle, N.C., 11/12/18. Daniel C. Newbill Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii, 8/9/18. Wellford Holton Moore, Gaines- ville, Va., 11/27/18. ’53 Marion Bellfield Elliott Jr., Teto- nia, Idaho, 9/22/18. Harold W. Roller, Weyers Cave, Va., 7/22/18. Russell Ford Stebar, Morgan, Utah, 7/17/18. William L. Jenks, Emporia, Kan., 7/9/18. Marion Dupre Cook, Marietta, Ga., 10/5/18. Theodore A. Magnusdal, Rich- mond, Va., 6/25/18. Robert A. Kinsey, Alexandria, Va., 11/21 18. Algie B. Ward Jr., West Point, Va., 8/13/18. John Apperson Heard Sr., Ber- ryville, Va., 10/15/18. W. Thomas Dar ell, Lancaster, Ohio, 11/3/18. ’54 Frederick Shelton Biesecker, Greenville, S.C., 9/1/18. Hughes Critz Swain, Afton, Va., 10/25/18. Joseph O. Bunting Jr., Alexandria, Va., 11/7/18. William B. Meyberg, Tulsa, Okla., 10/15/18. William F. Keehne Jr., Roanoke, Va., 7/14/18. 58 Ralph G. Powers, Forest, Va., 11/27/18. Felicia Mohaupt Cornwell, Ogden, Utah, 8/20/18. John T. Smith Jr., Lady Lake, Fla., 8/20/18. Robert Paul Colby, Richmond, Va., 11/11/18. Louie T Hargett, Raleigh, N.C., 7/12/18. Theodore G. Brna, Cary, N.C., 8/20/18. Jonas Ryland Bryant, Parrish, Fla., 8/8/18. Bernard F. Schmidt, Butler, Pa., 10/8/18. ’59 James Herbert Sharrett, Ports- mouth, Va., 10/15/18. R. Eugene Nix, Clinton, S.C., 10/11/18. Thomas Branch Worsham Jr., dgefield, S.C., 7/13/18. Raleigh Williamson Carter Jr., Asheboro, N.C., 10/7/18. ’60 Ronald M. Coiner Sr., Lexington, N.C., 8/3/18. Richard L. Crane, Stuart, Fla., 10/20/18. Chase Morison Adkins Jr., Sand- ston, Va., 9/24/18. John L. Hood, Chesapeake, Va., 7/13/18. Robert Edwin McCubbin, Dublin, Ohio, 10/13/18. Merrill D. Jackson, Cary, N.C., 11/24/18. John William Hayes III, Fort Wayne, Ind.,10/6/18. ’61 Wayne C. Garst, Salem, Va., 10/23/18. Samuel Epes Moncure Jr., Com- merce, Ga., 10/9/18. Robert Sherril Myers, Gray, Tenn., 9/21/18. Thomas Glenn Wilson, Radford, Va., 11/23/18. Lloyd Alven Ward, Abingdon, Va., 7/23/18. ’62 Archie Lee Hankins Jr., Cary, N.C., 10/11/18. James Randolph Steele, Fredericks- burg, Va., 8/17/18. George Michael Grimsley, Smith- field, Va., 12/10/18. Robert Bruce Rowland, Win- chester, Va., 7/21/18. Neal Lawson Lowe, Summerville, S.C., 8/7/18. Charles Strother Jr., Delaplane, Va., 6/19/18. Philip Michael Argabright, Salem, Va., 10/23/18. Roy Norman Young, Newfound- land, Canada, 10/25/18. John Harry Merold, Oak Hill, Va., 5/16/18. Samuel Hodges McGhee III, Roa- noke, Va., 9/6/18. ’63 Rita Sutherland Purdy, Waco, Texas, 11/24/18. McGinnis James Perkins, Natural Bridge, Va., 8/8/18. Versille Haig Farmer, Leesburg, Va., 10/28/18. ’64 George Elliott Fox, Englewood, Fla., 7/2/18. Russell Lawrence Henderson, Alexandria, Va., 8/26/18. Robert Lee Talley III, Charlottes- ville, Va., 11/5/18. James Leonard Felton Jr., Raleigh, N.C., 10/15/18. Joseph William Hatcher, The Villages, Fla., 6/22/18. ’65 Edward Lisle Shackelford Jr., Kansas City, Mo., 7/15/18. Douglas Ronald Fahl, Leesburg, Va., 8/13/18. Robert Scott Southard, Boydton, Va., 1/29/18. Frank Epperly Correll, Lexington, Va., 6/22/18. ’38 Carl N. Wallnau Jr., Newtown, Penn., 6/29/18. Cannie Bryant Harrell Jr., New- port News, Va., 10/13/18. ’42 Avoy Scales Glover, Kenbridge, Va., 7/1/18. ’44 Ray G. L’Amoreaux, Tallahassee, Fla., 9/1/18. Mitchel P. Raftelis, Quantico, Va., 8/14/18. ’45 Ralph W. Cline, Harrisonburg, Va., 9/23/18. Glenn A. Main Jr., Timonium, Md., 9/25/18. John Rayne Cropper Jr., Fair Oaks, Calif., 7/3/18. Robert B. Fetter, Vero Beach, Fla., 7/15/18. ’46 Julian B. Jacobs, Virginia Beach, Va., 8/31/18. Herbert Fleming Scott Jr., Prince George, Va., 8/8/18. Howard James Curfman Jr., Hampton, Va., 7/23/18. William B. Smith Jr., Rocky Mount, Va., 8/31/18. Robert Thaddeus Muse Sr., Blacks- burg, Va., 8/8/18. ’47 Francis X. Gribbon, Amityville, N.Y., 11/23/18. Charles H. Tomlin Jr., Allentown, Pa., 8/2/18. Charles Edward Buckley III, Durham, N.C., 6/29/18. Robert P. McGee, Gloucester Point, Va., 11/26/18. William P. Frost Jr., Wilmington, Mass., 8/7/18. Harry Green, Blacksburg, Va., 3/31/18. ’51 Stuart Mason Carbaugh, Rich- mond, Va., 7/31/18. Breckinridge V. Rust, Raleigh, N.C., 10/10/18. Walter William “Dunk” Duncan, Brodnax, Va., 10/7/18. Altman W. Lampe II, Sebastian, Fla., 9/13/18. William O. Purcell Jr., Fern Park, Fla., 11/14/18. Joseph Belton Johnson, Oxford, Fla., 9/18/18. Alan Quinter Spitler, Maryville, Tenn., 8/29/18. Wilton B. Jackson, Richmond, Va., 8/21/18. James Lyne Starling, Roseville, Minn., 11/3/18. David B. Conner, Grand Junction, Colo., 11/26/18. Joseph McCalvey Gulbronson Jr., West Caldwell, N.J., 10/18/18. William D. McLaughlin Jr., Green- wood, S.C., 8/13/18. ’52 Robert Henry Shultz Jr., Irvington, Va., 11/16/18. Oley S. Poer Jr., Greensboro, N.C., 7/11/18. Charles C. Wagoner, Canton, Ga., 9/29/18. Carl Graham Hodnett Jr., Clem- mons, N.C., 7/22/18. William A. “Al” Cobb, Lynchburg, Va., 10/19/18. William Claude Banner Jr., W lch, W.Va., 10/1/18. ’48 James John Neate, Silver Springs, Fla., 10/26/18. James T. Donahue, Ashland, Va., 7/11/18. ’49 Sidney Coplon, Wheaton, Md., 8/23/18. Ray Steger Jones, Blackstone, Va., 7/2/18. Beverly M. Estes, Martinsville, Va., 7/1/18. Beverley C. Yowell, Mechanicsville, Va., 8/1/18. ’50 Elton Yancey McGann, Williams- burg, Va., 11/25/18. Preston H. Andrews, Altavista, Va., 7/19/18. John T. Carver Jr., Knoxville, Tenn., 1/20/18. Joseph Augustus “Gus” Barlow, Westborough, Mass., 7/20/18. Cecil M. Massie, Westminster, Md., 8/20/18. Calvin Page Woodford, Moneta, Va., 10/18/18. Robert R. Hunter Sr., Williams- burg, Va., 10/4/18. Marian Crouch Baldwin, Farm- ville, Va., 11/25/18. Greenville “Greenie” L. Wright Jr., Virginia Beach, Va., 10/3/18. Oswald D. Taylor Jr., Danvers, Mass., 8/10/18. Herman W. Lutz, Winchester, Va., 7/31/18. Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2018. Stuart Dale Carter, Buchanan, Va., 10/26/18. ’66 William Edmund Alzheimer, Sandia Park, N.M., 11/1/18. Philip Walton England, Richmond, Va., 1/5/17. John Sidney Lewis, Fairbanks, Alas- ka, 11/25/18. ’67 Ernest Early Muntzing, Atlanta, Ga., 12/5/18. Joe David Stumbo, Sarasota, Fla., 9/5/18. Howard Benson Dexter, Williams- burg, Va., 8/30/18. Richard H. Bickford Jr., Lottsburg, Va., 8/1/18. ’68 Aaron Rudolph Flinchum, Hiwas- see, Va., 9/9/18. Stanley Christian Harris Sr., Rich- mond, Va., 8/24/18. Lester Owen Seal, Elkton, Va., 9/2/18. Walter Thomas Blackshear, Smithfield, Va., 10/18/18. Robert Harrison Kirby Jr., Finks- burg, Md., 10/15/18. Charles Leslie Walstrom Cumb, Foreside, Maine, 8/5/18. ’69 Thomas Thaxton Baber, Charlot- tesville, Va., 10/15/18. J. Pat Green, Roanoke, Va., 10/4/18. Bruce Allan McFadden, Hillsboro, Ore., 7/26/18. Thomas Gordon Himes, Princeton, W.Va., 8/18/18. Phil Harold Dawson, Stephens City, Va., 8/1/18. ’70 Marlene “Micky” Fast Jester, Virginia Beach, Va., 9/28/18. Larry William L. Roach, Victoria, Va., 10/3/18. William C Perrow, Spout Spring, Va., 8/5/18. Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’43 Everett F. Eldred Jr., North Chester- field, Va., 8/26/17. Newman R. Ogden Jr., Richmond, Va., 7/14/17. Martha P. Waybright, Blacksburg, Va., 8/7/17. ’92 Sigmund Andrew Maichak, War- renton, Va., 11/1/18. Deanna W. Alexander, Blacksburg, Va., 8/21/18. Paul L. West, Lancaster, Penn., 10/23/18. Jennifer H. Sunnucks White, Chesapeake, Va., 10/26/18. ’93 Chris Andrade Denton, Gloucester, Va., 8/14/18. ’97 Carlos Alberto Valero, Alpharetta, Ga., 8/14/18. Kevin Scott Corell, Forest, Va., 8/20/18. ’98 Amy Campbell Brueckner, Over- land Park, Kan., 7/12/18. ’99 William H. Wheeler Jr., Spring- field, Va., 7/26/18. ’02 Erin Lacy Rogers, Spotsylvania, Va., 6/28/18. ’03 Justin D. Updike, Washington, Va., 11/14/18. ’04 Matthew P. Venturini, Wood- bridge, Va., 9/10/18. ’07 Rebecca Kay Davidson, Denver, Colo., 12/13/18. ’08 Peter Charles Jacobson II, Virginia Beach, Va., 11/7/18. Joseph Adam Brenneman, North Chesterfield, Va., 7/19/18. ’10 Justin Rance Marianetti, Hunters- ville, N.C., 8/27/18. David Alan Burkhard Jr., Burke, Va., 8/12/18. ’11 James Christopher Welch, Middle- town, Md., 8/8/18. ’12 John Barry Hall, Shawsville, Va., 7/4/18. ’13 William Lee Dewberry, Hurt, Va., 10/31/18. ’14 Benjamin Lee Friar, Concord, Va., 11/28/18. ’15 Brenda Elizabeth Mcin- tyre-Odoms, Newport News, Va., 11/7/18. ’17 Sarah Joy Mitchell, Oakford, Pa., 7/8/18. ’18 Joseph Warren Rager, Virginia Beach, Va., 8/26/18. Susan Layne Redinger Hart, Dum- fries, Va., 10/17/18. Kenneth J. Robe tson, Williams- burg, ., 1 8. ’71 Bruce Elliott Allder, Berryville, Va., 8/8/18. Joseph Ward Moore, Bristol, Va., 8/10/18. Claire Cassell Harmon, High Point, N.C., 7/11/18. Mark David Kavanaugh, Alexan- dria, Va., 6/20/18. Ronald Burr Melvin, Newport News, Va., 7/27/18. Larry Alan Doll, Austin, Texas, 7/21/18. James Arthur Thompson, Eureka, Mont., 7/18/18. ’72 John Vincent De Rito, Charleston, W.Va., 11/7/18. Robert Steven Johnson, Deep Run, N.C., 8/9/18. Mike Joseph M. Cassell, Wytheville, Va., 11/9/18. Richard L. Eddings, Altamonte Springs, Fla., 8/3/18. Steven W. Brisbane, Reston, Va., 7/23/18. Joseph T Martin, Orwigsburg, Pa., 10/12/18. ’73 James Arthur Marshall Jr., Lynch- burg, Va., 9/22/18. William Samuel Hooten Jr., Peachtree City, Ga., 11/17/18. ’74 Gary Scott Saunders, Madison Heights, Va., 11/27/18. Debra Roop Smrchek, Longs, S.C., 7/10/18. John Bryan Hodges, Blacksburg, Va., 11/27/18. Robert Eugene Clarke Jr., Mount Airy, Md., 9/30/18. ’75 Brian Patrick Clark, Midlothian, Va., 7/15/18. ’79 Bruce Hilton Skeeter, Midway, Ky., 7/11/18. Thomas Edward Lawall, Centrev- ille, Va., 8/28/18. Joseph Leak Haymore, Knoxville, Tenn., 11/26/18. John Howard Zechman Jr., Dan- ville, ., 9 9 8. John Edward Sewell Jr., Rockville, Md., 7/23/18. ’80 Kevin Carl Widmayer, Friday Harbor, Wash., 9/13/18. Leslie Page Douthat, Glen Allen, Va., 10/20/18. ’81 Terry Lee Kibler, Woodstock, Va., 11/26/18. Dean Jeffery Marrs, Abingdon, Va., 11/27/18 John Bennett Quade Jr., Ashburn, Va., 8/31/18. Richard Darrell Trigg, Rogersville, Tenn., 11/11/18. Warren Lee Hainline, Albemarle, N.C., 7/5/18. Richard Jay Bass, Norfolk, Va., 6/27/18. ’82 Timothy Alan Nagle, Knoxville, Tenn., 7/28/18. David Wayne Jennings, Falls Church, Va., 12/29/17. ’83 R ndolph K. Guthrie, Bedford, Va., 10/7/18. Herald Franklin Stout III, Steam- boat Springs, Colo., 7/7/18. Caroline Meredith Brown, Nor- folk, Va., 6/3/18. ’84 Eric Leonard Ellis, Portland, Ore., 9/17/18. William Frank Coleman, Freder- icksburg, Va., 8/13/18. Marc A. Houle, Pineville, N.C., 7/29/18. Lance Edward Wallace, Midlo- thian, Va., 10/24/18. James Langhorne Houck, Lynch- burg, Va., 11/10/18. ’85 Robert Bryan Corbitt, Roanoke, Va., 6/26/18. Jennifer Lynne Drof, Woodbridge, Va., 11/12/18. ’86 James Andrew Jones, Capitol Heights, Md., 7/21/18. Robert Lynn Hash, Henrico, Va., 11/14/18. ’88 Sean Christopher Maisey, Lanexa, Va., 11/5/18. Christopher Aloysius Laverty, Hackettstown, N.J., 6/28/18. ’89 Christopher James Kurtze, Midlo- thian, Va., 7/7/18. Hazel Brown Marshall, Springfield, Va., 7/7/18. Michael Scott Elmore, Rocky Mount, Va., 7/24/18. Milan M. Jovanovic, Research Triangle Park, N.C., 10/9/18. Grant Howard Kugler, Stafford, Va., 7/22/18. Christian Walter Hammerle, Virginia Beach, Va., 7/29/18. Michael Earle Grandstaff II, Hick- ory, N.C., 9/26/18. ’90 Jon Eric Adams, Mooresville, N.C., 8/30/18. Benjamin Mortimer Stout III, Wheeling, W.Va., 8/3/18. Ronald Shawn Phillips, Bartlett, Tenn., 9/3/18. Alan Lawrence Eisenberg, Burke, Va., 10/8/18. William Shendow, Winchester, Va., 10/19/18. ’91 Elizabeth Jane Kline, Woodbridge, Va., 8/15/18. Cathy Sue Yearout, Christiansburg, Va., 11/15/18. Randy Richar Andrew Provan, Los Alamos, N.M., 10/30/18. William Jennings King Jr., Cul- peper, Va., 8/27/18. John Edward Colville, Oviedo, Fla., 10/18/18. Gordon Danny Jonas, Max Mead- ows, Va., 10/27/18. ’76 William Edward Thornton, Bena, Va., 6/26/18. George Glenn Yeatts, Huddleston, Va., 6/23/18. Abigail R. Mumy Bacon, Mount Pleasant, S.C., 7/17/18. Ricardo B. Jacquez, Chico, Calif., 10/18/18. Dennis Russell Throckmorton Wytheville, Va., 8/23/18. Edith Houston Carter, Blacksburg, Va., 10/14/18. Raymond Donald Hayden Jr., Shippensburg, Pa., 10/20/18. Robert Albert Ackerman, Hood River, Ore., 11/1/18. David Lee Mays, Kennesaw, Ga., 10/14/18. Leonard Harold Session, Chris- tiansburg, Va., 10/16/18. ’77 Dean Simmons Powell, Marathon, Fla., 5/26/18. Shannon Stinson Smith, Lebanon, Va., 10/22/18. Thomas Curd Yancey, Waynes- boro, Va., 7/27/18. Edward Charles Polhamus Jr., Danville, Va., 10/13/18. William B. Bartelloni, Santa Fe, N.M., 8/4/18. David Blodgett Jones, Fernandina, Fla., 10/14/18. ’78 Bruce Gerard Hansen, Pembroke, Va., 9/6/18. David Bruce Lyons, Monroe, Conn., 6/3/18. Tamara Rumsey Wittel, Williams- burg, Va., 9/24/18. 68 | HOKIE NATION | IN MEMORIAM FACULTY/STAFF Edward R. Clayton, professor emeritus of business information technology, died Feb. 10. Charles “Jack” Dudley, an associate professor of sociology who later served as director of the University Honors program, died March 25. Richard Eisler, a professor in the Department of Psychology since 1977, died April 23. William H. Mason ’71, M.S. ’72, Ph.D. ’75, professor emeritus of aerospace and ocean engineering in the College of Engineering, died March 27. Timothy Mills, who served on Virginia Tech’s buildings and grounds team for 30 years, died March 10. J. Donald Rimstidt, professor emeritus of geochemistry and former department head in the College of Science’s Department of Geosciences, died March 24. Robert James Tracy, a longtime professor of geology and a former chair of the Department of Geosciences in the College of Science, died Jan. 6. ALUMNI LEADERS Robert Barnes Delano ’44, of Warsaw, Virginia, died Dec. 5, 2017. Delano’s career included dairy and grain farming as well as serving as president of both the Virginia and American Farm Bureau federations. He was a member of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors from 1994-1998 and was inducted into the William Preston Society in 2002, serving as president from 2008 through 2010. Delano received a Virginia Tech Distinguished Achieve- ment Award in 1991 and an Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2000. Thomas L. Phillips ’47, M.S. ’47, Weston, Massachusetts, died Jan. 9. The former chairman and CEO of Raytheon, Phillips was recognized with the University Distinguished Alumni Award in 1987. OBITUARIES STILL LIFE | 71 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: Virginia Tech’s main greenhouse range, which is associated with the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is located on the corner of Washington Street between the Hahn Horticulture Gar- den and McComas Hall. The 51,000 square feet of space includes the Keck Greenhouse Range and the Jacob P. Lutz Teaching Greenhouses. Many departments and programs use the greenhouses for teaching, research, and Extension activities. STILL LIFE SK YL AR T AU BE 72 | END NOTE LO GA N W AL LA CE END NOTE STANDING AT AN INFLECTION POINT IN HISTORY WE FACE A RAPIDLY CHANGING WORLD that’s more global and more diverse than the one I graduated into. Our graduates today will enter a world that’s moving more quickly than we can imagine. It’s imperative that we change as a univer- sity as well. We’re seeing that change in Alexandria, where Virginia Tech will build its Inno- vation Campus as the Commonwealth of Virginia ramps up its efforts to increase the tech-talent pipeline to support the growing tech sector, including Ama- zon’s second headquarters. This is an amazing opportunity to expand our pres- ence in the greater Washington, D.C., area, which will soon become one of the great digital economies of the world. We’re going to be right in the middle of it, which will give our students and fac- ulty tremendous opportunities—not just in Northern Virginia but in Roanoke, Blacksburg, and throughout Virginia. In Roanoke, we’re making tremen- dous advances at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC and the Vir- ginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Over the past decade, Virginia Tech has expanded its research and academic port- folio by adding a medical component, an element that’s a must for any comprehen- sive university. These enterprises have turned out to be game-changers for the university, for Roanoke, and for Virginia. Layer in the countless research projects through which Virginia Tech is tack- ling the complicated problems of our world. The ambitious Global Business and Analytics Complex intersects with the future of data analytics and data sci- ence. The university’s groundbreaking work with brain research has implica- tions for everything from sports to vehi- cle safety. The university’s partnerships with business and the corporate world to develop autonomous vehicles and intelli- gent infrastructure are changing the way we see roads. When you consider these and the many other projects in motion, it’s clear that Virginia Tech is positioned like no other university in the world. This is truly our moment. To make this leap forward, though, one thing is clear: Today’s best universities thrive because of private giving from their proud alumni. We’re thankful for the funding that tuition and state support provide, but philanthropy is the suste- nance that we need to boost our efforts. The beginning of the upcoming capital campaign, which we’ll launch in October, is a pivotal moment. Building upon our rich history and broad reach, the vision for tomorrow’s Virginia Tech represents an opportunity for not only alumni, but friends, foundations, and corporations to invest in something quite significant. Through the campaign, we will ensure that Virginia Tech emerges as one of the most respected and premier institutions in the world. That’s not hyperbole. But it will take our collective leadership and participation. It will be difficult, and it won’t happen overnight. It will take the $10 gifts and the $10 million gifts. It will take mentoring students and helping fac- ulty commercialize their inventions. It will take all of us deciding to invest in Virginia Tech graduates who will change the world. This campaign will take a monumen- tal effort to succeed. I’m excited by the opportunity to meet the challenge, espe- cially as we approach the institution’s sesquicentennial—our 150th anniver- sary— in 2022. And just as importantly, I’m optimistic. This moment is happening because of our dedication to our motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). Your expertise, hard work, and commitment to serve have gotten us to this point. And I believe to my core that those same values, paired with our sustained investment in the future, will transform this university. The world needs Virginia Tech and its commitment to serve. We need you to help us get there. Charlie Phlegar is the vice president for advancement at Virginia Tech. Charlie Phlegar m ag az in e Visit us online to read even more stories about your fellow Hokies, find links to events and campus activities, and stay up-to-date on university news. V T M A G . V T . E D U MAKE SURE THE UNIVERSITY HAS YOUR UP-TO-DATE MAILING AND CONTACT INFORMATION. USE YOUR VIRGINIA TECH PID AND PASSWORD TO VIEW AND MAKE CORRECTIONS TO YOUR MAILING ADDRESS, EMAIL ADDRESS, AND OTHER INFORMATION. YOU CAN INSPECT AND UPDATE YOUR ALUMNI PROFILE ANYTIME, FROM ANYWHERE. IT’S EASY TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION AND EMAIL ADDRESS AT ALUMNI.VT.EDU. • CLICK “UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION“ • LOGIN WITH YOUR VT PID AND PASSWORD • CHOOSE “HOKIE PLUS“ • THEN CHOOSE “UPDATE ADDRESS(ES) AND PHONE(S)” OR “UPDATE ALUMNI EMAIL ADDRESS(ES)” YOU CAN ALSO EMAIL YOUR UPDATES TO ALUMNIDATA@VT.EDU. MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE YOUR FULL NAME AND CLASS YEAR IN THE EMAIL. STAY CONNECTED ALUMNI.VT.EDU/REUNION2020 SANDRA WORLEY ’78 GARY M. WORLEY ’78, ’94, ’99 SARAH WORLEY MCDEARIS ’08 ’15 ADALINE MCDEARIS 2040? R E U N I O N W E E K E N D 2 0 2 0 This is home. Virginia Tech is home. Reconnect with friends, family, and campus during our four-day summer reunion. Enjoy dinner on the Drillfield, behind- the-scenes campus tours, children’s activities, happy hours, presentations from university leaders, and more. SAVE THE DATE: JUNE 4-7, 2020 (in stroller, in retro photo)1986 2019 Virginia Tech’s history is rooted in agricultural education and re- search. Today, advances in tech- nology are transforming the fu- ture of farming in the U.S. and around the world. Virginia Tech research and education are help- ing farmers provide for the grow- ing needs of an expanding popu- lation and are promoting safe and healthy harvests. How does growth affect cam- pus transportation? From bicy- cles and buses to skateboards and scooters, students, faculty, and staff are exploring alterna- tive ways to move around cam- pus quickly and safely. You’ll find stories about these topics and many more in the fall issue of Virginia Tech Magazine. IN OUR NEXT ISSUE