collegenews Robert and Mary Wortmann at the April dedication ceremony.
“
Bob and Mary have certainly made a wonderful mark
on Roanoke
College, and on me. — Michael C. Maxey
30
”
Market Street Complex renamed in honor of Wortmanns ROANOKE COLLEGE’S student residential Market Street Complex was renamed the Robert E. and Mary J. Wortmann Complex on April 10, paying tribute to two of Roanoke’s most devoted supporters. The Wortmanns, of Upper Saddle River, N.J., have long been committed to Roanoke. Robert Wortmann ’60 served on the College’s Board of Trustees for 22 years. He chaired the board from 2003 to 2011, overseeing significant growth and improvements at the College. Mary Wortmann, an alumna of Seton Hall University and Fairleigh Dickenson University, has been as involved in Roanoke College as her husband. During Robert Wortmann’s tenure on the Board of Trustees, the couple attended hundreds of College events, including those sponsored by every alumni chapter. “Bob and Mary have certainly made a wonderful mark on Roanoke College, and on me,” President Michael Maxey said before unveiling a sign at the dedication ceremony. “[Robert] Wortmann led the board … in the most gracious and generous way possible.” “He and Mary...were active participants who added to the life of the College — a vitality brought by their interest in
other people.” During Wortmann’s tenure as board chair, the College added 687 beds on campus, completed a new four-lane entrance at Peery Drive, built the 1,400-seat Donald J. Kerr Stadium, and renovated academic buildings Trout Hall, Miller Hall and Lucas Hall. The Lucas renovation was Roanoke’s first green project and Salem’s first LEED certified building. Also during that time, Roanoke’s faculty introduced an innovative new academic core curriculum, Intellectual Inquiry. The College became one of fewer than 300 schools nationwide with a chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society. Roanoke also was honored as the 2009 Campus Activities Magazine “Campus of the Year,” was recognized as a national up-and-comer in U.S. News & World Report’s Best College Rankings for 2011 and debuted in The Princeton Review’s “Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition,” released in 2011. In brief remarks at the dedication ceremony, Mary Wortmann said because of her husband’s deep love for Roanoke, “it was not difficult for me to have that love for the College.” That was evident in the remarks Robert Wortmann shared at the ceremony. “Roanoke College is my first love,” he said.