Emergency funding Scholarship enables medical student to pursue his passion
Why I give ...
“I am a proud supporter of Virginia Commonwealth University. I attended VCU as an adult and went on to become an undergraduate academic adviser for 19 years. It was a wonderful time. VCU provided a warm and supportive community that nurtured me as a student and helped me grow as a professional, and my ongoing interaction with young students kept me stimulated and challenged. I am proud to continue to help others to learn and grow by giving back to the university.” Edith Brenner (B.F.A.’78/A)
To learn more about the Black & Gold Loyalty Society, visit support.vcu.edu/loyalty.
Black & Gold Loyalty Society member with eight consecutive years of giving
VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., awards the Edward A. Wayne Medal to William A. “Bill” Royall Jr. and Pamela Kiecker Royall at the May Commencement ceremony. See article, Page 19. Photo Thomas Kojcsich, University Marketing
Features 2
Urgent care
14
Seat of power
6
Talk of the town
22
Circle of influence
After a circuitous route to medical school, a scholarship gives student Kenneth Guinn the help he needs to fulfill his professional dream. A lecture named in memory of a beloved VCU professor brings critical new perspectives on urban planning and design to the region.
A look at the achievements of four faculty members who have benefited from the extra funding that comes with being awarded an endowed chair. For more than 30 years, a scholarship in the School of Business has provided personal and professional guidance to its recipients.
On the cover School of Medicine student Kenneth Guinn, recipient of the Stephen C. and Marie F. Cenedella Endowed Scholarship
Photo Jay Paul
Interim Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Ed Grier • Development and Alumni Communications Melanie Irvin Seiler (B.S.‘96/H&S), miseiler@vcu.edu, (804) 828-3975; Mitchell Moore (B.S.’07/MC; M.S.’08/E), mooreml3@vcu.edu, (804) 827-3617; Emma Coates, ekcoates@vcu.edu, (804) 828-2694; Brelyn Powell, blpowell@vcu.edu, (804) 828-3797 Impact is published quarterly by the Virginia Commonwealth University Office of Development and Alumni Relations. The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the editorial staff or the university. © 2017, Virginia Commonwealth University, an equal opportunity, affirmative action university campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 1
Medical student Kenneth Guinn
2 • Impact
urgent
care Timely scholarship gives nontraditional student the help he needs to return to the classroom B Y B R E LY N P O W E L L
Photo Jay Paul
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 3
K
enneth Guinn first experienced the fast-paced, high-stakes environment of the emergency room as a volunteer at a hospital near his undergraduate university. “I loved the energy,” he says, “and the sense of urgency knowing that patients needed immediate help.” After those experiences, Guinn knew he wanted to go to medical school. What he didn’t know yet was that his journey to the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine would involve a few unexpected diversions. “I just always assumed I would go right into medical school after earning my bachelor’s degree,” he says. “I never even considered another path to that goal.” But as Guinn neared the end of his undergraduate education, something else occurred to him: a feeling that it was his duty to serve his country. Instead of applying to medical school, he joined the Navy. “When you’re enlisted, you’re pretty low on the totem pole, so respect and humility go a long way,” says Guinn, who completed a four-year enlistment before being discharged honorably. “I learned a lot about character during my time in the military, which I believe will be useful in my future medical career.” Guinn was finally ready to take everything he’d learned and get back to work pursuing his original dream of a medical degree. He was accepted into the VCU School of Medicine in 2015. But after years away from the classroom, he faced the challenges of not only returning to school as a nontraditional student but also affording an expensive medical degree. Relief came via the Stephen C. and Marie F. Cenedella Endowed Scholarship, a renewable award that Guinn has received both of his years at VCU. “When you think about the costs – tuition, books, even living expenses – it all adds up,” Guinn says. He also receives help through military benefits and says every bit helps. “The financial
4 • Impact
benefit of the scholarship has been great, but it’s also a confidence-booster. It means a lot when someone shows that they support you and believe in your success.” Awarded annually to students in the VCU School of Medicine based on both merit and need, the Cenedella Scholarship was established with a gift of $125,000 from Stephen C. Cenedella, M.D. (M.D.’68/M), and his late wife, Marie (B.S.’67/AHP), in December 2005. Cenedella still talks with gratitude about the scholarship he received during his time on the MCV Campus. By the end of his third year in medical school, he had accumulated 14 student loans. The scholarship he received covered the full tuition cost for his final year. “I’ll never forget how relieved I felt to have that last year paid for,” Cenedella says. “I always knew I wanted to pay it forward.” Cenedella hopes his support will help medical students pursue their passion without being discouraged by the financial burden. “My advice for them is to follow their heart and never forget why they wanted to become doctors: to help others,” says Cenedella, who has seen more than 200,000 patients since his career in family medicine began in 1972. Last November, Cenedella made arrangements to give an additional $100,000 to the scholarship fund through his individual retirement account. With this additional gift, Cenedella is contributing to the School of Medicine’s 1838 Campaign, which aims to recruit and reward top students and to reduce student debt. Peter F. Buckley, M.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine, says the campaign is a way to level the playing field for all students. When the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the accrediting body for medical schools in the United States, visited VCU last year, they gave the School of Medicine high marks and a full eight-year re-accreditation. In their review, they paid special attention to the level of educational debt students carry, which is an issue nationwide. “The accreditors were glad to see that we’ve launched the 1838 Scholarship Campaign to build an endowment that’s on par with our peer schools,” Buckley says. “Combined with tightly limiting tuition increases, it’s our approach to helping talented and compassionate students fulfill their dream of becoming physicians – regardless of their families’ financial resources. We’re enormously grateful to Dr. Cenedella for his partnership in that goal.”
Stephen Cenedella and his late wife, Marie, pictured in 2006
Guinn is on track to graduate from the School of Medicine in 2019. He has maintained his passion for emergency care and still experiences the same rush of adrenaline that inspired him to pursue it as a career. In a letter of thanks to Cenedella, Guinn explained that although his path to medicine was not as direct as he’d imagined, he believed his experience would help make him a better doctor. “While I have not taken the traditional path to medicine, I have learned and grown so much more through my alternative route,” he wrote. “I plan to remain a creative, outside-the-box thinker who is not afraid to take the road less traveled.” To learn more about the 1838 Campaign in the School of Medicine, contact Amy Lane, Ph.D., director of major gifts, at (804) 827-4937 or amy.lane@vcuhealth.org.
Planned giving via an IRA charitable rollover The federal government recently made permanent a tax law that makes it more appealing for some donors to use IRA funds to support VCU. IRA owners older than 701/2 are required to begin taking annual minimum distributions. Recent legislation allows these individuals to make a distribution of up to $100,000 from their IRA directly to an eligible charitable organization, tax-free. This can satisfy the required minimum distribution and will avoid the income-tax bill. Additionally, donors exclude the distributed amount from their income, resulting in lower taxable income regardless of whether they itemize deductions. To learn more, contact Doug McCartney, J.D., executive director of gift planning, at (804) 828-5563 or giftplanning@vcu.edu or visit vcugiftplanning.org.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 5
TALK TOWN OF THE
B Y E M M A C O AT E S
6 • Impact
An annual lecture series at the Wilder School highlights new ways to tackle planning and design issues in Richmond, Virginia, and beyond
O
Morton B. Gulak, the former VCU professor in whose memory the lecture series was established
Illustration Dhiru Thadani
f the many new faces to have arrived in Richmond, Virginia, during a population growth spurt that has now lasted for seven consecutive years, arguably no one has done more to shape the city’s future than Mark Olinger. The Dayton, Ohio, native took the helm as the city’s director of planning and development review five years ago. Today, he’s just as convinced of Richmond’s potential as he was on day one. “We have an influx of younger residents, new residents, people like me who came here for jobs,” Olinger says. “Richmond has an opportunity, given its history and its position and the way it has developed over time, to be one of the really great midsize cities in the country.” With praise for Richmond coming from outlets such as Travel + Leisure, National Geographic and American Express Travel, among many others, the city is riding a similar wave of optimism at least partly because of this infusion of new talent, new minds and new perspectives. Olinger sees it reflected in the city planning department and in Richmond’s planning and design community in general, which he says has skewed younger and has become more open to considering new ideas. This will be critical to the city addressing some longstanding challenges, such as the lack of key resources like jobs, food access, transportation options and quality schools in areas of concentrated poverty. “People in the profession right now are very sympathetic to the messages that are coming out, like how do we provide more multimodal transportation options, how do we reinvent ourselves without constantly building new and sucking the life out of old areas?” Olinger says.
Paula Gulak (third from left) shows off a portrait of her late husband drawn by 2015 Gulak lecturer Dhiru Thadani. The portrait was presented to her at the 2016 lecture. From left: Wilder School Dean John Accordino, Ph.D., Hyman Gulak, Paula Gulak, Sheila Gulak, Philip Gulak and Meghan Gough, Wilder School chair of the urban and regional planning and studies program
UNIQUE PERSPECTIVES One way to generate more answers to questions such as these is by ensuring the influx of new voices continues. The Morton B. Gulak Lecture in Urban and Regional Planning, presented annually since 2013 by Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, was established with this aim. The lecture series invites renowned experts in planning, architecture or urban design to VCU each year to share their experiences and perspectives with students, neighbors and regional professionals. Named for Morton B. Gulak, it was established by the Wilder School with an initial gift of $25,000 from Gulak’s widow, Paula, and their children, and subsequent gifts from the Gulak family, friends and supporters, which created the Morton B. Gulak Associate Professor Emeritus Fund. They chose a lecture series to honor Gulak, a longtime professor in the Wilder
8 • Impact
School who passed away in 2012 after several bouts with cancer, because they thought it best reflected his interests. Gulak began his career as an architect and then pursued a master’s in urban and regional planning before joining VCU in 1972 to teach in the undergraduate urban studies program. At VCU, he helped found the urban and regional planning graduate program. He retired in 2010. Wilder School Dean John Accordino, who describes Gulak as his mentor when he arrived at VCU in 1986, says a lectureship was appealing not only because of the breadth of its impact but also because it was a way to remember Gulak precisely as he would have wanted to be remembered. “The idea of the lectureship was to bring, every year, someone who had a foot in practice and a foot in scholarship and academia, as Mort did,” says Accordino, who describes it as “a privilege” to also be a donor to the fund.
Photo courtesy Wilder School
THEORY AND PRACTICE Paula Gulak says it is important that Gulak’s twin passions for theory and practice are reflected in the lecture series. “Mort felt that to be a good planner takes more than reading books and reviewing studies,” she says. “That is ‘background.’ What is critical to the process is personal interaction and the ability to interact with your community. So to be able to bring a speaker in every year who has a different approach to the planning process or is doing something remarkable or innovative is wonderful. It isn’t that the grass is greener elsewhere, but there are key people doing very innovative things impacting cities. “Students can’t always travel to see what is happening, but it is important that they are exposed to that,” Gulak continues. “Hopefully, it’s not only broadening for students – it’s wonderful for planners, city and regional stakeholders and our community.” Though Olinger missed last year’s lecture, he attended the previous three. He echoes Paula Gulak’s point about the benefits of bringing a different perspective to Richmond. “It helps us think a little differently about what we do and how we do it,” he says. “And it gives us some opportunities to think about how, as we’re planning or thinking about projects, what the applications might be here in the city.” John Moeser, a longtime former colleague in the Wilder School, says the lectures that have had the most relevance to Richmond have been about “the new urbanism”: designing cities more for humans than cars; incorporating a mix of residential, commerce and institutional; building in the context of the existing fabric; and developing a good public transit system. The local connection of the lectures is one more way the lectureship honors Gulak’s memory. “Mort’s work was always connected to the community,” Moeser says. “He was interested in satisfying the interests of neighborhoods – commercial districts, real people – and that’s what made his work so important.” RELEVANCE TO RICHMOND Another issue of great relevance to Richmond was addressed during last year’s lecture, by designer Sara Zewde of landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. Zewde talked about memorializing the cultural history of a city, even when that history is contentious. Her work had taken her to Rio de Janeiro after the 2011 discovery of an old slave port
that had been the point of arrival for millions of Africans into the Americas. She faced the complex task of creating a memorial that not only honored the site’s historical significance but also gained approval from the mayor, the public-private partnership redeveloping the port, private developers, advocates for Afro-Brazilian rights, community members and even descendants of the slaves. Zewde saw her mission in terms of commemorating not a single event but a long period in history whose effects still reverberate today. So instead of a simple monument, she designed an area using Afro-Brazilian plants, soil, symbols and patterns to evoke Africa’s influence on Brazilian culture. Zewde’s experience resonated with the Gulak lecture audience because the issue of how best to memorialize Richmond’s black history is something Olinger says the city is grappling with, from the Lumpkin’s Jail site and the African Burial Ground to the Maggie Walker statue that was recently unveiled at the intersection of Brook Road and Adams and Broad streets. “It’s clear that that will be a significant part of how we think about urban design, community planning and public art installations in the future,” Olinger says. “Rather than just buying a sculpture somewhere or commissioning somebody to do a sculpture, you get more in-depth into thinking about what we’re really doing, where we’re doing it and how that story gets told.”
The Gulak lectures: Year by year 2013: Urban planner and advocate of smart growth and sustainable design Jeff Speck discussed “walkable cities” in the inaugural Gulak Lecture. 2014: World-renowned expert on urban and suburban design Ellen Dunham-Jones argued for the “retrofitting” of suburbia to bring new jobs, activity and services to aging shopping centers and other areas. 2015: Award-winning consultant, architect, urbanist and educator Dhiru Thadani explored neighborhood cohesiveness and international urbanism. 2016: Landscape architecture and design expert Sara Zewde talked about negotiating cultural memory in the age of the urban renaissance.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 9
Photo courtesy Wilder School
story of a community in a more authentic way,” Leonard says. “Her whole perspective resonated with me, my perspective on the city and how I aspire to approach planning in Richmond.” Accordino says the lectures have an enriching effect on his students – “just as Mort did.” But he also points out that they enhance the visibility and reputation of the urban and regional planning program at VCU as a whole. And, in terms of the broader community, the lectures serve a powerful purpose in confirming and legitimizing ideas that might already be out there but take a while to become widely accepted. “What typically happens is that these ideas become part of the common currency,” Accordino explains. “People talk about it, and then later, there’s an impact.” Gregory Wingfield (B.S.’75/ The 2017 Morton B. Gulak Lecture GPA; M.U.R.P.’76/GPA), a in Urban and Regional Planning will fellow at the Wilder School, the feature Toni L. Griffin, founder of New chair of the Gulak Fund and York-based Urban Planning for the the former president and CEO American City and professor-in-practice of the Greater Richmond of urban planning at the Harvard Partnership, agrees. Graduate School of Design. It is at 7 “The lecture series contributes p.m. Oct. 25 in VCU’s University Student to a healthy conversation around Commons, 907 Floyd Ave., Richmond, urban design and planning,” says VA 23284. For more information, visit the former student of Gulak’s, a wilder.vcu.edu/news-and-events/ PART OF THE CONVERSATION subsequent longtime friend of the gulak-lecture. If Grace Leonard, a graduate student in her first family and a donor to the fund. year of the urban and regional planning graduate “We don’t necessarily have all program, is any indication, telling the story more accurately the answers, but anytime you can have a robust conversation, through connecting history and community is set to be a key whether it’s about how you reuse old suburban retail or how you theme for the urban planners and designers of tomorrow. have a more walkable community, it lets people know that there A major takeaway for her from Zewde’s lecture was the are other things going on in the world that we need to know importance of recognizing your cultural bias and always working about and that we can import into Richmond.” with the community to understand their values and visions. “Zewde inspired all of us to think more critically about what To learn more about the Wilder School, contact James Wasilewski, direc‘memorial’ means and how we can rely on each other to tell the tor of development, at (804) 828-6205 or wasilewskijr@vcu.edu.
Save the date
10 • Impact
Photo Ron Lopez
Sara Zewde at the 2016 Gulak lecture
The Rice Rivers Center’s new Inger Rice Lodge
Rice Rivers Center opens lodge, announces $1 million challenge grant VCU Rice Rivers Center celebrated two major steps toward its vision of becoming a world-class environmental research station in June: the opening of the Inger Rice Lodge and the announcement of a $1 million challenge grant to help fund construction of an on-site research laboratory. More than 100 guests attended the ribbon-cutting of the Inger Rice Lodge, an overnight facility that can accommodate up to 22 visiting researchers, students and other groups. This lodge will enable Rice Rivers Center to host researchers from afar and greatly improve the center’s ability to secure external funding for summer student programs. The lodge was named in honor of longtime VCU donor Inger Rice, who gave $1.8 million in support of the $2.3 million lodge. At the event, Rice talked of the enjoyment she gets from seeing her contributions make an impact during her lifetime. Also during the ceremony, VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., announced a $1 million challenge grant from the Mary Morton
Parsons Foundation. All gifts pledged between June 1, 2017, and June 1, 2018, will be matched 1-to-1 toward construction funding for the Rice Rivers Center research building. Funds already raised toward the building, which will cost about $6 million, include two contributions at the $1 million level from the Cabell Foundation and WestRock, as well as $500,000 from Rice. Construction on the 14,000-square-foot research building, which will include laboratory, office and meeting spaces, is expected to begin in summer 2018. The lodge and the research facility are critical to students’ experiential learning requirements and for the center to expand its collaborations with other institutions. To learn more about the VCU Rice Rivers Center, contact Catherine Dahl, director of development and special projects for VCU Life Sciences, at (804) 827-7372 or ccdahl@vcu.edu.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 11
The new RPI History Wall inside the University Student Commons
Richmond Professional Institute remembered with ‘history wall’ exhibit The brownstone wall around Ginter House at 901 W. Franklin St. served as the epicenter of student activity at Richmond Professional Institute, a predecessor to Virginia Commonwealth University. To mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of RPI, the iconic wall came to life April 7 as an exhibit inside the University Student Commons. The RPI History Wall in the Commons Theater includes floor-to-ceiling photo display panels that depict the leaders and professors who taught at RPI and built its infrastructure, the students who built their futures on the cobblestone campus and the activities that built the foundation for the VCU of today and tomorrow. Running along the bottom of the exhibit is a representation of the brownstone wall where RPI students gathered. A parallel wall contains a timeline that shows, in photos and commentary, significant milestones in RPI’s rich history from its inception in 1917 to its merger in 1968 with the Medical College of Virginia to become VCU. More than 15,000 students, faculty and visitors pass between the two walls every day. 12 • Impact
VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., University Librarian John E. Ulmschneider and student Fred A. Williams Jr., chair of the SGA Activities Programming Board, hosted the event. VCU Alumni’s RPI Alumni Council, composed of RPI alumni from the 1950s and 1960s, spearheaded the RPI History Wall, raising funds for the project and working with VCU Libraries and University Student Commons & Activities to construct it. “The members of the RPI Council are very pleased to see this project come to fruition,” said Joe Lowenthal (B.F.A.’55/A), an RPI graduate and chairman of the council. “It accomplishes a major goal of ours: to ensure that RPI’s role in forming VCU’s bedrock is remembered and memorialized. I am in awe of the great university that VCU has become. RPI was there to help put it all in motion, and I am very proud to be an alumnus and work actively with VCU Alumni.” O N L I N E E X T R A To watch former RPI students reminisce about their experiences, visit support.vcu.edu/rpi.
Evening of food and music raises funds, awareness for VCU’s VTCC
Photo Will Gilbert
Photo Will Gilbert
The VCU Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine raised $20,000 to support children’s mental health needs at the Virginia Treatment Center for Children during an event held this spring at Historic Tredegar in Richmond, Virginia. The third annual Banjos, Beers & Butts event featured bluegrass music from Jackass Flats and food from Mission BBQ and attracted nearly 350 members of the community. “We couldn’t have had better weather or a more engaged crowd,” says Nena Meurlin, co-chair for the event. “I’ve received so much positive feedback about the evening. Raising awareness and reducing stigma surrounding mental health is such an important goal for the VCU Department of Psychiatry, and I’m so pleased that we can support their efforts and be part of the conversation.” The facility is dedicated to providing child- and familycentered care and offers a range of psychiatric services, from outpatient treatment to intensive inpatient care. The new VTCC opens its doors this fall.
Donors Nancy and Ray Ottenbrite with scholarship recipient Emil Iqbal
Donors, recipients meet at VCU Endowed Scholarship Dinner
To learn more about the VTCC, contact Lynn Meyer, director of development, at (804) 827-6297 or lynn.meyer@vcuhealth.org.
Photo Petite Shards Productions
A powerful speech by master’s graduate Rebecca Carter (B.S.W.’16/SW; M.S.W.’17/SW), recipient of the Social Work Administration, Policy, Planning, and Practice Scholarship, moved the crowd attending the 18th Annual Virginia Common wealth University Endowed Scholarship Dinner this spring. “I was always exhausted. I didn’t have any money for groceries. I survived by bringing home sandwiches from my jobs that would have been thrown away. I never went to the doctor,” Carter said, adding she was in survival mode. Her scholarships, she told the invited group of more than 400 donors and scholarship recipients at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia, turned her graduate school experience around, helping her not just survive but thrive and giving her time to run focus groups, present at conferences, get straight As and win awards. “Your gifts,” she went on, “touch the lives of the students that receive them but also every person whom that student will go on to serve in their careers.” The evening’s programming also featured remarks by President Michael Rao, Ph.D., who echoed Carter’s words about the power of giving – “You are VCU,” he said – and singled out donor C. Kenneth Wright (H.L.D.’11) for his long relationship with the university. The event also included music by the VCU Commonwealth Singers and a video featuring conversations between donors and their scholarship recipients. O N L I N E E X T R A To watch the video shown at the event, visit support.vcu.edu/2017dinner.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 13
SEAT
of POWER
Endowed chairs and professorships are among the highest forms of recognition provided by a university to
a faculty member. These prestigious positions are critical in recruiting, retaining and supporting the work of
distinguished faculty. A handful of VCU’s endowed chairs
from across campus share how the funding has provided the resources needed to take their work to the next level. BY BRELYN POWELL
14 • Impact
MARK G. MALKIN, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., F.A.A.N.
William G. Reynolds Jr. Chair in Neuro-Oncology
Less than 1 percent of neurologists in the country are board- certified in neuro-oncology, a subspecialty that treats patients with cancers of the brain and spinal cord. In Virginia, more than 700 people are affected by primary malignant brain tumors each year, and about 4,000 more face complications from other cancers that have spread to the nervous system. Mark G. Malkin, M.D., F.R.C.P.C., F.A.A.N., is the only board-certified neuro-oncologist in the Richmond, Virginia, area and one of just three in Virginia. In 2013, he was recruited by Virginia Commonwealth University from the Medical College of Wisconsin to build from scratch a comprehensive neuro- oncology program at VCU. Today, that program is thriving. Malkin developed a neuro-oncology program with both clinical and academic elements, enlisting a staff of two more neuro-oncologists, a neuropsychologist and a nurse practitioner. In addition to seeing patients and creating an educational program for medical students, neurology residents and hematology-oncology fellows, Malkin has dedicated much of his time to research. “Our team is focusing on translational research that takes innovative ideas from bench to bedside,” he says. “We’re able to bring the science that has been developed in the lab and apply it in our own clinical trials.” In its first year, the team saw 33 patients, with one patient participating in the division’s single clinical trial. This year, Malkin says, the team is on track to see 294 new patients. In 2016, 19 patients participated in nine clinical trials, including a phase I study of the drug dimethyl fumurate used with standard care for glioblastoma, the most common primary malignant brain tumor. “The initial lab experiments that suggested we explore this possible treatment further were conducted right here at Massey Cancer Center,” Malkin says. In June, he traveled to Chicago to present the results of the trial at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, where 38,000 oncology professionals from around the world gathered to discuss the latest developments in cancer research. Malkin’s recruitment and successes on campus can be attributed, at least partially, to the William G. Reynolds Jr. Chair in Neuro-Oncology he holds. Reynolds, former vice president of
government relations and public affairs at the Reynolds Metals Co. and former member of the MCV Foundation board of trustees, died from a brain tumor in 2003. In 2006, the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation pledged $1 million to support the VCU School of Medicine to establish, in his memory, VCU’s first chair in neuro-oncology. “We believe that William G. Reynolds Jr. would share our enthusiasm for the pioneering work being done in his memory by Mark Malkin,” says Richard S. Reynolds III, the foundation’s president and cousin of William Reynolds. “We are very excited with his work and know that his achievements will only grow in importance as he continues in that field.” Until now, the next nearest neuro-oncology specialist was located at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, Virginia. Ashlee Loughan, Ph.D., who specializes in neuropsychology on Malkin’s team, says that many of their patients can’t drive because of physical or cognitive side effects of their treatments and depend on family members or friends to get to their appointments. “So many of our patients have commented on what a relief it is to have more convenient care,” Loughan says. “Our team is committed to doing anything we can to reduce the burden on our patients and their families.” Malkin says none of this progress would have been possible without the generosity of the Reynolds Foundation. He sees endless opportunity for the program’s continued development. In addition to holding clinics at hospitals in downtown Richmond, Stony Point and South Hill, Malkin is now focusing on increasing the program’s reach into the community by expanding as far as Williamsburg, Virginia, to make expert care even more accessible to patients in need. To learn more about VCU Health’s neuro-oncology program, contact Carrie Bickford, major gifts officer, at (804) 828-4100 or crbickford@vcu.edu.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 15
A. OMAR ABUBAKER, D.M.D., PH.D.
S. Elmer Bear Chair in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
16 • Impact
To learn more about the School of Dentistry, contact Gloria F. Callihan, J.D., associate dean for development, at (804) 828-8101 or gfcallihan@vcu.edu.
J. DENISE BURNETTE, PH.D.
Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair in Social Work She is still in her first year at VCU, but J. Denise Burnette, Ph.D., the Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair and professor in the School of Social Work, has wasted no time getting involved. Throughout the 2016-17 academic year, she collaborated with peers from Columbia University and around the world to develop transdisciplinary programs designed to enhance social work education and practice, with a particular focus on improving understanding and interventions for older adults. “I hope to contribute meaningfully to initiatives that promote the psychosocial well-being of older adults and their families and communities in low-resource settings,” says Burnette, who has focused on similar work for much of her career. This summer, she joined an interdisciplinary group from the School of Medicine on its annual trip to Pampas Grande, a remote enclave in the Andean highlands of Peru, to provide health services and to develop ways to address the community’s mental health needs. The Samuel S. Wurtzel Endowed Chair in Social Work was funded by Alan Wurtzel in memory of his father, Samuel. Alan Wurtzel’s goal was to create a resource for scholars like Burnette to continue his father’s humanitarian vision. By supporting independent research and scholarship, the chair provides a stimulus for the generation of new ideas and methods in the School of Social Work so that its students graduate prepared to make a difference. “If I can pass on the confidence, opportunities and inspiration others have invested in me, I will be proud of that legacy,” Burnette says. To learn more about the School of Social Work, contact Portia Chan, donor relations associate, at (804) 828-0154 or pgchan@vcu.edu.
Abubaker photo Allen Jones, University Marketing; Burnette photo Thomas Kojcsich, University Marketing; Crislip photo Lindy Rodman, University Marketing
In 2014, after 23 years teaching at VCU and 12 years leading the School of Dentistry’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, A. Omar Abubaker, D.M.D., Ph.D. (Cert.’16/M), was invested as the inaugural S. Elmer Bear Chair in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Funding for the School of Dentistry’s first endowed chair was provided by friends, colleagues and alumni who sought to preserve the legacy of S. Elmer Bear, D.D.S., the founder and first chairman of the department’s residency program. Holding the endowed chair gives Abubaker the responsibility of attracting qualified faculty and top residency candidates to the program, ensuring it maintains its status as one of the best in the country. But later that same year, Abubaker’s vision for the program’s future changed after his son, Adam, passed away from a heroin overdose. Like many other heroin users, his son’s addiction started with pain killers that had been prescribed to him by a doctor for a shoulder injury. “I had to face the harsh reality that doctors everywhere, myself included, are contributing to this problem,” he says. “We have to stop contributing to the problem and actively seek a solution.” Since then, Abubaker has used his role as the Bear Chair to shape the way current dentistry students learn about prescription drugs and addiction in their training. He worked through his grief by focusing his energy on advancing the department’s commitment to excellence in education and training for faculty and students. “Even when faced with an unthinkable personal tragedy, Dr. Abubaker serves with distinction, irrespective of who asks or where his service is needed,” says Dean M. DeLuke, D.D.S., the director of VCU’s Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Predoctoral Surgical Program. “He truly is a visionary. He is always thinking ahead and focusing on the maturation of faculty and students.” Abubaker hopes to honor Bear’s legacy and to bolster the department’s reputation by making sure its students are as compassionate as they are skilled. “I see my role as an opportunity to advocate for compassion as the foundation for approaching addiction,” Abubaker says.
“Someone who has been practicing dentistry for decades may find it difficult to change their ways. It is important to equip dentistry students with these skills from the very beginning in order to help the medical community change.”
ANDREW CRISLIP, PH.D.
William E. and Miriam S. Blake Chair in the History of Christianity For a recent project, Andrew Crislip, Ph.D., and a dozen top global scholars visited countries around the world, including Germany and Spain, to work together on recovering a collection of native Egyptian literature. Travel is common in Crislip’s line of editing ancient and medieval texts. Without the support of the William E. and Miriam S. Blake Chair in the History of Christianity, he couldn’t do much of the highly collaborative work. “This sort of work requires spending time in libraries around the world in places where many of these medieval manuscripts have been scattered throughout history,” Crislip says. “Being able to travel and collaborate with my colleagues both in the United States and abroad is an important part of my job, and having this chair makes that possible.” Crislip has also used the funding to hire several graduate research and teaching assistants who have gone on to careers in the same field. David Roettger (B.A.’08/H&S; M.S.’13/H&S),
Levels of endowment Endowed faculty positions are used to support distinguished professors and researchers in strategic areas of the university’s curriculum. The principal is invested, and the interest is used each year for faculty support. These named, endowed funds last in perpetuity. Donors can endow faculty positions at the following levels: • Lectureship $100,000 • Fellowship $250,000 • Junior Faculty Endowment Fund $250,000 • Departmental Professorship $500,000 • University Professorship $750,000 • Distinguished Professorship $1 million
one of Crislip’s former graduate assistants, is now teaching as an adjunct instructor in the VCU Department of History. “I always knew I wanted to pursue teaching as a career, but working with Dr. Crislip gave me my first in-depth look at what that career would be like,” Roettger says. “That opportunity was my first experience doing a lot of in-depth and specific research on the history of Christianity, which I still get into often in both my research and my teaching.” Created in 2004 with a gift from an anonymous foundation, the Blake Chair honors William E. Blake Jr., Ph.D., and his decades of service teaching the history of Christianity in the VCU Department of History in the College of Humanities and Sciences. He retired from his full-time position in 1992 after 27 years, but he continued teaching as a professor emeritus until 2012. In 2016, William and Miriam Blake made arrangements in their estate plan for a $100,000 planned gift to supplement the Blake Chair endowment as well as for additional funds also in their names in the Department of History, the School of Education and the Cabell Library Special Collections and Archives. “Endowments like this one provide a way for donors to guarantee that fields of study that provided them with inspiration for lifelong learning will always be a part of VCU,” Crislip says. To learn more about the College of Humanities and Sciences, contact Bethanie Constant, senior director of development, at (804) 828-4543 or constantb@vcu.edu.
• Chair $1.5 million • Distinguished Chair $2 million • Deanship $2.5 million
Campaign progress One of the top fundraising priorities of the Make It Real Campaign for VCU is to attract, support and retain the finest faculty through professorships and endowed chairs. More than $32.2 million has been donated to create 49 endowed faculty positions since the campaign launched in 2012. To learn more about endowing a faculty position at VCU, contact Chad Krouse, senior director of development, regional giving, at (804) 828-2346 or cmkrouse@vcu.edu.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 17
Beer entrepreneurs establish chemical engineering scholarship Nicholas and Julia Cain at home in San Diego, California
Photo courtesy Julia and Nicholas Cain
Alumni Julia (B.S.’01/En) and Nicholas (B.S.’01/En) Cain have established a scholarship for chemical engineering undergraduates at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Engineering. The Julia and Nicholas Cain Scholarship is the school’s first scholarship endowed by alumni. The couple are part of the leadership team that worked to scale San Diego, California-based Ballast Point Brewery into an internationally recognized craft beer brand. When Ballast Point was sold for $1 billion, they decided the time was right to create a new scholarship for the program where their personal and professional journey began. The Cains enrolled at VCU in 1997, when the School of Engineering was a year old. There was a sense, says Nicholas Cain, that “something new and exciting was being created here.” The couple say the training they received under such demanding faculty members as Gary Huvard, Ph.D., former associate professor of chemical engineering, and Gary Wnek, Ph.D., former chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering, gave them the creative thinking and problemsolving skills that have fueled their careers. Being there at the birth of a new engineering school also yielded life and business lessons. “We watched the School of Engineering grow,” Julia Cain says. “We saw what it looks like when something is being built, so doing that with a company was not all that different.”
The Cains hope the scholarship will be awarded to students who not only excel academically but are also excited by the application side of engineering. “You take chemistry as a science and it’s cool,” Julia Cain says. “Then you get to chemical engineering and see how it applies to the world at large.” Their advice to the VCU chemical engineers who will benefit from the Julia and Nicholas Cain Scholarship? “Go out and find problems to solve,” Nicholas Cain says. “Follow your passion, and don’t be afraid to take a risk.” To learn more about the School of Engineering, contact Michael B. Dowdy, chief development officer, at (804) 828-1475 or mdowdy@vcu.edu.
Basketball players, fans celebrate season
Photo Will Weaver
Former VCU Men’s Basketball players Mo Alie-Cox and JeQuan Lewis at the end-of-season celebration
18 • Impact
The Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball team celebrated the 2016-17 season with more than 500 fans and supporters April 24 at the Hilton Hotel & Spa Short Pump in Richmond, Virginia. The sold-out crowd dined, met players and coaches and enjoyed highlights from the Rams’ 26-win campaign. In addition, head coach Mike Rhoades (M.S.’02/E) handed out a number of team awards, including Most Valuable Player to JeQuan Lewis (B.S.’17/H&S), Defensive Player of the Year to Mo Alie-Cox (B.S.’15/GPA; M.S.’17/GPA) and the Team Appreciation Award to Jordan Burgess (B.S.’16/H&S).
Education event celebrates student scholarships The VCU School of Education awarded 48 scholarships this spring to 66 of the school’s top students at its annual Scholarship and Awards Ceremony. The total value of the awards given out at the ceremony, which was attended by donors, students and their families, was $68,515. In his welcoming remarks, Dean Andrew P. Daire, Ph.D., expressed his gratitude for this year’s recipients as well as for the donors who made the event possible. Asein Ta, an undergraduate senior in the early and elementary education program and the recipient of the Virginia A. Arnold Scholarship, reflected on the positive impact that School of Education students and graduates make on communities, families and children. Among the scholarships awarded were the School of Education 50th Anniversary Urban Education Scholarship to Dabreona Brown and Stephen Tyler and the School of Education Faculty Organization Scholarship to Samantha Parker and Rebecca Pullen. To learn more about the School of Education, contact Ed Kardos, senior director of development, at (804) 828-4692 or egkardos@vcu.edu.
Education Dean Andrew P. Daire, Ph.D., awards the Michael D. Davis Scholarship in Urban Education to Sabrina Evans and Brandi Veasey.
VCU recognizes generosity and service with Wayne Medal presentation Longtime benefactors Pamela Kiecker Royall and William A. “Bill” Royall Jr. were honored with the Edward A. Wayne Medal at Virginia Commonwealth University’s May Commencement ceremony. The medal is awarded in recognition of extraordinary generosity and service to the university and the community. Bill Royall is the founder of national marketing firm Royall & Co. He recently served as a member of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors, including two years as vice rector. He currently serves on the executive committee of the VCU Real Estate Foundation board and is a former member of the VCU Heath System board. Pamela Royall, Ph.D., is head of research at Royall & Co. She is immediate past chair of the VCU Massey Cancer Center
a dvisory board and is a member of the VCU School of Business Foundation Board. She is a former professor of marketing and chair of the Department of Marketing in the VCU School of Business. Among their contributions to the university, the couple are co-chairs of the successful $37 million campaign for the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art and have provided leadership and support in helping Massey Cancer Center develop new ways to make clinical trials more efficient. campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 19
J.D. Drasbek (left), president of the Master of Health Administration Class of 2019; Marsha Rappley, M.D., CEO of VCU Heath System and VCU vice president of health sciences; Michael Rao, Ph.D., president of VCU and VCU Health System; Cecil B. Drain, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Allied Health Professions; Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe; Del. S. Chris Jones (B.S.’82/P); and Harry Thalhimer, board chair of the MCV Foundation, break ground on the new building.
School of Allied Health Professions building construction gets underway More than 200 students, faculty, staff, alumni, elected officials and community members gathered April 28 at the future site of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Allied Health Professions to celebrate the groundbreaking of the school’s new 154,000-square-foot building. The eight-level facility will, for the first time in the school’s nearly 50-year history, centralize all 11 of the School of Allied Health Professions’ units. “This is a great school, and it deserves to be under one roof,” said Cecil B. Drain, Ph.D., dean of the School of Allied Health Professions, during the event. In his 20 years as dean, Drain has made it a personal mission to unite the school’s programs, which have occupied 13 buildings in the past 45 years and are currently scattered among five buildings on two campuses. “What is great about this building is that it will bring all of these health care professionals together,” Virginia Gov. 20 • Impact
Terry McAuliffe said. Programs housed at the VCU School of Allied Health Professions consistently rank among the top in the country. In March, U.S. News & World Report named the Department of Nurse Anesthesia’s graduate program No. 1 in the country. The publication also ranked the school’s Department of Health Administration in the top three among its peers. “These are nationally ranked programs because we have nationally ranked faculty members and students,” said Michael Rao, Ph.D., president of VCU and VCU Health System. “I am proud that we will now be able to unite them so that they can benefit collaboratively from all of the great innovation that they have already been doing in their own locations.” To learn more about the School of Allied Health Professions, contact T. Greg Prince, senior director of development, at (804) 828-7247 or tgprince@vcu.edu.
New dean for School of Medicine
Photo Allen Jones, University Marketing
“It’s a privilege to serve in a medical school with a legacy like this one,” Peter F. Buckley, M.D., told an audience of alumni during a reception in April at the Country Club of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia. The event was held in conjunction with the MCV Alumni Association’s Reunion Weekend, drawing dozens of alumni from the Richmond area and some from as far away as California. Buckley is the 24th dean of the VCU School of Medicine and is also executive vice president of medical affairs for the VCU Health System. A psychiatrist and expert in the neurobiology and treatment of schizophrenia, he is a national leader in academic medicine and is recognized internationally for his research. He joined VCU in January after serving as dean of the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University for more than six years. At MCG, he secured a full eight-year re-accreditation, oversaw its growth to five regional campuses statewide and built a new medical education facility. He also secured new endowed chairs and scholarships, including a $66 million gift.
Pollak members enjoy student designs at fashion show A pop-up fashion show in April gave Pollak Society members a sneak peek of the bold and beautiful student designs that premiered at the VCUarts event “Runway 2017: LAUNCH” in May. The Branch Museum of Architecture and Design on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, partnered with VCUarts faculty from the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising to invite society members to a private show featuring the work of Skyler Crawford (B.F.A.’17/A), Katelyn Gwynn (B.F.A.’17/A), Josh Bigelow (B.F.A.’17/A), Meghan Kenney (B.F.A.’17/A) and Lauren Maimone (B.F.A.’17/A). Visitors to the museum, once home to the prominent Branch family, watched models walk the makeshift runway in the senior students’ designs, perused their sketchbooks and enjoyed music from a live jazz band. To learn more about the Pollak Society, contact Julia Carr, executive director of development, at (804) 828-4676 or carrj@vcu.edu.
To learn more about the School of Medicine, contact Amy Lane, Ph.D., director of major gifts, at (804) 827-4937 or amy.lane@vcuhealth.org.
Alumni gather in North Carolina
Photo Diego Valdez
Alumni from the Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, area gathered in the home of Nancy (B.S.’80/P) and Ron McFarlane (B.S.’80/P) this spring to meet and to hear remarks from Marsha Rappley, M.D., VCU vice president for health sciences and CEO of VCU Health System. Nancy is mayor of Raleigh, and Ron is a member of the university’s Board of Visitors. Rappley spoke about the many recent developments at the university, including research and physical expansion on the medical campus. Interim Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Ed Grier discussed the Make It Real Campaign for VCU and the importance of staying connected through VCU Alumni’s Triangle, N.C., Chapter. To learn more about VCU Alumni’s Triangle, N.C., Chapter, contact Jessa Nelson (B.S.’10/MC), alumni chapter president, at nelsonj@mymail.vcu.edu.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 21
CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE Recipients of a School of Business scholarship forge connections and find commonality at event celebrating 30-plus years of personal, financial and professional guidance BY BRELYN POWELL
22 • Impact
S Photo Dan Currier Photography
Harry Thalhimer (right) reminisces with Thalhimer Scholarship Reunion attendees Kyle Montgomery (B.S.’12/B), Helen Ardman (B.S.’91/B), Jane Beckett-Camarata (Ph.D.’98/GPA) and Tracy Camarata (M.B.A.’97/B).
ince graduating from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business, Karan Puri (M.B.A.’11/B) has enjoyed a fulfilling and successful sales career. None of it, he says, would have been possible had he not crossed paths with the Thalhimer family. In 2010, Puri received the Charles G. Thalhimer Family Endowed Scholarship, an annual award that covers tuition and fees for two top-performing students, one undergraduate and one master’s student, in their final year of study at VCU. Because of the award, Puri was able to devote his full attention to his academic work. He graduated with a 4.0 GPA. “That last year is critical,” he says. “During that time, you’re trying to figure out what your next step is going to be professionally while still having academic work. Not having the stress of the financial burden helped me finish strong.” Although the award provided significant relief financially, Puri is most appreciative to the scholarship for introducing him to Marcia and Harry Thalhimer, the son and daughter-in-law of Charles G. Thalhimer, who established the endowment with a $250,000 gift in 1984. Puri quickly bonded with the couple and often looked to Harry Thalhimer for advice in planning his future career. Thalhimer introduced him to other local business leaders, like those at MeadWestvaco, a packaging and paper goods company based in Richmond, Virginia, where Puri eventually accepted a job offer after graduation. During his time with the company, which is now called WestRock, Puri discovered the knack for sales that has driven his career. “With every interaction, I could tell that Mr. and Mrs. Thalhimer truly cared about helping me become a better person, both personally and professionally,” Puri says. “Their support and guidance were integral in helping me plan for my future.” Puri isn’t the only scholarship recipient to have felt the full extent of the Thalhimers’ support. In March, he was one of nearly 20 past recipients of the scholarship to gather at VCU for a reunion weekend. Attendees of the weekend’s events included the family of the scholarship’s inaugural recipient from the Class of 1985 and last year’s undergraduate recipient.
campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 23
Past recipients of the Charles G. Thalhimer Family Endowed Scholarship gathered in March for a reunion weekend that included Friday evening cocktails and a Saturday networking day and luncheon. During the group’s Saturday luncheon (pictured below) with Marcia and Harry Thalhimer, attendees heard remarks from Harry Thalhimer, who praised the dedication of the recipients. Interim VP for Development and Alumni Relations Ed Grier and several alumni also spoke, sharing appreciation for the Thalhimer family’s support throughout the years.
Photos Dan Currier Photography
Clockwise from top: Marcia and Harry Thalhimer with Thalhimer Scholarship alumni from 1985 through 2016; Harry Thalhimer addresses the group; VCU Jazz Musicians Jake Adams (left), Bryan Connolly and Brian Cruse play for guests; Interim VP for DAR Ed Grier and scholarship recipient Karan Puri (M.B.A.’11/B) lead a standing ovation for Marcia and Harry Thalhimer.
24 • Impact
“It was amazing to me that all of us sang the same praises,” Puri says. “The Thalhimers are always willing to offer guidance or a helping hand. All of us had witnessed that in getting to know them through the scholarship. We seem to all share a common purpose to not only make the Thalhimers proud but also to find our own ways to pay it forward.” The Thalhimers cherish the relationships they’ve built with VCU students and enjoy staying in close touch with them and watching their accomplishments grow. “They deserve all the credit for their own success,” Harry Thalhimer says. “Our role is just to help by recognizing their talents. Anytime you can recognize someone, it shows them what they are capable of and gives them confidence in their abilities. It helps them realize that not only have they accomplished something, but they can go even farther and do more.” As well as rewarding the efforts of exceptional students, scholarships are also important to the profile of the school. “Scholarships like the Thalhimer Scholarship are critical to our ability to recruit and retain the best students to the VCU School of Business and to our growth in prominence as a leading business school,” says Kenneth B. Khan, Ph.D., interim dean for the VCU School of Business. Looking back on his career so far, Puri can easily make the connection between his accomplishments and the experiences he had at VCU with the help of the Thalhimer Scholarship. “A master’s degree in business gives you a basic skill set needed to succeed, but when you begin your career, you have to figure out how you want to apply that skill set,” he says. “Because of the Thalhimers, I was able to secure a job after graduation, and that job helped me develop many of the skills that allow me to excel in my work today.” Today, Puri is the director of sales at Simple Green, a leader in environmentally friendly cleaning products, and his gratitude for the Thalhimers’ financial and personal investment in his success is immeasurable. “The impact they have had on my life is beyond words. I would not be where I am today without their blessings,” he says. To learn more about the School of Business, contact Shannon K. Duvall, chief development officer, at (804) 828-1035 or skduvall@vcu.edu.
Photo Amer Taber, VCU Libraries
Thalhimer Scholarship reunion 2017
Parade and dedication celebrates VCU Libraries’ Holocaust Torah A parade led by an energetic klezmer band preceded the official dedication and placement on display of a centuries-old Torah in Virginia Commonwealth University’s James Branch Cabell Library in March. The Torah scroll, a 105-foot-long parchment scribed in the customary Hebrew, was composed in Romania around 1750. It survived World War II and Nazi efforts to erase Jewish identity and was donated to the VCU Libraries’ Special Collections and Archives by Martin L. Johnson, M.D. (H.S.’80/M), and Olinda Young (B.S.’75/E; M.P.A.’81/GPA) in 2014. “This wonderful document, this scroll, is more than just a scroll as part of our collections, and it’s even more than a part of Jewish worship,” said University Librarian John E. Ulmschneider. “It is also an astonishing tale of faith, perseverance and survival that we can all learn from.” The Torah contains the first five books of the Jewish bible. “The Torah contains a great deal of wisdom, it contains a great deal of history, it contains beautiful stories, it contains wonder and mystery, and those things are the special gift of the Jewish people, the Israelites who wrote this,” said David Weinfeld, Ph.D., visiting assistant professor of Judaic Studies in the School of World Studies, part of the College of Humanities and Sciences. “Because of all the different ways we can look
at this artifact, it doesn’t just belong to the Jewish people; it belongs to everyone. It belongs to students and scholars and to all of us as something that shaped our civilization.” The Torah dedication was followed by the 32nd annual Brown-Lyons Lecture, “Jews and Booze,” by Marni Davis, Ph.D, associate professor of history at Georgia State University, which examined the history of American Jews’ relationship to the alcohol industry during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Davis’ talk focused on the ways in which Jewish immigrants became ingrained in the alcohol trade and how the Prohibition movement shaped American-Jewish identity and mainstream perceptions of Jewishness. With the addition of the Torah to its collection, VCU is now the 12th university library in the country to own a Holocaustsurviving Torah. It is currently on display on the fourth floor of Cabell Library and is available for research and for use by faculty and visits by classes. To learn more about VCU Libraries, contact Kelly Gotschalk (B.F.A.’90/A; M.A.’97/A), director of development and major gifts, at (804) 827-1163 or kjgotschalk@vcu.edu ONLINE EXTRA To watch the parade, visit support.vcu.edu/torah. campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 25
MCV Foundation dinner brings together donors and students The 12th annual MCV Campus Endowed Scholarship Dinner took place in February at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, Virginia. More than 240 guests attended the event, which celebrates the generosity of donors and the educational achievements of their scholarship recipients. Brian Thomas, MCV Foundation vice president and chief development officer, reported that donors have established 18 new endowed scholarships since last year, bringing the total number to 282. During fiscal year 2016, the MCV Foundation disbursed more than $2.7 million in scholarships to 538 recip ients in the five health sciences schools. VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., MCV Foundation board Chair Harry Thalhimer and School of Medicine student Bentley Massey were among the evening’s speakers. School of Nursing Dean Jean Giddens, Ph.D., R.N., and her husband Jay Corazza spoke about their diverse economic backgrounds and how their experience as students motivated them to establish the GiddensCorazza Endowment to assist VCU nursing students. Each year, many health sciences students graduate with a debt load exceeding $100,000. More than 75 percent of students on the MCV Campus receive some type of financial aid, which can make the critical difference between having a dream and being able to pursue it.
Photo CSI Studios LLC
To learn more about the MCV Foundation, contact Brian Thomas at (804) 828-0067 or brian.thomas@vcuhealth.org, or visit mcvfoundation.org.
VCU School of Nursing Dean Jean Giddens, Ph.D., R.N. (left); VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D.; and Jay Corazza
26 • Impact
A vertical take-off and landing aircraft that requires very little power or runway space was one of the projects on display at the expo.
Engineering expo wows guests On the eve of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering’s Capstone Design Expo, the school’s friends and benefactors got a sneak peek at the student-created innovative projects that would dazzle visitors the next day. Held April 27 in VCU’s Stuart C. Siegel Center, the preview showcased more than 80 inventions, including a dronemounted face-recognition system, an interface that uses eye movements to move a wheelchair and a low-cost device that distinguishes between Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. About 150 members of the school’s Dean’s Society, foundation board and alumni board attended the donorappreciation event, which gave the industry-heavy guest list a chance to interact with and recruit VCU engineers. “I’ve hired at least one graduate from each graduating class,” said Temple Ballard, an executive with Suez North America Treatment Solutions who is a Dean’s Society and foundation board member. “What I look forward to most [about this event] is the creativity and the real-world, realistic applications.” The prototypes on display reflected a year’s work by teams of senior engineering students tasked with developing viable solutions to real-world problems put forth by experts from VCU Health System, nonprofits and industry. In her address to the guests and students, Barbara D. Boyan, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Engineering, called the Capstone Design experience a “rite of passage” that goes far beyond meeting an academic requirement. “This is a training capstone experience where students discover how to solve real problems for – and with – people different from themselves,” she said.
Women donors create mother’s room in James Branch Cabell Library
To learn more about VCU Libraries, contact Kelly Gotschalk (B.F.A.’90/A; M.A.’97/A), director of development and major gifts, at (804) 827-1163 or kjgotschalk@vcu.edu.
Photos Hayes and Fisk Photography, used with permission of VCU Health
Sixteen donors associated with Women in Science, Dentistry and Medicine, or WISDM, have pledged or given gifts totaling $50,600 to create a mother’s room in a newly renovated space on the fourth floor of James Branch Cabell Library. WISDM is a faculty organization that seeks to further the professional goals of female physicians, scientists and dentists at the Virginia Commonwealth University schools of Medicine and Dentistry. The room is in a quiet space on the fourth floor and is outfitted with comfortable chairs, privacy screens, a pump and a refrigerator. Free and available during library hours, it represents VCU’s commitment to workplace diversity and work-life balance. It will benefit hundreds of students, faculty and staff each year. Retired faculty member Carol Hampton led the fundraising effort and made the first gift while serving as president of the Friends of VCU Libraries. “You cannot have it all, all at once, but you can have it all the way through,” she says, underscoring the importance of a workplace and educational setting that supports family life. Hampton recently spoke about WISDM’s achievements at the 25th anniversary VCU WISDM Leadership Conference, including VCU Health being named one of the 100 best places to work by Working Mothers magazine in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008. “In spite of the progress we have made, much more remains to be done,” Hampton said, challenging the audience to continue to work toward gender equality in their specific schools and departments. One of the images hanging in the new library mother’s room
Photo Diego Rivera
Arts champion honored at ICA reception
Beverly Reynolds’ daughter, Alice Reynolds Livingston (center), with Diana and Dave Beran
The Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Contemporary Art hosted a reception this spring in honor of Beverly Reynolds, one of the ICA’s earliest and most committed champions, who died in 2014. Friends and donors gathered to celebrate Reynolds’ legacy and contributions to Richmond, Virginia, to VCU and to the ICA. The guest list included the family, friends and donors who joined together to name the institute’s largest gallery in Reynolds’ honor. campaign.vcu.edu support.vcu.edu • 27
Development team welcomes new members Corey Humphrey Leadership annual giving officer School of Education (804) 827-2670 schumphrey@vcu.edu
Scholarship recipient Phil Cerreto and classmate Ally Baumgardner with members of the Class of 1962
Nancy L. Johnson
Class of 1962 marks 55 years The Class of 1962 invited fourth-year Pharm.D. student Phil Cerreto to address its 55th Reunion gathering in April at the home of David Saleeba (B.S.’62/P). Cerreto, the fifth recipient of the Class of 1962 Scholarship, said, “Receiving this scholarship and meeting all of you motivates me to give back as well. I hope to be able to endow a scholarship myself one day.” Cerreto was a member of the four-student VCU Pharm.D. team that took first place in the NASPA/NMA Student Pharmacist Self-Care Championship during the Virginia Pharmacists Association’s 2016 Annual Convention. He also was part of the four-student team that won first place in the 2013 Yanchick Invitational Golf Tournament. Other class-endowed scholarships at the School of Pharmacy are the Class of 1953 Scholarship; the William S. Cooper Pharmacy Scholarship, established by the Class of 1957 in honor of the first African-American graduate of the School of Pharmacy; the Class of 2008 Scholarship; and the Class of 2009 Scholarship. To learn more about the School of Pharmacy, contact Ellen Carfagno, director of development, at (804) 828-3016 or emcarfagno@vcu.edu.
Campaign counter (as of July 24)
Brogan King Stewardship coordinator Advancement services (804) 828-6511 beking@vcu.edu
Chelsea Lea Neal Marketing and production assistant Institute for Contemporary Art (804) 828-5615 clneal@vcu.edu
Lisa Randolph Assistant director of development events VCU Massey Cancer Center (804) 827-2195 lrandolph3@vcu.edu
Mandy L. Smith Director of gifts and records management Advancement services (804) 828-0348 mlsmith4@vcu.edu
Richard T. Spain
$506.0M
$750M GOAL To learn more about the Make It Real Campaign for VCU, visit campaign.vcu.edu.
28 • Impact
Director of communications School of Dentistry (804) 828-0324 nljohnson@vcu.edu
Leadership annual giving officer Office of Development and Alumni Relations (804) 828-6502 spainrt@vcu.edu
THIS IS MY REAL.
Chloey Henry
Scholarships helped give three School of Dentistry students free time to transform Chloey Henry's wheelchair into an unforgettable Halloween treat. Thanks to them, she could go places she’d never dreamed possible. At VCU, making an impact is what we do. But we can’t do it alone. That’s why we launched the Make It Real Campaign for VCU. How will you help us support people, fund innovations and enhance environments?
Make your impact at campaign.vcu.edu. an equal opportunity/affirmative action university
Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Richmond, Virginia Permit No. 869
Virginia Commonwealth University Development and Alumni Relations Box 843042 Richmond, Virginia 23284-3042
“My scholarship, from School of Dentistry Dean David Sarrett and his wife, Elizabeth Sarrett, provides not just financial support but also inspiration and motivation to give back to the community. Their help will allow me to enhance my education and become a better clinician. One day, I hope to follow in their footsteps and support others in this community.” Paul “Dado” Kim School of Dentistry student, Class of 2018