The Magazine of Radford University Fall 2021

Radford moves toward innovative curriculum and campus while honoring long-held traditions

CHANGING WITH THE TIMES REAL CURRICULUM

THUMBS UP FOR FREEDOM

Fall 2021

MAKING AN ENTRANCE

Highlanders gather to say, “Hello!” at the university’s new entrance to Moffett Lawn from Tyler Avenue.

INTERIM PRESIDENT

Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Ph.D.

BOARD OF VISITORS

Robert Archer, Rector

Jay Brown, Ph.D., Vice Rector

Thomas Brewster, M.S. ‘95, Ed.D.

Krisha Chachra

Charlene Curtis ‘76

Rachel Fowlkes, Ed.D.

Susan Johnston, Ph.D.

Mark Lawrence

Debra McMahon, Ph.D.

Lisa Pompa ‘86

Nancy Rice

David Smith ‘85, M.S. ‘87

Marquett Smith ‘85

Georgia Anne Snyder-Falkinham

Lisa Throckmorton ‘94

Katie Hilden, Ph.D. Faculty Representative

Grace Hurst ’22 Student Representative

The Magazine of Radford University is produced by Advancement and University Relations.

EDITORS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Bailey Black

Taylor Blue

Becky Brackin

Karen Casteele ’79

Robin Dowdy

James Harman ’92

Neil Harvey

David Horton ’90

Mary Beth Kegley

Mark Lambert, M.S. ’97

Wendy Lowery

Pam McCallister

Evan Musgrave

Chad Osborne

Stephanie D. Overton

Robert Robinson

Foster Sheppard

Meghan Williams Spraker ’03

Laura Turk ’87, M.S. ’90

Justin Ward ’10

Radford University does not discriminate in the administration of its educational programs, activities, admission or employment practices.

Dear Fellow Highlanders,

The close of the fall 2021 semester is upon us, and it absolutely flew by. It seems as though we were just holding convocation ceremonies at both Radford University and Radford University Carilion, and yet now, we are nearing our winter commencement. On a personal level, I have felt the emotions surrounding the start of a new semester particularly acutely, as my twin daughters, Sarah and Ainsley, just started their own college experiences as first-year students.

Time doesn’t stop for any of us, and I’m extremely proud of all that Radford University faculty, staff and students have accomplished in the last several months. Our faculty, staff and students continued to thrive through a change in leadership and ongoing uncertainty with COVID-19.

Our cover story shares one faculty member’s journey from reading an article on an airplane to proposing and implementing a revolutionary core curriculum. The REAL curriculum is innovative and practical all at the same time, and I am a fervent champion for it. Students will graduate from Radford University with a degree that paves the way for success in their chosen occupations and supports and enriches their lives in countless ways.

Speaking of innovation, we’ll also provide an update on Radford’s changing landscape. Our master plan reaches almost a decade into the future, so in addition to the obvious changes taking place now, many fantastic plans are on the horizon.

You’ll find much more that is wonderful about Radford University in these pages. Whether you read about faculty and students conducting research, donors who work at the university and give back generously or the success of our alumni, we celebrate these lives and their contributions to a family like no other — the Radford family.

Enjoy the fall 2021 magazine, and go Highlanders!

Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Ph.D. Interim President

We want to hear from you!

Let us know what you think of the stories and photos you find in The Magazine of Radford University. The magazine staff welcomes readers’ comments but reserves the right to edit letters or to refuse publication of letters considered libelous or distasteful. Space availability may prevent publication of all letters in the magazine. Please send your letters to editor@radford.edu

2021- 2022

On the Cover

The REAL curriculum is a radical shift from traditional core curriculum and general education offerings. Reasoning, Expression, Analysis and Applied Learning form the foundation of Radford University’s new curriculum. Students can create their own stories and graduate with solid foundations in majors and minors about which they are passionate. Hats off to this fresh approach and to our faculty and students for embracing it.

FOUNDERS HALL (LOCATION OF MUSE TODAY)

TYLER HALL

WALKER HALL

MCCONNELL LIBRARY

RUSSELL HALL

With ambitious projects on the horizon, Radford University explores future footprint

By Justin Ward ’10

AS THE LANDSCAPE OF HIGHER EDUCATION GROWS AND EVOLVES, SO TOO MAY THE LANDSCAPE OF RADFORD UNIVERSITY. AS RELEASED IN OUR MASTER PLAN, WITHIN THE NEXT SIX YEARS, MANY SPACES ON CAMPUS, SOME OF WHICH DATE FROM THE INSTITUTION’S EARLY DAYS, MAY EVOLVE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF TODAY AND TOMORROW.

MUSE HALL

WALKER HALL

TYLER HALL

MCCONNELL LIBRARY

A few modern and state-of-the-art spaces for research, living, working and studying are already under construction. The Artis Center for Adaptive Innovation and Creativity, an innovative complex that will serve as a blended teaching and learning space for the arts and health sciences, fills the land recently cleared through the Porterfield and McGuffey halls demolition and is slated to open in fall 2024. The Highlander, a boutiquestyle hotel located on Tyler Avenue across from Radford University’s main campus, will open in late 2022. The Riverwalk trail, part of the River Campus development, is now partially complete. The River Campus will include an amphitheater, restaurant, recreation areas, river access and academic spaces.

As university leadership plans for the next chapter, careful consideration of the need for contemporary spaces is balanced with preserving the classic and stately look of campus architecture.

In September, the Radford University Board of Visitors approved the Radford University Six-Year Capital Outlay Plan for 2022-2028, which reflects the mission of the university. Here are some highlights of changes outlined in the plan for Radford University’s next chapter.

RADFORD UNIVERSITY CARILION ACADEMIC AND AUXILIARY BUILDINGS RENOVATIONS

As Radford University Carilion’s (RUC) enrollment has grown over the two years since its inception in Roanoke, Virginia, and future Carilion Clinic healthcare capital demands give Radford University an opportunity to explore options. Carilion Clinic and RUC, alongside the Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) master planning committee, are working collaboratively to guarantee mutually beneficial ideas are considered to define new growth areas of education and research, the layout of the Roanoke health sciences corridor and the needs of the facility within the next five years . Primary discussions highlight the need for more academic space, larger student health and wellness space, more student housing and dining options and increased research and innovation space to provide additional collaboration opportunities between Carilion Clinic, RUC and VTC.

BRIDGE RENOVATION

New fencing, street lighting, resurfaced sidewalks and refreshed Radford University branding will welcome Highlanders across the University Drive bridge. This project will significantly enhance the main entrance for the future River Campus development and coincide with new traffic pattern plans around the Dedmon Center.

DEDMON CENTER RENOVATION

Celebrating the Highlander identity by supporting our athletic teams is important to our community and promotes a strong sense of university spirit and pride. Fans of Highlander athletics will notice upgrades to the Dedmon Center, which began in the fall. During her first State of the University Address, interim President Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Ph.D. announced the launch of the Highlander Courtside Experience in the Dedmon Center. This new area will provide a secure, upscale location to enjoy food and beverages, as well as premier seating for basketball games.

PLANS FOR THE COURTSIDE LOUNGE AND PREMIUM SEATING DESIGN

ILLUSTRATION OF POTENTIAL BRIDGE BRANDING

MCCONNELL LIBRARY RENOVATION

Sections of McConnell Library were built in 1931, 1965 and 1995. A renovation proposed to start in 2023 and 2024 will make those three components more unified. This work will modernize the library’s building systems and equipment by repurposing spaces to provide amenities found and expected in modern libraries, a move that will rebrand the library as a hub for innovation and productivity. The Radford University Innovation Lab will find a home here as print collections turn into electronic resources. The new space will include learning commons, breakout spaces, classrooms and multiple makerspaces.

TYLER AND NORWOOD HALLS RENOVATIONS

Norwood Hall and Tyler Hall, both built in the 1930s, are the next oncampus residence halls to be renovated. The $17 million upgrades are slated to bring vibrant new life to two of the older buildings on campus. Updates are

expected to be similar to the renovations completed in Moffett Quad residence halls in 2016 and will include upgraded electrical, piping, HVAC systems and accessibility improvements. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2024

MUSE HALL RENOVATIONS

The largest residential hall has not received a comprehensive renovation since the 1970s. Proposed upgrades to the hall will modernize the facility with renovated rooms, new finishes and improved building systems. Renovated rooms could include apartment-style living, fewer shared bathrooms and improved student study and gathering areas. Updates to the building systems and the exterior of the building are also scheduled. Renovation work could start in 2025 or 2026.

DEDMON CENTER RENOVATIONS

Other upgrades include reconfiguring the Dedmon arena seating bowl to provide more convenient fan seating and viewing. New locker rooms, concessions and athletics training rooms are also in store. This additional work should begin around 2025 to 2026

WALKER HALL RENOVATION

In 2027-2028, renovations to Walker Hall are scheduled to begin. The upgrades will include updates to the aged building systems, bringing the Department of Information Technology Services under one roof, providing efficient areas for computer repair, web development, software installation, general use classrooms, computer labs and IT infrastructure. The building was originally constructed in 1935.

ILLUSTRATION OF MUSE HALL PROPOSED VIEW OF THE FOURTH FLOOR OF MCCONNELL LIBRARY 2023-24

Radford tradition returns with clans, cabers, kilts and more

By Chad Osborne

Martha Minter strolled around the Radford University campus on a cloudy but comfortable early October day with her friend, taking in all this year’s Highlanders Festival had to offer.

Like many visitors to the annual event, Minter loved the live music — “it’s absolutely fantastic,” she said — the vendors and food options, the Highland games and, of course, learning more about her own Scottish heritage.

“I’m learning so much, and it’s like coming home,” said Minter, who lives in Roanoke, Virginia. “It feels like home, and I appreciate Radford for putting this [festival] on. I really do.”

Before moving on to explore more entertainment throughout the festival, Minter confessed one additional motivation that she and her friend had for attending.

“We’re ISO [in search of] men in kilts,” she said as both sheepishly laughed. “It became a thing a couple of months ago.” She did not elaborate.

All around campus on Oct. 9, 2021, Minter and her friend, along with thousands of other festivalgoers, celebrated the region’s Scots-Irish heritage by attending the uniquely Highlander experiences.

The festival, presented through a partnership between Radford University and the City of Radford, offers fun for everyone with sheepherding demonstrations, children’s games and the pipe and drum bands. More than 40 craft and food vendors were on hand offering authentic Scottish fare, classic festival food and favorite American classics like barbecue and funnel cakes.

Lively Celtic folk music from the bands SYR and Kinnfolk filled the air, providing a perfect soundtrack for the festival while turning Moffett Lawn into a grassy dance floor.

“The audience was so engaged, dancing, clapping and singing along,” said Julie Kinn of Kinnfolk. “We’re from Roanoke, so it was great seeing our neighbors in Southwest Virginia showing off their enthusiasm for Celtic culture. We hope we’ll see a lot of those faces again.”

PanJammers, an award-winning steel drum orchestra based in Blacksburg, Virginia, played on the Clocks Plaza on campus.

A massed band performance comprising the Radford University Highlands Pipes and Drums and

Virginia Highlands Pipe and Drums provided the familiar sounds of bagpipes and percussion.

The festival also offered the traditional Scottish clans march. Clans are a concept dating back to the 12th century, when extended networks of families had loyalties to a particular chief.

One of the more popular attractions at the Highlanders Festival each year is the Highland games, which offers events and competitions associated with rural and military life, including weights for distance and height; the stones, similar to modern-day shotput; the sheaf toss; and the crowd-pleasing caber toss.

Competing athletes typically wear

traditional Scottish attire. Yes, that often means kilts!

Chad Clark organizes the games. Being able to come back to campus “means the world to me,” he said.

“It’s important for events like this to continue on because it keeps heritage and traditions and culture alive,” Clark said. “A lot of times, I tell people Highland games and heavy athletics are the vehicle that keeps continuing Scottish culture and heritage.”

Clark encourages those who attend the games to cheer loudly because the games are “Scottish, but they ain’t golf,” he joked. He also has one more encouraging bit of advice that certainly will make some festivalgoers happy.

“Life is short,” he said, “Do it kilted.”

Innovative new curriculum helps undergraduates make the most of their education

By Chad Osborne

Helping students explore their purpose and find their passion — that’s what Radford University faculty had in mind three years ago when they began developing a new approach to general education, the REAL Curriculum.

The primary focus was not only on improving student learning, but also questioning the ways general education had operated in the past. The threeyear process included the work of nine committees comprising faculty, staff, alumni and students and hundreds of hours of meetings, presentations and conversations, resulting in the launch of REAL in the fall 2021 semester.

Most general education programs, Hendrix said, are centered on a menu of courses in a wide range of disciplines. But REAL is truly different. Instead of using menus of individual classes, REAL emphasizes the skills and learning embedded within Radford University’s majors and minors, helping integrate general education courses smoothly into students’ academic plans. REAL is

How do students fulfill REAL?

In this example, Student A selected a major with complementary minors.

a new way to consider undergraduate education and the value of study in diverse disciplines.

Students fulfill requirements in the REAL curriculum by completing majors and minors in four knowledge areas: scientific and quantitative Reasoning; humanistic or artistic Expression; cultural or behavioral Analysis; and applied Learning. This ensures a broad and focused education that helps students succeed far into the future while also allowing students to go deeper than a traditional menu-based general education.

Instead of taking one or two classes from a set of menus, Radford students can now use their general education to acquire depth of learning and credentials that can serve them for a lifetime.

“REAL empowers students to customize their academic journey,” said interim President Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Ph.D. Students have more autonomy and choice over their education as they focus on expanding their knowledge and skills in disciplines that cover REAL areas. For example, a traditional major in psychology covers R and A, while minors in ethics or professional writing cover E. L minors in disciplines like entrepreneurship and music business help students connect to professions and consider other career fields for their future.

“REAL is student-centered and positions students to actively engage in their education,” said Nicole Hendrix, Ph.D., the university’s executive director of general education and one of the army of faculty who poured their energy and expertise into developing the new curriculum beginning in 2017.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

STUDENT-CENTERED PROMOTES STUDENT LEARNING AND SUCCESS

REFLECTS RADFORD’S IDENTITY AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Some minors cover two areas, such as biology (R and L) or international studies (E and A). Some programs cover three areas, like many of the teacher education programs, Davis College Bachelor of Business Administration programs and College of Visual and Performing Arts programs in art, design and music. This flexibility gives students choices that help them engage more deeply with their studies and maximize the investment in their education. Because students can begin taking classes that lead to majors and minors in their first semester, REAL ensures students connect with faculty earlier in their education journeys.

Integrating general education requirements into majors and minors is not just innovative, Hendrix said. It gives Radford graduates a distinctive set of credentials to enhance their transcripts and resumes. REAL sets Radford students up for success and ensures every course they take counts toward a bright future.

REAL also showcases the diversity of academic experience available to Radford students. The REAL curriculum features majors in 43 areas of study and more than 90 minors. At Radford, every student can find courses of study that will ignite their passion for learning. The REAL curriculum helps students accumulate experiences to build their beginnings and prepare for their first jobs, while also preparing them for a lifetime of opportunities and challenges.

said.

Those collaborations that led to REAL, Hendrix continued, “more than anything in my career, demonstrate the amazing possibilities that exist at Radford University. This innovative curriculum sets us apart in the commonwealth and in the nation, and I am excited to be bringing it to life with our faculty and students!”

In this example, Student B selected a minor that pursues an area of interest instead of directly complementing the major. Some minors can fulfill two areas of knowledge.

“REAL arms students with the knowledge, skills and credentials needed to make true change and pursue lifelong success, happiness and health,” Hendrix

SURF’S UP! SURF’S UP!

Undergraduate research celebration returns with record-setting presentations

By Neil Harvey

Held every fall across most of the past decade, the Summer Research Celebration is not just a forum for some of Radford University’s brightest undergraduates; it’s also an autumn harvest of sorts for their ideas and ambitions, which are numerous, wide-ranging and complex.

The event features recipients of the Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF), an academic program sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS).

Participants and their faculty mentors receive grants of roughly $3,000, stipends that help support 10 weeks of research and study across the summer months. At the end of that period, the students present their findings, either through extended oral addresses before an audience in the Hurlburt Student Center Auditorium or with a poster exhibit in Reed Hall. Both options entail question-and-answer sessions with attendees.

This year’s fellows tackled complicated subjects with topics that ranged from pituitary organogenesis to bee community assemblages and from drone examinations of an Alpine basin’s geomorphic features to an original arrangement of a composition by Frédéric Chopin, performed on video as an ensemble piece, except by a single musician.

The celebration was held Oct. 15, 2021, with presentations by 25 students, the largest total in the program’s nine-year history. It also marked a return to face-toface interaction after last year’s symposium had to be conducted virtually.

“I think the in-person event is a great experience for the students,” said Joseph Wirgau, Ph.D., OURS director and professor of chemistry. “There are not many opportunities for undergraduates to present orally in a formal space. For many, it will be the only time at Radford University to have that experience.

“And there is absolutely no way to recreate, virtually, the environment we had for the poster presenters,” he added. Those who chose that option were tasked with condensing their projects and results into a display in the Artis Atrium, then fielding questions from guests for about an hour.

“It was great. I saw all the presenters engaged in conversations the whole time — there was a literal buzz through the room,” Wirgau said of the reception.

Dakota Taylor, a senior anthropology major from Cordele, Georgia, gave both an oral address and a poster presentation on her topic, “Sex and Gender Estimation in Forensic Anthropology and the Identification of Transgender Individuals.”

Taylor said she has previously spoken on her work in other forums, but only to students in her field.

“With this, I’m able to present to people who are professors or students from other aspects of the university,” Taylor explained.

She also felt that, by taking part in SURF, she got access to an expanded range of data and resources in her studies: “I think I wouldn’t be able to get this widespread information without this fellowship.”

Two junior biology majors, Sierra Felty of Draper, Virginia, and Chris Wozniak

of Narrows, Virginia, are collaborating on their project — a survey of the endangered Alleghany wood rat and its ectoparasites — and said the SURF grant they received made their work not just easier, but possible.

“It takes hundreds of dollars to buy the chemicals that we need,” Wozniak said. “Otherwise, we would’ve just been stuck with samples, and there’s nothing we could have done with them.”

Sam Williams, a sophomore cybersecurity major from Rock Hill, South Carolina, also presented in both forums. He has received at least one earlier grant for his work on the vulnerabilities of internet-based technologies, and said SURF was beneficial to him in numerous ways.

Williams praised the mentor he was assigned for his project, Prem Uppuluri, Ph.D., professor of computer science: “They give you somebody who’s done this before, and they guide you, but it’s really mostly your project.”

He also valued the personal and professional development he gained through the fellowship.

“They teach you professional writing and grant writing and being able to ask someone for money in a professional and polite way and be successful,” Williams said. “It’s transferable skills, what they give, and obviously the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship is really on the mark with that kind of stuff.”

Applications for the 2022 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships are being accepted through Feb. 11, 2022.

Students can get more information or apply for SURF by visiting www.radford.edu/surf

At the Summer Research Celebration poster exhibit in Reed Hall, OURS director Joseph Wirgau chats with research fellow Zoe Hannabass (top). Sam Williams with his cybersecurity project (right). Chris Wozniak with an Alleghany wood rat (below).

Professor researches hitchhiking and the ‘long ’60s’

By Chad Osborne

Pamm was living with her parents in Cleveland, Ohio, a half-century ago, and had just finished her sophomore year in college. She was unhappy. Her parents didn’t understand her. She had a retail job she hated.

“So, she did exactly the same thing that girl in the Beatles song did,” says Straw, a professor in Radford University’s Department of History. “She got up at 5 in the morning, wrote a note to her parents and left.”

Pamm’s story is just one of many Straw has heard over the past several months when talking with scores of individuals who stuck out their thumbs and hitchhiked their way through the United States in the 1960s and ’70s. Some were looking to escape dire and unpleasant situations, but most, Straw is learning, simply sought adventure, connections and, ultimately, freedom.

The interviews and research will be part of a book Straw is writing about “hitchhiking, road trips and counterculture.” He has taken to Facebook groups to find hitchhikers from a period historians call “the long ’60s,” which spans from President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 to Richard Nixon’s resignation as U.S. president in 1974.

“It was during the time when counterculture was at its peak,” Straw explains, with the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam and Woodstock at the center of the movement. It was also a time when young Americans sought freedom through an open road, lively music, community and perhaps a place to sleep on a floor in a crash pad in San Francisco, “the mecca of counterculture,” Straw says.

Most of the tales the professor is hearing have been relatively positive – even Pamm’s, he says – with only one trip, so far, described as a cautionary tale.

“The point of the project is for me to tell all their stories,” Straw says of the hitchhikers, “to illuminate their experiences.” It is his job, as a historian, he explains, “to make events and people from the past come alive so people from the present can read about it and get a sense of what those experiences were really like.”

For many in the 1960s that could mean, “If you were tired of where you were and who you were with,” Straw explains, “you were on the road with your thumb out, leaving home.”

If you hitchhiked in the United States between 1963 and 1974, Straw wants to hear from you. He can be reached at rstraw@radford.edu.

At age 73, Pamm still thinks about the Beatles song, “She’s Leaving Home.”

“It’s about a girl who gets out of bed in the morning, leaves a note on the table and runs away from home,” Richard Straw, Ph.D., explains.

IT WAS DURING THE TIME WHEN COUNTERCULTURE WAS AT ITS PEAK.”

I’m a person who has always been thinking about what we can do better, what we can do more effectively.”

Expanding higher education opportunities in Southwest Virginia

By Justin Ward ’10

It’s impossible to talk about Rachel Fowlkes, Ed.D., without mentioning her brainchild, the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center (SWVHEC) in Abingdon, Virginia.

In her seventh year on the Radford University Board of Visitors, Fowlkes takes pride in her long, storied career in higher education and providing the foundation and infrastructure for thousands of people to earn a college degree. Through education and a focus on job growth, she has provided a better life to people in far Southwest Virginia who are not near a major university or college. She has helped bring higher education to rural Virginia.

“I’m a person who has always been thinking about what we can do better, what we can do more effectively,” Fowlkes said. “I think the opportunities for us are infinite.”

That drive to always stay curious helped her envision a rural regional hub where multiple colleges and universities with powerful programs, including Radford University, could teach their courses remotely and ultimately provide degrees to people who do not have to set foot on their campus, which in some instances is hundreds of miles away.

“When we opened, we had more people coming from out of state than in state to visit us and to learn what we were doing,” Fowlkes said.

She served as the executive director from the center’s inception in 1991 until she retired in 2015. More than 1,200 people earned their degrees during that time.

Her successes have continued at Radford University, where she has been a board member and taken an active role in the university’s growth and capital expansions.

“What I’ve really enjoyed about being on this board is how much I’ve learned about our students and all the people who work here to make that experience for students just so special,” Fowlkes said.

The most successful thing the board has accomplished since she’s been a member is creating a community of teamwork, she says. To respect differences, learn from those differences, learn from one another and work together has been a treasured achievement for her.

Through her higher education journey, Fowlkes has this advice for students, which helped her succeed: “Students need to form relationships outside of their bubble. If you have to sit back and wait for somebody to come to you, it is unlikely to happen,” she said.

By Chad Osborne

As the pen floated across the paper, it did more than simply arrange a signature; it marked a significant milestone in Radford University’s history, a moment in which the university community reaffirmed its longstanding focus on reaching carbon neutrality and promoting campus-wide sustainability.

Pushing the pen that mid-November 2020 day was thenPresident Brian O. Hemphill, who applied his signature to the Carbon Commitment, a document that recognizes the need for colleges and universities to exercise leadership in addressing the increasing pace and detrimental impacts of climate change.

At the commitment’s core is the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2040 and integrate sustainability and climate action into the university curriculum and culture.

“Signing the Carbon Commitment energizes the university’s sustainability and climate action efforts, and it gives direction to our future,” Sustainability Manager Josh Nease explained. “Achieving carbon neutrality is a long process that is full of important steps, and signing the commitment is the critical first step.”

Along with the Carbon Commitment came the newly created President’s Task Force on Sustainability, which charges the Radford family to work together toward developing a new sustainability and climate action plan. The task force comprises 13 appointed faculty, staff and students from Finance, Facilities, Admissions, Sustainability, Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and University Services. Their job is to enhance cross-campus collaboration and develop partnerships and strategies for advancing sustainability and achieving net carbon neutrality.

“The task force has demonstrated an incredible level of commitment to the university and to this process,” Nease said. “The result is their development of a comprehensive, practical plan with bold but attainable goals, that, if adopted and implemented, will be impactful and transformational.”

As the climate crisis continues to impact current and future generations of Highlanders, one goal of the task force is to ensure the integration of “sustainability across the curriculum to develop solutions and leadership for our environmental challenges,” said Stockton Maxwell, Ph.D., task force member and associate professor of geospatial science. “This might include

building new majors and minors to meet the growing demands of the environmental job market.”

Faculty have taken an increased role in educating students about environmental and sustainability issues by revising existing, or creating new, curricula and developing research and project-based learning initiatives that use campus and community partnerships to teach sustainability. About 86% of Radford’s academic departments offer at least one sustainability course, and Nease, along with the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning, continues to push forward the effort by offering annual workshops that provide faculty with ideas to better incorporate sustainability into their curricula.

Engaging students has been part of the mission since the university signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment in 2009.

For example, students have taken leadership responsibilities in the Radford chapter of the Food Recovery Network, delivering meals to a food bank near campus to help fight food insecurity in the City of Radford and the surrounding region.

Students participating in the Food Recovery Network program typically are part of the Sustainability Leadership Team –Internship Program, which gives them hands-on sustainabilityrelated work experience throughout the academic year on various green campus initiatives, such as annual Earth Week events and the popular Bags to Benches program, which recycles plastic bags into benches to place in green spaces on campus.

For its efforts, Radford is annually recognized in The Princeton Review’s Green Colleges guide, and the university received a STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) silver rating in May 2019 from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

These are just a few of the accolades bestowed upon Radford University for its commitment to sustainability initiatives, a clear sign of greener days ahead.

Sustainability Manager Josh Nease

DAIM students explore tools for managing misinformation

By David Horton ’90, assistant to the dean,

College

BEWARE FAKE NEWS! Knowing what information to trust in modern society is a challenge that only grows as time progresses. Students in the Data and Information Management (DAIM) master’s degree program at Radford University are exploring tools to help determine the level of validity of an article, video or news source.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, Michael Hammond ’21, Noah Bledsoe ’21 and Pralad Neupane ’21 explored the challenge of deepfake videos that have been edited using an algorithm to replace the person in the original video with someone else (especially a public figure) in a way that makes the video look authentic. Some fairly recent examples include actors posing as celebrities like Tom Cruise or Arnold Schwarzenegger — the actors’ faces are overdubbed with those of the celebrities, then shared across the internet.

Through several different projects, the students researched innovative tools such as edge enhancement, convolutional neural networks and other detection procedures that can help give hints as to the validity of the video in question.

This fall, Amanda Tolman ’21, a graduate student, is conducting a capstone project that will look for patterns within various social media posts to predict if false content is present. A trustworthiness score will also be calculated to help users decide whether to trust a source or the information shared. With further research, this score could alert readers to potentially false information.

Through this technology, DAIM students hope to develop procedures to assist consumers in determining which items are trustworthy and which raise concerns about validity.

“Data engineering builds solutions to many emerging problems, like identifying misinformation and security vulnerabilities, and helps people and organizations make better decisions,” said Jeff Pittges, Ph.D., DAIM program coordinator and interim director of the School of Computing and Information Sciences.

Graduate student Amanda Tolman ’21 is conducting a capstone project this fall that will look for patterns within various social media posts to predict if false content is present.

Artis

of Science and Technology

Made of Memories

Folklore archive built from stories collected by Radford students

By Chad Osborne

Kelly Nickell, M.A. ’17, thought she knew a lot about her grandmother, Barbara, until she started asking questions.

“She told me about how her dad, my great grandfather, was a coal miner,” Nickell wrote in 2014. “I’m 21 years old, and I never knew that about him.” In an interview that lasted nearly an hour and a half — Barbara did most of the talking — Nickell learned so much more about her grandmother and her family’s history.

Barbara loved music, for instance, and gardening and canning food. She spoke fondly of her childhood, growing up poor in Appalachia and working hard in school and eventually earning her bachelor’s degree.

Nickell had never heard many of these stories until the two were visiting her mother — Barbara’s daughter — in the hospital.

“While we sat in the waiting room, we got to talking about her childhood,” Nickell recalled. “She told me some other quirky things, like how her dad called a bag a poke.”

It was at that moment Nickell, then a student at Radford University, realized she wanted to immortalize her grandmother and her stories in a semester-long project she had been assigned for her English course.

In nearly 40 years, more than 600 students like Nickell have collected oral histories and oral, customary, and material folklore from family members and residents from around the region for a project in an Appalachian Folklore class. When Grace Toney Edwards, then a member of the English and Appalachian Studies faculty, designed the field-collecting project in 1981, she emphasized that those projects would be preserved for future scholars and researchers in hopes her students would take the assignment more seriously.

“And did they ever,” Edwards recalled. “Many of them put in multiple, multiple hours of work making contacts, interviewing, transcribing, analyzing and writing their findings, many times to the tune of 100-plus pages.”

Edwards kept all of the projects in boxes in her office and subsequently in the Appalachian Regional Studies Center in the mid-1990s. “That was the real beginning of something that looked

like a real archive,” said Edwards, now a professor emeritus who retired in 2010.

In 1993 instructor Ricky Cox ’86, M.A. ’90, began teaching the undergraduate course (English 446), and Edwards taught the graduate class (English 548/648) created that same year.

“I think I can safely speak for both of us when I say that we have experienced many personal rewards ourselves just by having the privilege of reading about the lives and behaviors of multiple Appalachian people that we would otherwise never have known,” Edwards said.

As promised to the students, those projects remain intact, and many have found a new home online, making them accessible to anyone at any time. “You no longer need to make a trip to Radford to view most of those projects,” said Cox, who retired in 2020 after 32 years of teaching at Radford.

McConnell Library Archives Supervisor and Appalachian Music Specialist Bud Bennett took on the painstaking task in the summer of 2020 of placing the projects online, and currently 434 of those projects are available and searchable on the library’s website. Projects are in the form of text and audio, many with photographs or slides and can be filtered by entering the name of a collector, an informant, a town or county, or a general topic, such as canning, blacksmithing, ghosts, or folk medicine, then click on the magnifying glass to search the entire collection.

If you want to hear Nickell’s grandmother tell her stories, the interview, all 80 minutes of it, is there in the archives. If you want to hear a young man nicknamed Pickle describe catching a ride on a coal truck to get to high school every day, it’s there, too.

Or, if you want to hear stories about how Appalachia got its name, or about folk architecture, or making moonshine, or tales of ghosts and witches and superstitions, or African-American Appalachian folklore, all of those are in the archives because somewhere on the timeline of the past 40 years, a Radford student sought out someone who had those stories to share.

“And the students, their families, friends and neighbors,” Edwards explained, “had the experience of seeing their lives and cultures valued because someone took the trouble and time to ask about them.”

The experiential learning at Radford was an enormous opportunity for me to develop character and enhance my leadership capabilities.

Matt Crisp ’04

Matt

FOOD SCIENCE

ENTREPRENEUR CONTINUES

MATT Crisp

JOURNEY BEGUN AT RADFORD

By Chad Osborne

Standing on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 5, 2021, preparing to ring the bell signifying the public offering of his company, Benson Hill, Matt Crisp ’04 had a unique feeling that he had come full circle.

“The last time I was on that floor was when I was a student at Radford University,” Crisp said. “We had gone there on a trip with SMIPO, and being back there almost 20 years later was a surreal experience.”

SMIPO is the colloquial term for Radford University’s Student Managed Investment Portfolio Organization. As a Radford finance major in 2002, Crisp was one of the masterminds behind its creation.

The student-run organization manages funds for the Radford University Foundation and provides Davis College of Business and Economics students with a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in the management and decision-making processes of a corporatestructured organization.

So, when Crisp found himself back on the NYSE floor, he was proud to be back on the “podium with 13 of my colleagues and friends,” he said, “and our co-founder and my wife [Kelly Snead Crisp], who’s also a 2004 Radford graduate. It was a wonderful experience, and I’m very grateful for the opportunity.”

Benson Hill Biosystems officially went public on Sept. 30, 2021, and began trading that day on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BHIL.

The St. Louis, Missouri-based company describes itself as an “agriculture technology company that aims to unlock the global genetic potential of plants in order to enhance the sustainability of food and feed production via the combination of plant biology, big data analytics and cloud computing.”

“In a nutshell,” Crisp explained, “we make better food and ingredients. And, when I say better, what I mean is ingredients and food that are more sustainable, that are healthier, that taste better and that are more affordable.”

After graduating from Radford, Crisp worked for a while as a venture capitalist but soon became passionate about how “we use technology to advance food and agriculture and our food systems,” he said.

That passion became the catalyst for Benson Hill, along with “some really intelligent scientists in the St. Louis area,” said Crisp, who joked that he last took

a science class in high school — and he got a D.

“But, in all seriousness,” he said, “I think a lot of our success comes from working with some pretty amazing people who know science and technology.”

Benson Hill has about 350 employees, with about 150 of those being within the company’s science and technology organization that works on platform and product development in plant, data and food science.

“We have an amazing team,” said Crisp before circling back to the team of Radford faculty and fellow students who helped teach and show him the meaning and value of success within the confines of running an organization and the relationships made along the way.

“The experiential learning at Radford was an enormous opportunity for me to develop character and enhance my leadership capabilities,” Crisp explained. “It really enabled me to found a company, with some really smart folks, and at Benson Hill, we’re on a mission to advance the food system.

“Going public is a great milestone, but it’s just a step along the journey,” he continued, “one that started at Radford and is coming full circle and beyond.”

and Kelly Crisp ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 5, 2021, to celebrate the listing of his company, Benson Hill.

MERGING PASSIONS AND CREATING CHANGE

By Stephanie D. Overton

Greg Galbraith ’89 knows the true meaning of being an influencer. He’s been behind the rise of some of the world’s most beloved brands — from Lexus to Nike to Converse, and now Russell Athletic. He was the advertising guru that helped propel the beloved Chuck Taylor All Star to iconic status. He understands how to manage and launch a new brand and, more importantly, how to merge those brands with lifestyles.

“I consider myself lucky,” Galbraith said. “After graduate school, I was able to land a gig with the award-winning Los Angeles agency Team One Advertising. There, I worked on the luxury automotive brand Lexus. They believed in their tag line, ‘The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection,’ and it came to life in everything Lexus executed — product, sales channels, advertising, PR, events, etc. Everything.”

Galbraith has had storied opportunities to merge his passions for advertising and sports in a career that epitomizes advertising excellence. He traces this interest back to his days as a DJ at WVRU, Radford University’s campus radio station.

“One of the best parts of working at WVRU was making public service announcements (PSAs) that we played during our radio shows,” Galbraith said. “Creating those PSAs was like making a traditional radio ad. The creative process hit a chord with me, and I realized advertising was what I wanted to do when I graduated. In hindsight, my undergraduate experience provided a great foundation for me to build on.”

Galbraith’s motto is “Always be prepared, think ahead and ask ‘what’s next?’” His vision prepared him for where he wanted to go in his career.

“When I took a job managing the Airwalk brand at The Lambesis Agency, I worked on one of the coolest, cuttingedge brands on the planet at that time (Airwalk was created specifically for skateboarding), and it was a dream come true. That experience led me to a 15-yearlong journey that started at Nike and then to Converse,” Galbraith said.

Nike purchased Converse out of bankruptcy in 2003. When Galbraith left in 2016, he had helped Converse reinvent itself and grow into a globally relevant brand with over $2 billion in revenue.

“That experience allowed me to apply everything that I had learned up to that point — especially how important authenticity and storytelling are to creating demand for a brand that is over 100 years old,” said Galbraith.

Today, Galbraith is again hard at work as a change-maker who is reinventing another iconic brand.

Greg Galbraith with his wife, Laura, and their children (left) and jamming at Converse Studios (below). Converse has a major creative connection to the music industry and gave Galbraith an opportunity to blend his passion for music with his work.

“My Converse experience set me up perfectly for my current role at Russell Athletic. Both brands share a similar heritage and story,” said Galbraith.

In 2022, Russell Athletic will celebrate its 120th anniversary. As senior director of marketing, Galbraith is leading Russell Athletic’s rebranding effort and spearheading an industry evolution for the historic athletic company. He is managing the long-term strategy of the brand, driving brand message, overseeing all social and E-commerce channels, launching new products, etc. — all while inspiring a talented staff of industry pros. They are carving a place for Russell Athletic in a new market with well-known competitors — Adidas, Champion and Under Armour — in the lifestyle apparel market.

“Being able to work with all these amazing brands and doing what I love proves just how lucky I have been,” said Galbraith.

There’s a place for luck, but being a change-maker requires a vision backed by preparation. Galbraith continues to be influenced by the pursuit of perfection. With a focus on what’s next, he is enjoying every moment of merging his passions with a vision for grounding Russell Athletic as the lifestyle brand “designed for the everyday hustle.”

SUNAYANA Pydah

By Mark Lambert, M.S.

Like many students, Sunayana “Sunny” Pydah, D.H.Sc. ’21, faced challenges while navigating the COVID-19 global pandemic. The path she followed as she pursued her doctorate at Radford University Carilion (RUC), however, was an especially tricky one.

By the time the Galveston, Texas, native landed in Virginia in 2016, Pydah had already earned two master’s degrees and worked at the Baylor College of Medicine. Soon after getting married, she and her husband moved to Blackburg. She worked at Carilion Clinic as her husband worked at Virginia Tech.

“My educational aspiration was always to obtain a terminal degree, a doctoral degree, so that I could conduct research in the health sciences and give back through teaching,” Pydah said.

While employed at Carilion, Pydah pursued a doctorate in health sciences at RUC, then known as Jefferson College of Health Sciences. Working with patients drew her to the physician assistant (PA) medical

field. Being a practicing clinician had been a dream of hers since high school.

After considering her choices, Pydah made the tough decision to work on both degrees at the same time. She would pursue her Doctor of Health Sciences (D.H.Sc.) degree at Radford University and her PA degree at another institution in the region.

“In talking with my doctoral advisor at RUC,” she recalled, “we did have some tough conversations of whether I would have to halt my doctoral studies due to the vigor of PA school. But I knew I had it in me to continue.”

She dedicated herself to her studies, completing her didactic, or classroombased, year in the two-year PA program and her first year as a doctoral student. Then,

two major events rocked Pydah’s world.

First, Pydah’s husband received a job offer in California’s Silicon Valley — too good of an opportunity to pass up. The couple packed and moved to the West Coast. Then, COVID-19 struck.

“I adjusted my PA clinical rotation schedule so I could complete my rotations at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, California,” Pydah said. The difficult transition paid off; she was hired by the Department of Pediatrics at Santa Clara.

Last summer, Pydah defended her dissertation and graduated from Radford University. While she will be practicing as a PA for the foreseeable future, she still plans to mentor and teach the generations to come, and she acknowledges the impact that RUC had on preparing her.

“RUC will always have a special place in my heart because of the faculty and student collaboration,” she said. “I am the professional I am today because of RUC.”

’97

EMERGING FROM GLOBAL, PERSONAL UPHEAVAL WITH TWO CHALLENGING DEGREES

CHARRON

Leeper-Martin

DESIGNER’S FASHION BRAND ROOTED IN FAMILY TRADITION

By Bailey Black

It has been more than three years since Charron Leeper-Martin ’09 started her now-flourishing business, Perfect Pineapple. It all started with a satin hair scarf her grandmother gave her that she knotted up and could never untie. Leeper wore the hair scarf to bed as a protective style solution and a way to preserve her curls based on the “pineapple-ing” method.

She ended up liking the style enough to wear it out, which led her to buy new fabric and recreate the original scarf. After trying many new styles, the lightbulb went off: she could sell them. Using the sewing machines in the office of her grandmother’s basement, Leeper-Martin started making scarves, and Perfect Pineapple was founded.

“There was this surge in black women wanting to wear their natural hair and understand how to style it. I went natural in college and wore sew-ins because I struggled with styling my natural hair,” said Leeper-Martin. “My grandmother played a huge part in helping me and my family members appreciate our African heritage, which included wrapping our hair.”

She dedicates Perfect Pineapple to her grandmother, who was battling cancer as the venture took off. Not only did she test and wear the scarves, but she was also the one who encouraged her to move forward with the business.

“Before she passed away, she grabbed my hand and said, ‘Charron, promise me you’ll start a family business.’ That was

the defining moment. She believed in me enough to tell me to do this. It was so impactful, and she is the inspiration for me to continue in this business. I want to fulfill that promise,” Leeper-Martin said.

Her grandmother passed away on Sept. 11, 2017, one day after Perfect Pineapple debuted on the runway of a local fashion show.

Perfect Pineapple has grown into a brand that manufactures and distributes head wraps, headbands and other hair accessories worldwide. LeeperMartin’s favorite part of watching the business grow is the brand recognition and seeing those she admires enjoy the product. Most recently, in May 2020, she celebrated actress and social media influencer Tabitha Brown posting the product on an Instagram story.

Leeper-Martin was able to apply many of the skills she acquired as a student at Radford University to being a business owner.

In 2007, she created Women of Purpose and Power, a nonprofit women’s community service and support group

at Radford University. She saw a need on campus for an organization that would cater to and empower women — specifically, minority women. She is proud of creating the organization and how this work helped her foster her entrepreneurial skills.

“Radford showed me a lot about my character and personality that I didn’t know before. Understanding your limits, understanding your expectations and knowing who you are directly affect how you operate in business, and I took that away from my Radford experience,” Leeper-Martin said.

She also had many professors who influenced her along the way, including John O’Connor, assistant professor of graphic design, who encouraged LeeperMartin as a graphic design major and understood the balancing act she was struggling with as a student-athlete on the women’s basketball team.

Another faculty member, former Assistant Professor Kevin Smith, also left a lasting impression. He told her, “Never stop designing until what you create is exactly what you envisioned it to be,” which is a mantra she has held onto and continues to draw from as the founder and CEO of Perfect Pineapple.

Radford showed me a lot about my character and personality that I didn’t know before.

Charron Leeper-Martin ’09

TOGETHER Again was the theme and sentiment that echoed across Homecoming 2021. While last year’s virtual Homecoming was a great success for a first-of-its-kind event at Radford University, this year’s return to campus was a celebrated reunion of the Radford family.

Alumni in attendance shared that it was a “great weekend of celebrating lifelong friendships, making new connections and finding ways to give back” to their alma mater.

Relive TOGETHER Again! Check out the homecoming photo gallery at www.radford.edu/alumni-photos

Faculty lead the way in supporting Radford students

By Mark Lambert, M.S. ’97

Kristina Rose

Carolyn Clayton

n April 1, 2021, Radford University launched the Climb to 25 campaign, a giving opportunity with the goal of raising faculty and staff participation to 25% or more. As part of this campaign, faculty in the Department of Occupational Therapy (OT) at Radford University and Radford University Carilion (RUC) created a new scholarship fund for OT students.

Senior Director for University Advancement Penny Helms White ’85, MBA ’87, and Assistant Director for University Advancement Vanessa Conner ’12, M.S. ’15, worked with department chair Sarah Smidl, Ph.D., to develop the scholarship — one of the first funds supported by both Radford and RUC employees because of the dual-campus nature of this program. Every employee in the OT departments at both the Radford and Roanoke locations contributed to the fund, and several were first-time donors.

The exceptional nature of this scholarship fund, along with one launched by the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism, is that both were initiated by faculty in each program to support their students directly.

“The real celebration point with both of these scholarships is that faculty led the way to launch the fund, seeing a need and responding to it themselves,” said Carolyn Clayton, Radford University’s director of annual giving. “They made a direct positive, collective effort to help meet a pressing need for their students.”

The OT scholarship fund currently stands at over $3,100, but several OT employees give via payroll deduction, so that amount grows every two weeks. Giving by payroll deduction is an easy way for Radford employees to make contributions and personalize their giving to an area of campus that matters the most to them.

“Seeing faculty reach out to alumni and invite them to support current Highlanders is really encouraging,” Clayton said. “Every gift to Radford University — no matter how large or small — is important and has the power to change lives.”

In April 2022, Radford will publicly announce the percentage goal for the Climb campaign for this fiscal year. Every gift moves us forward. Join the Climb today: www.radford.edu/climbto25!

The Climb to 25 campaign concluded on June 30, 2021, and employee response was tremendous. Milestones of the Climb campaign include:

Reaching a participation rate, exceeding the goal of 25%.

Having the

number of employee donors in the last five years.

Exceeding last year by

and growing by 17.6% year over year.

Seeing

unique donors make contributions this year.

Having over

Receiving support from over

Welcoming first-time donors this fiscal year. from across our campus.

Climb Ambassadors

Every gift to Radford University — no matter how large or small — is important and has the power to change lives.

ven in a pandemic year, Radford University continued rising with the focus of making the Radford experience exceptional. With your help, we set new records, launched new programs and were reminded of what it really means to be in this TOGETHER. With your support, the Radford community had an inspiring year of philanthropy and engagement.

Through hundreds of virtual programs, networking events, opportunities to give back to students through advice and mentoring, and other meaningful connections, you have shown up and supported us. Your gifts provide hundreds of scholarship opportunities and support Radford students in and out of the classroom. We are grateful for your Highlander spirit.

Thank you for all you do!

We have raised $76.3 million of our TOGETHER Campaign’s $100 million goal!

M.F.A. student David Rehor gets an extraordinary opportunity to work with photographer Judith Joy Ross

By Mark Lambert, M.S. ’97

Radford University Master of Fine Arts student

David Rehor accepted the opportunity of a lifetime in early May 2021. Margaret Adams, an associate professor of photography, and Mark Osterman, of the George Eastman Museum, asked Rehor to help with two major upcoming projects involving world-renowned photographer Judith Joy Ross and her curator, Joshua Chuang, at Ross’ home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The projects involved Rehor helping put together a show for Ross in Madrid, Spain, and assisting in archiving her work for the New York Public Library. Adams felt that Rehor would be a good candidate for the projects because of his experience with analog photographic processes and, more importantly, because of his maturity and demeanor. Ross was experiencing the early stages of dementia.

“For both projects, time was of the essence because of her condition,” Rehor said. “I was able to learn as much as I was to help, though, so everyone benefited from this amazing opportunity.”

Rehor said Ross prefers using printing-out processes for her fine photographic prints because the range of tones far exceeds normal developing-out processes done in a darkroom. He said these are essentially sun prints, exposed by the sun or UV light sources, on large format 8x10-inch negatives. He said that Ross then contact-prints her photos on rare and expensive paper, no longer available commercially.

“We have to hand-make this paper today,” Rehor said. “Mark Osterman and his wife, France, make batches of this paper. And Judith prefers the brown color tone created using gold chloride solution. It’s a very difficult and expensive process, but the results are breathtaking.”

Rehor helped Ross make prints for her show in Spain using this process. At the same time, he was helping Ross learn to use Adobe Lightroom, creative software for organizing and manipulating images.

“Personally, I think the printing-out process is important to photography because the images are unique and hard to duplicate, making them more valuable and precious,” Rehor said. “More significantly, though, you can create transparencies from digital files to produce these prints. This means this ancient process can find a new life with digital photography for those who want to make fine art prints. I see a renaissance in the crafted print around the corner.”

Rehor helped Ross organize the tens of thousands of negatives she needed to scan into a digital archive for the New York Public Library. Rehor said that Sophie Harris, a student at Columbia College in Chicago, also helped with that portion of the project.

“As part of the project,” said Rehor, who credits Adams for arranging the unique opportunity, “I got to work with famous printer, instructor and photographer David Haas, who taught me how to split-tone prints. I got to visit Hank’s Photographic Services in New York City, where I met the crew who still prints for many famous photographers, and I got to inspect and handle the bulk of the Vivian Maier collection. It was a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

David Rehor, recipient of the Andrew W. Ross Endowed Photography Scholarship

The Highlander family is unlike any other. It includes many relatives, especially a Cousin, as in Justin Cousin ’18, new graduate assistant and former men’s basketball student-athlete. Justin was an integral part of the 2018 March Madness run that featured Radford’s first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament. Justin was a five-year member of the team and saw action in 127 games, earning 55 starts. Keeping with the family theme, Justin’s dad, Rod, was a member of the Radford men’s basketball team from 1984 to 1988.

One of the most successful fall sports programs in recent years, women’s soccer earned a boost in the offseason when it introduced Kat Parris to the squad. The midfielder/forward from Silver Springs, Maryland, made her first collegiate appearance on Aug. 19, 2021. She made a statement that night when she notched her first goal as a Highlander, and it was the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win over Mount St. Mary’s. The stellar performance garnered her Big South Player of the Week. She went on to earn back-to-back Big South Freshman of the Week honors the following two weeks, corralling three conference weekly awards for the first three weeks of the 2021 season.

In her Highlander debut, Radford graduate student Hannah Moran set a new school record and took home a first-place finish at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Sept. 1, 2021. She completed the 4K in 14:11.0, more than 15 seconds faster than the previous record holder (14:26.08). Hannah was named Big South Runner of the Week on Sept. 22 after she won the JMU Invitational with a time of 18:27.5 in the 5.2K race and crossed the finish line nearly 30 seconds ahead of the field. It was her second victory of the season and helped the Highlanders to a second-place team finish.

The year 2020 brought many unforeseen obstacles, and one of those barriers was an unexpected head coach vacancy for the Radford University men’s soccer program. Former men’s soccer standout and current Assistant Coach Chris Barrett ’94 was the right man for the job. He assumed the interim head coaching position in November 2020 and he earned his first win on Feb. 28, 2020, in a 1-0 victory over Gardner-Webb University in the modified spring season. He was named the permanent head coach in the summer of 2021 in preparation for the fall 2021 season.

Radford University alumnus Callum Tarren ’14 etched his name in the record books when he became the first Highlander to earn a PGA Tour card. He locked up his 2021-22 PGA Tour membership at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on Aug. 29, 2021. His membership means he is able to enter into PGA Tour events for the 2021-22 campaign.

By Chad Osborne

AFTER HIS PARALYMPIC TRIUMPH, NICK MAYHUGH FINDS A DIFFERENT TRACK

“Yes, I am a role model,” Nick said. It’s an obligation he proudly accepts, but it can be a monumental responsibility, at age 25, when children look up to you and moms and dads ask for your guidance.

“The number of messages I receive daily can be overwhelming,” Nick said from his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. “But, it’s such an incredible feeling to be a role model for kids with disabilities and to be able to offer advice to them and their parents. It’s one reason I wanted to become a Paralympic athlete.”

In August 2021, the former Radford University men’s soccer player traveled to Tokyo as part of the U.S. Paralympic track & field team and dominated three of the four races in which he competed. He won gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter races and in the 4-by-1 universal relay. He broke the world record in all three of those races and won a silver medal in the 400-meter race.

The events and moments that led Nick to Tokyo could serve as ingredients whipped into an emotional, inspirational tale that begins with adversity and ends in epic triumph.

Nick has been an extraordinary athlete all his life, but numbness on the left side of his body left him at a slight disadvantage from the time he began competing. “It was something I learned to compensate for,” he said. “I had to do things like actually think about walking and making an effort to pick my leg up so it didn’t drag. Little things like that were very frustrating when I was a kid.”

Nick told his parents, teachers and coaches about his condition, but “everyone told me it was just my nondominant side, and I needed to work on it, and it would get better.

“No one really understood,” Nick said. “My parents believed me, but they didn’t see it as bad enough to take me to a doctor. I guess to my own credit, I masked it almost too well for people to even notice.”

But, in 2010, at age 14, Nick suffered a grand mal seizure and was rushed to the hospital, where an MRI revealed a mild form of cerebral palsy. It was the result of a “dead spot on my brain,” he said, which was caused by a stroke Nick suffered in utero.

Nick continued to persevere, playing the game he loved. “Soccer is second nature to me,” he said, “and it was easy to mask the problems and put myself in the right position.” Nick later played for the Highlanders men’s soccer team and the U.S. men’s Paralympic soccer team. In 2019, the U.S. Soccer Federation named him the U.S. Soccer Player of the Year with a Disability.

Nick momentarily set aside soccer later that year, however, and began focusing on running because he wanted to compete in the Paralympics, and soccer was not part of those games.

Powered by a passion to succeed at his new sport, grinding 10-hours-a-day training sessions with his brother, Thomas, and an occasional sleeve of Oreos, Nick took Tokyo and the Games of the Paralympiad by storm in August. He returned home with a bundle of gold and silver, new awe-inspiring world records and a community of adoring fans, many of whom strive to overcome their own physical limitations with Nick as their compass.

“Just this morning, about an hour ago, I got a message from a mom who has a son with CP, and she was asking what it was like for me growing up,” Nick said. “I hear from a lot of parents and a lot of kids, and it is such an incredible feeling, and it makes me happy to help and to hear from them and hear their personal stories.

“It feels kind of weird sometimes but, yes, I am a role model, and it makes me happy and proud to advocate for them and the disabled community.”

Nick Mayhugh ’18 appears caught off guard when asked if he is a role model. But, as memories of the messages he has received recently speed through his mind at a world-record pace, he quickly answers.

Radford named to The Princeton Review’s Best in the Southeast list and Guide to Green Colleges

Radford University is one of the 143 best colleges in the Southeast, according to The Princeton Review (PrincetonReview.com) . The education services company lists Radford in the “Best in the Southeast” section of its “2022 Best Colleges: Region by Region” feature at princetonreview.com/bestSEcolleges . Radford was also listed among 416 colleges in The Princeton Review’s “Guide to Green Colleges” throughout the United States. The rating provides a comprehensive measure of a school’s performance as an environmentally aware and prepared institution.

Online MBA ranked among most affordable by EDsmart

The online MBA program in the Davis College of Business and Economics has been ranked among the Most Affordable Online MBA Programs in 2021 by EDsmart, a nationally recognized publisher of college resources and rankings. EDsmart’s ranking includes only fully accredited schools. Rankings are based on affordability, academic quality, student satisfaction and student outcome according to data gathered from the U.S. Department of Education.

2021- 2022

Radford University named a College of Distinction for 2021-2022

Radford University was recognized for its commitment to engaged, hands-on education by Colleges of Distinction, a one-of-a-kind guide for college-bound students. In addition, Radford’s academic programs in business, education, nursing and engineering were singled out for individual recognition, along with student support services for career development and military support.

Radford University adds ranking in U.S. News and World Report’s “Best Colleges” listings

Radford University’s strong academic tradition and commitment to student success continue to garner recognition in the U.S. News & World Report’s “2022 Best Colleges” report. The magazine ranked Radford at No. 14 among “Top Public Schools — Regional Universities South”. Among other notable accolades, the university was ranked among “Best Colleges for Veterans — Regional Universities South” (No. 13) and overall “Regional Universities South” (No. 29). For 2022, Radford University was added to the list of “Best Value Schools — Regional Universities South” (No. 25).

Three Radford University Carilion online programs rank in top five nationwide

Three Radford University Carilion (RUC) online healthcare leadership programs have been ranked as some of the best in the nation by Academic Influence, a company that uses artificial intelligence to arrive at its various rankings.

In their respective categories, RUC’s Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration is ranked the No. 2 program in the country; the Master of Science in Health Sciences is ranked No. 4; and the Master of Healthcare Administration is ranked No. 5. All of the programs are part of RUC’s Department of Public Health and Healthcare Leadership.

Faculty recognized at fall convocation

In August, interim President Carolyn Ringer Lepre, Ph.D., and interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs J. Orion Rogers, Ph.D., welcomed faculty and staff to the fall 2021 semester and oversaw the presentation of awards to numerous faculty.

The Founders Award was presented to Judy B. Jenks ’95, M.S.N. ’02, D.N.P. ’16, assistant professor of nursing, Radford University Carilion.

Additional award recipients included: Distinguished Faculty Advisor Award — Justin Anderson, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Biology; Distinguished Service Award — Michele Ren ’92, M.S. ’95, Ph.D., associate professor of English; Award for Administrative and Professional Excellence — Merrie Winfrey, J.D., instructional designer and learning architect in the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning; and Distinguished Creative Scholar Award — Ji-Eun Lee, M.F.A., assistant professor of dance; Donald N. Dedmon Distinguished Teaching Professor Award — Jamie Lau, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology.

The 2020 Dalton Eminent Scholar Award recipients were also recognized: Steve Childers, Ph.D., professor of management in the Davis College of Business and Economics; Inessa Plekhanova, M.F.A., professor of dance and director of the ballet program in the College of Visual and Performing Arts; Jolanta Wawrzycka, Ph.D., professor of English in the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences; and Wei-Chi Yang, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and statistics in the Artis College of Science and Technology.

The 2020 Dalton Eminent Scholar Rising Star Award Winner was Matthew Cataldi, D.M., assistant professor of music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Governor appoints members to the Board of Visitors

Gov. Ralph Northam announced the appointment of three alumni to the Radford University Board of Visitors to serve four-year terms. New appointments include Lisa Pompa ’86 of Virginia Beach, Virginia, Marquett Smith ’85 of Ashburn and Charlene Curtis ’76 of Kernersville, North Carolina.

First faculty appointments to Academic Leadership Fellows Program announced

The first faculty appointments to the Academic Leadership Fellows (AL Fellows) program were announced in September 2021. The AL Fellows program is designed to support leadership development and continuing student support through campus-wide, faculty-student engagement. The AL Fellows and the colleges they represent are: Kimberly Lane, Ph.D., Artis College of Science and Technology; Wendy Eckenrod-Green, Ph.D., College of Education and Human Development; Patricia (Trish) Winter, Ph.D., College of Visual and Performing Arts; Aysha Bodenhamer ’10, Ph.D., College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences; Jennifer Elias, Ph.D., Davis College of Business and Economics; Kerry Vandergrift, Ph.D., Waldron College of Health and Human Services; and Helen Reed ’90, M.S.N. ’97, School of Nursing.

Manizade voted president-elect of VCTM

In June 2021, Agida Manizade, Ph.D., professor of mathematics and statistics, was voted president-elect of the Virginia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (VCTM). With this position, Manizade begins a five-year term as a leader of the VCTM board. She will serve as president-elect for one year, then as the organization’s president for two years, beginning in July 2022. Manizade will then serve two years as past president.

President Lepre (left) and interim Provost Rogers (right) congratulate winners Lau, Anderson, Ren, Winfrey and Lee.

1980s

Kim Succop ’85 recently celebrated more than 30 years of teaching, including 22 years at Bradley Elementary School in Warrenton, Virginia. Succop graduated from Radford University with a double major in general education for K-4 students and special education for K-12 students.

Mark Botset ’86 joined the faculty at Midlothian High School after 32 years in the insurance industry.

Carol Zuniga, M.S. ’86, was promoted from executive director to CEO of Hegira Health, Inc., a behavioral healthcare provider in Wayne County, Michigan. Zuniga will be Hegira Health’s first new CEO in 48 years.

Black Hoof Brewing Company in Leesburg, Virginia welcomed a new director of brewing operations, Dean Lake ’87. Jef Stehman ’89 is the new vice president of production at Allen Tate Mortgage. Previously, Stehman served as the vice president of production at Advantage Lending.

Christie Gialloreto ’92 served as the mental performance consultant for the Canadian rowing team in the Tokyo Olympics. The Canadian rowing team won a gold and a bronze medal.

Zebedee Talley Jr. ’94, superintendent of Martinsville City Schools, was elected president of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, an organization that represents 133 Virginia school districts.

Jill Neice ’95 was promoted to chief of the Pulaski Police Department in Pulaski, Virginia.

Inova Health System has named Susan Carroll ’96 as the permanent president for Inova Loudoun Hospital after she served in the role on an interim basis for nearly two months.

Michael Boyd ’96 was promoted from director of sales to area vice president of sales at CDI LLC, a technology provider offering hybrid IT solutions.

Jason Adkins, MBA ’98 was promoted to CEO of Unite Private Networks (UPN) in Kansas City, Missouri.

2000s

Correy Watkins ’02 accepted a new position as implementation specialist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kassondra Bowen Lawson ’05 is the new director of ER and Med-Surg at Ballad Health’s Lee County Community Hospital in Pennington Gap, Virginia.

Stephanie Winebrenner ’06 stepped into a new role at Cisco as regional sales leader, U.S. Navy.

Jason Burnette ’04, MBA ’08, was promoted to lead manager of in-person activation at Reynolds American, Inc. Burnette has served the company in various roles since October 2010.

2010s

Geoffrey Colbert ’10 joined Danville Community College as dean of student services. He was previously the senior

Calling all members of the Class of 1972!

Jacqueline Conner ’89 retired from the Chesterfield County Police Department after 25 years of service. She was only the sixth woman to retire from the department. She has received numerous awards for her investigative skills and passion for helping those in need. She achieved this while dealing with a learning disability.

1990s

Scott Arthur ’91 is the new director of business development and culture at Conseqta Technology.

Start planning now to come back to campus during Homecoming 2022 for a special celebration for your Golden Reunion. Reminisce with fellow classmates throughout the weekend and meet Radford University’s eighth president.

It’s not too early to let us know you’ll be here. We would love to have you join us as a volunteer for the reunion! Call the Office of Alumni Relations, toll-free 1-888-478-4723, or email alumni@radford.edu.

Jacqueline L. Conner ’89

2021 Alumni Association Award Winners

Outstanding Young Alumnus

Javonte Green ’16

Outstanding Alumni Service

Allison Huke Felix ’01

Outstanding Alumni

Philanthropist

Marcia Stephenson Adler ’75, M.S. ’76

Outstanding Alumnus Award

Kwabena Osei-Sarpong ‘05

To submit a class note, please visit www.radford.edu/ alumniupdate or call 1-888-4RU-GRAD. Photographs may be submitted as .jpg files with a resolution of at least 300 dpi. If you submitted a class note and it does not appear in this issue, please look for it in the next magazine.

Tracy Drum ’10 married Mark Bouc at Ten Peaks in Crested Butte, Colorado, on Aug. 6, 2021.

Frank ’15 and Danielle (Gangloff) West ’17, M.S. ’18, welcomed their first child, Matthew Parker, on July 19, 2021.

Make plans to attend the 2022 Volunteer Summit during Winter Celebration on February 5, 2022.

Why attend?

• Be an insider and get the scoop directly from Radford University experts!

• Select breakout training sessions to learn more about volunteer roles!

• Network with fellow alumni and friends!

Questions? Call the Office of Alumni Relations, Toll-free 1-888-478-4723, or email alumni@radford.edu.

director of athletics, student conduct officer, Title IX coordinator and chief of staff to the vice president of student services at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland.

Tracy Drum ’10 married Mark Bouc at Ten Peaks in Crested Butte, Colorado, on Aug. 6, 2021.

Austin Phipps ’10 was promoted to vice president in both the agriculture and commercial lending divisions of First Bank & Trust Company in Abingdon, Virginia. Earlybird’s Bottle Shop in Poquoson, Virginia, was newly opened in August 2021 by co-owners and friends since kindergarten Joshua “Earl” Bunch ’11 and Severn “Sev” Ayer.

Bryan Slagle ’11 accepted a new role as core account manager at ChannelAdvisor in Mooresville, North Carolina.

Amanda Griffith ’11, M.S. ’13, is the American Probation and Parole Association’s new area representative for Virginia. Griffith also serves as the president of the Virginia Community Criminal Justice Association and the director of New River Community Corrections & Pretrial Services.

Holly Lenz ’12 accepted a new position as project manager at Vocon, a global architecture and interior design firm based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Layden Williams, MBA ’12, was promoted from brand partnerships intern to manager of partnership development at CSM Sport & Entertainment.

Sydney Sieviec ’13 has been named assistant director at Foothills Arts Center in Elkin, North Carolina.

Patricia Lane Pascoe ’14 and Craig Clifford Boehr married in Loudoun County, Virginia, July 23, 2021.

Frank ’15 and Danielle (Gangloff) West ’17, M.S. ’18, welcomed their first child, Matthew Parker, on July 19, 2021.

Allison Gyovai ’17 has joined Keller Williams Capital Properties in Arlington, Virginia, as listing/transaction coordinator. Drew Basham ’18 teaches fifth grade language arts at W.E. Cundiff Elementary School in Vinton, Virginia.

Kade Gravitt ’18 of Boydton, Virginia, was named legislative assistant to Delegate Thomas Wright, 61st district, Virginia House of Delegates.

Radford University men’s soccer alumnus Nick Mayhugh ’18 won three gold medals and a silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, breaking his own world record in the men’s T37 100 meters.

This special commemorative, limited-edition print is in honor of TOGETHER – The Campaign for Radford University. Proceeds from the sale of The Fountain will benefit the P. Buckley Moss Teaching Scholarship for aspiring teachers at Radford University.

Obituaries

1940s

Flora Adams ’42 of Toano, Virginia, May 18, 2021.

Rosamond Rosenbaum ’46 of Glade Spring, Virginia, April 23, 2021.

Jean Jenrette ’49 of Vinton, Virginia, May 10, 2021.

Delores Fray ’49 of Willis, Virginia, July 25, 2021.

1950s

Lois Floyd ’50 of Wilmington, North Carolina, June 2, 2021.

Martha Bentley ’54 of Williamsburg, Virginia, May 8, 2021.

Elizabeth Smith ’54 of Roanoke, Virginia, July 3, 2021.

Online: bit.ly/FountainRadfordUniversity_Moss

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Alana Abbott ’19 was promoted to administrative assistant at HPM, where she will support the efforts of Program Development, Planning Services and Preconstruction Services groups.

2020s

Duncan Sandoz ’20 proposed to Leah Stepp ’21 by the Radford University fountain on Aug. 8, 2021. Sandoz and Stepp met at Junior Twilight on Radford University’s campus in 2019. Sandoz recreated the

exact night they met to propose to Stepp, and she said, “yes!”

Brooke Ferguson ’20, ’21 now teaches for the special education department at Midlothian High School in Virginia.

Friend

Gregory Burton, former member of the Radford University Board of Visitors, was named to the 2020-21 class of the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame.

Betty Basham ’56 of Christiansburg, Virginia, May 5, 2021.

Jean East ’57 of Churchville, Virginia, July 17, 2021.

Betty Slemp ’58 of Marion, Virginia, May 22, 2021.

Constance O’Berry “Connie” Vick ’58 of Franklin, Virginia, Sept. 20, 2021.

1960s

Carolyn Wallace ’64 of Henrico, Virginia, March 25, 2021.

Glenda McCann ’65, M.S. ’68, of Hickory, North Carolina, April 10, 2021.

Vivian Withers ’65 of Zionsville, Indiana, April 22, 2021.

Jessie Pearson ’65 of Timonium, Maryland, July 3, 2021.

Sharon Doss ’65 of Altavista, Virginia, July 12, 2021.

Tommy Jones, M.S. ’66, of Greensboro, North Carolina, May 10, 2021.

Elizabeth Bartholomew ’66 of Southport, North Carolina, May 14, 2021.

Judy Ruben ’66 of Fairlawn, Virginia, July 9, 2021.

Steve Miller, M.S. ’67, of Peterstown, West Virginia, July 15, 2021.

Ann Thomas ’68 of Midlothian, Virginia, April 27, 2021.

Priscilla M. Moore, M.S. ’68, of Radford, Virginia, June 28, 2021.

1970s

Quinn Manuel ’71, M.S. ’78, of Starkville, Mississippi, June 23, 2021.

The Fountain, Radford University

P. Buckley Moss Gallery

Kent Square, 216 S. Main St., Blacksburg, VA • 540-552-6446

9.5” x 16” image with 1” border – $125 • 15.125” x 25.5” image with 1” border – $325

Susan Moore ’71 of Blacksburg, Virginia, Aug. 1, 2021.

Susan Hendrix ’72 of Allisonia, Virginia, July 26, 2021.

Linda Lopes ’73 of Asheville, North Carolina, June 12, 2021.

Helen Marie Parshall Given ’74 of Charlottesville, Virginia, Sept. 19, 2021.

Barbara Periman ’74 of Blue Ridge, Virginia, April 24, 2021.

Anna Jackson ’74 of Blackstone, Virginia, June 27, 2021.

James Gray, M.S. ’76, of Mechanicsville, Virginia, July 10, 2021.

Barbara Ann Epling Witten ’76 of Christiansburg, Virginia, Sept. 19, 2021.

Norma Alderman ’77 of Woodlawn, Virginia, June 9, 2021.

Debra Gillespie ’77, M.S. ’81, of Chilhowie, Virginia, June 22, 2021.

John Fox ’79, M.S. ’88, of Radford, Virginia, Aug. 12, 2021.

1980s

Chester Robinson, M.S. ’80, of Commerce, Texas, July 9, 2021.

Diana Hewitt ’81 of Gainesville, Virginia, June 3, 2021.

James Sink ’81 of Salisbury, North Carolina, July 11, 2021.

Jerry Sowers ’89 of Martinsville, Virginia, April 12, 2021.

1990s

Karen Hartless ’90 of Lynchburg, Virginia, June 14, 2021.

Jason Board ’93 of Savannah, Georgia, July 2, 2021.

Judith Schneck ’95 of Christiansburg, Virginia, July 3, 2021.

Nancy Myers, M.S. ’98, of Roanoke, Virginia, April 27, 2021.

2000s

Patricia Phillips ’05 of Salem, Virginia, May 24, 2021.

Alan Arant ’06 of Glade Hill, Virginia, July 22, 2021.

2010s

Megan Blevins ’14 of Pembroke, Virginia, April 9, 2021.

Jacob Salmon ’16 of Kingsport, Tennessee, July 18, 2021.

Jehan Sadat, widow of former Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar Sadat, passed away on July 7, 2021. Sadat was Radford University’s first Distinguished Visiting Professor, in 1985. During the 1985-1986 school year, she taught honors courses “Women in the Third World” and “Egypt: Its History and Culture” and was asked to speak to the graduating students during their commencement ceremony, breaking the university’s policy of not having a commencement speaker. In 2006, Sadat was a guest presenter alongside Maya Angelou and

former First Lady of Virginia Anne Holton at the “Women’s Leadership in a Global Society” symposium during the inauguration of former Radford University President Penelope W. Kyle in 2006. Sadat was an advocate for gender equality, peace and education. She worked to improve women’s rights in Egypt and pushed for laws that gave women financial rights and the right to alimony in the case of divorce, as well as making it easier to apply for divorce and for custody of children. Sadat was also known for her volunteer work and charitable activities. She founded the S.O.S. Children’s Villages in Egypt to serve and protect orphans and established the Wafa’ Wal Amal (Faith and Hope) Society in 1972, with facilities and services dedicated to war veterans and civilians who suffered from conflict. Sadat also presided over several national relief agencies, including the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Egyptian Society for Cancer Patients.

John Francis “Jack” Sharlow of Dublin, Virginia, passed away on July 21, 2021. Sharlow retired from Radford University as executive catering director. After retiring, he continued his passion for mentoring and consulting at Mountain Lake, taught etiquette at Ferrum College and faithfully volunteered for his local election precinct. He was also a former veteran of the U.S. Army Reserves. Sharlow was a dear friend to many who worked at or were associated with Radford University, as well as those in the local community.

Non-Degreed

Jane Thomson of Virginia Beach, Virginia, April 10, 2021.

Scott Gusler of Bland, Virginia, April 14, 2021.

Shirley Downs of Shawsville, Virginia, April 27, 2021.

Jennifer Scott of Charlottesville, Virginia, May 21, 2021.

Amelia Houliares of Lynchburg, Virginia, July 25, 2021.

Mary Eakle Adams of Richmond, Virginia, Sept. 20, 2021.

Retired/Former Faculty/ Staff

Kathleen Absher of Christiansburg, Virginia, April 28, 2021.

Nell Long of Christiansburg, Virginia, June 6, 2021.

Kathryn Kelly of Christiansburg, Virginia, June 16, 2021.

Rodney Clark of Pearisburg, Virginia, June 24, 2021.

Lewis Sheckler of Radford, Virginia, June 28, 2021.

Jehan Sadat of Cairo, Egypt, July 7, 2021.

John Sharlow of Dublin, Virginia, July 21, 2021.

Carolyn Simpkins of Christiansburg, Virginia, July 25, 2021.

Preston Durrill of Blacksburg, Virginia, Aug. 3, 2021.

Lewis Turner of Floyd, Virginia, Aug. 3, 2021.

Preston Lee Durrill of Blacksburg, Virginia, passed away on Aug. 3, 2021. Durrill taught for 55 years, the first 37 spent as a chemistry professor and the dean of the graduate school at Radford University. During his years of teaching, Durrill enjoyed doing science experiments for students in local school districts and working with teachers to further their science accreditation. He was also a donor to Radford University and local K-12 schools.

George Millard Harvey Sr. of Radford, Virginia, passed away on Feb. 24, 2021. Harvey was a business owner, community leader and Radford University supporter. After serving in the U.S. Army and taking classes at the National Business College in Roanoke, Virginia, he was always self-employed. Harvey began his professional career owning a service station, then a used car dealership, gas distributorship, and a new car business. With each business success, he would use his profits to invest in the next and even more

successful business. In 1959, he founded Harvey’s Chevrolet, which continues as a family business in Radford, Virginia.

During the spring 2017 commencement ceremony, Radford University recognized Harvey for his many contributions. On Moffett Lawn in front of more than 10,000 attendees, he was bestowed an honorary Bachelor of Business Administration degree in recognition of his lifetime achievement in the business sector and faithful service to his local community.

Chris Skinner ’02, M.S. ’06, of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, passed away on Sept. 6, 2021. After being paralyzed at age 20, Chris lived his life as the “ultimate learning experience” and passionately pursued sharing his story of tragedy to triumph. He spoke to over a million people about his experience and believed his greatest purpose was to be a loving father and husband.

MAKING AN ENTRANCE

Students came from near and far to meet up near Founders Hall, which was near the site of Muse Hall (circa 1915).

P.O. Box 6915

Radford University

Radford, VA 24142

Change Service Requested

Mark your calendar to join us to cheer on the Highlanders! Radford men’s and women’s basketball will be playing in the Big South Conference Basketball Championships at the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, March 1-6, 2022. Ticket information will be posted soon.