SPONSORED CONTENT | Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce tourism category for website design and development. The Interactive Media Council is an organization of leading webrelated professionals who recognize the highest standards of excellence in website development and design. The RVCVB relaunched the official travel and tourism destination website for Virginia’s Blue Ridge (www.visitvablueridge.com) in April 2015 with a new responsive design. Dan Lyons, former superintendent for Lexington City Public Schools, has been selected as the interim principal at Northside High School for the reLyons mainder of the school year. Lyons served as the superintendent in Lexington from 2002 until his retirement in 2015. He was the principal at Lylburn Downing Middle School in Lexington from 1997 to 2002. ENX Magazine has announced that Virginia Business Systems (VBS), an office technology, solutions and services provider, has been named one of the country’s Elite Dealers for 2015. The award is presented annually by the online publication to the top office equipment dealers in the U.S. Virginia Tech is advancing its portfolio of high-performance computing services and strengthening its commitment to bring the advantages of high-performance computing and visualization to more fields of academic endeavor. In cooperation with the National Science Foundation’s Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, Advanced Research Computing is working to increase Virginia Tech’s research computing capacity, educational opportunities and interconnectedness with other top-tier high-performance computing universities. Assistant Director of Development Alana Romanella hopes to take up to eight Virginia Tech students to the national organization’s conference in July. Virginia Transformer Corp. has announced a management reorganization to further incorporate leadership responsibilities at its four facilities, including its Roanoke headquarters. The reorganizational changes include: Matt Gregg has been promoted to vice president of operations; Rakesh Rathi has been promoted to vice president of engineering and materials; John K. John has been named engineering director; Ben Grant has been promoted to PPU market manager; Vikash Gupta has been promoted to assistant sales manager; Puneet Jaiswal has been promoted to as4 44
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sistant sales manager; and Victor Kariker was named logistic contracts and sourcing manager.
dioxide into methane, thus reducing air pollutants and providing a means to recycle carbon-based fuels.
Rajesh Bagchi, associate professor of marketing in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, received the Early Career Award of the SoBagchi ciety for Consumer Psychology at its annual meeting. The award recognizes research productivity in and distinguished scientific contribution to consumer psychology by a researcher within eight years of receiving their Ph.D.
Virginia Tech’s Walter O’Brien, the J. Bernard Jones Professor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, was recently selected as a fellow of the O’Brien American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the world’s largest aerospace professional society. He is one of only 24 members worldwide who were named fellows this year.
Martin Chapman of the Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences, part of the College of Science, is the recipient of the 2015 Jesuit Seismological AsChapman sociation Award for Contributions to Observational Seismology. Chapman is the director of the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory. The award reflects the legacy of early 20thcentury Jesuit seismologists who were responsible for operating many seismological observatories around the world, performing much pioneering research into earthquakes. Natalie Hart has joined Virginia Tech’s Advancement Division as a principal gifts officer. She will manage a portfolio of principal-gift prospects Hart while planning and implementing initiatives that identify, cultivate, solicit and steward prospects and donors. She has been a part of the Virginia Tech community since 2002. Tim Kring, a faculty member at the University of Arkansas, has been named head of the Department of Entomology in the Virginia Tech College of Kring Agriculture and Life Sciences. He has spent the last 31 years working on biological control of insect pests and weeds using their natural enemies. Amanda Morris, an assistant professor of chemistry with the Virginia Tech College of Science, has been selected as a 2016 Alfred P. Sloan ReMorris search Fellow in chemistry. The award comes with a $55,000 prize that Morris will use to further research in several areas, including creating new methods to transform carbon
Ranga Pitchumani, the George R. Goodson Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech, has become the first member of the graduating Pitchumani class of 1986 to be recognized as a distinguished alumnus from his alma mater. He is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, one of the world’s leading engineering universities. Brian Plum has joined the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as assistant director of development for leadership gifts. Melanie Prusakowski has been named assistant dean for admissions at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She holds a number of Prusakowski positions with the school and with Carilion Clinic, including serving as director of pediatric emergency education for Carilion Clinic. G. Don Taylor, the Charles O. Gordon Professor and head of the Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, has Taylor been named interim dean of the College of Engineering. He will become a member of the leadership transition team and will serve as interim dean when Dean Richard Benson departs for his new position as president of the University of Texas at Dallas. Woods Rogers PLC has named Autumn R. Visser a principal in the firm. She is a member of the Business and Corporate Law group where Visser she concentrates on contract drafting and negotiation, general corporate governance, and mergers and acquisitions.