Gottwald ’54 Receives New Market Medal
The VMI Board of Visitors presented its highest honor, the New Market Medal, to Bruce C. Gottwald ’54, on May 15, 2014, during the annual New Market Day ceremony.
The VMI Board of Visitors presented its highest honor, the New Market Medal, to Bruce C. Gottwald ’54, on May 15, 2014. The presentation took place during the annual New Market Day ceremony that this year commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Battle of New Market. Gottwald is currently chairman of NewMarket Corp., the parent company of Afton Chemical and Ethyl Corp. Through its subsidiaries, NewMarket engages in the development, manufacture and blending of automotive chemical additives. He has been a leading figure in guiding the Institute for years. He is a past president of VMI’s Board of Visitors and a recipient of the VMI Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. He has also received the Spirit of VMI Award, the highest honor bestowed by the VMI Keydet Club. Major and long-time supporters of VMI, Gottwald and his wife, Nancy, have presented significant gifts to VMI that have helped establish and build Marshall Hall and the VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics, which was dedicated in 2009, among other transformational gifts. He and his family have established numerous endowment funds at VMI, including the Gottwald Scholarships for Merit, the Gottwald Chemistry Enhancement Fund, the Gottwald Development Board Endowment Fund and the Jackson-Hope Fund. A resident of Richmond, Virginia, Gottwald serves on many boards, including the American Civil War Museum and the Civil War Trust. In the past, he has 14
Presenting the award to Gottwald, center, were Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III ’62, VMI superintendent, left, and VMI Board of Visitors President George P. Ramsey III ’72, right.
served on the board of directors of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering, CSX Corp., Dominion Resources Inc., James River Corp. and St. Christopher’s School. In 1990, he received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Virginia Union University. He was inducted into the Greater Richmond Business Hall of Fame in 2004. The Gottwalds have three sons: Bruce Gottwald Jr. ’81, Mark Gottwald and Thomas Gottwald ’83. Established by the Board of Visitors in 1962, the New Market Medal is given to individuals whose lives have displayed the virtues shown by the 1864 New Market cadets: duty, honor, devotion and leadership. Gottwald is the 14th recipient in the award’s long history. Past recipients include Gen. George C. Marshall ’901, U.S. Sen. Harry Flood Byrd Jr. ’35, and former Virginia Governors Colgate Darden Jr. and Mills E. Godwin Jr. Editor’s Note: The preceding article and related photos were provided by VMI Communications and Marketing.
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