Service
Build It volunteers tackle Habitat home
The University is partnering with three local organizations to build a Habitat for Humanity home in Richmond’s Highland Park neighborhood.
Students, faculty, and staff are building the house from the ground up in just eight weeks with a dedication planned for April 19. They are partnering with Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity, Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and Boaz and Ruth—an agency that engages people released from prison in community revitalization projects.
Queallys boost
B-school
The Paul and Anne-Marie Queally Family Foundation has contributed $6 million to help expand the Robins School building and establish new programs focusing on finance.
The 33,000-square-foot addition to the Robins School is scheduled for completion by the end of 2010 and will be named Queally Hall in honor of former Trustee Paul Queally, R’86, and Anne-Marie Flinn Queally, W’86.
Along with construction of Queally Hall, the Robins School plans to create new elective courses in finance that will be team-taught by faculty members and financial services executives. The school also will offer seminars on the latest financial trends, a selective fast-track program of internships at sponsoring firms, a lecture series designed to bring national business figures to campus, and an intensive weekend program to help students learn career skills.
“As a student, alumnus, and trustee, I have always valued the emphasis that the University of Richmond places on its students,” Paul Queally says. “Anne-Marie and I wanted to give back to the University in a way that enabled it to provide more value to its students.
The Queallys’ gift will make a major difference, says President Edward Ayers. “Paul and Anne-Marie’s gift provides us with the space, opportunity, and incentive to build on the wonderful legacy of the Robins School.”
Paul Queally, who earned his undergraduate degree cum laude in economics and an M.B.A. from Columbia University, is co-president of the investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which he joined in 1996 as general partner. He served on the University’s Board of Trustees from 2000–07 and on the Business School Executive Advisory Council from 2002–03.
Anne-Marie Queally, who graduated from Richmond summa cum laude with an economics and French double major, worked as a marketing representative for IBM and as a budget and financial analyst for Morgan Guaranty Trust before leaving the corporate world to raise the couple’s three children.
The collaboration is part of Build It, a sustained community-service initiative coordinated by the University’s Bonner Center for Civic Engagement. To complement the house-building project, the Bonner Center is providing educational programs on affordable housing, access to credit, and related community issues.
Build It “is a powerful opportunity for students, faculty, and staff to work together with our community partner agencies and our Richmond neighbors,” says President Edward Ayers.
For the past two years, Build It volunteers have worked in Highland Park, tutoring students in two schools, reading to children in pediatricians’ waiting rooms, serving meals, and coaching youth athletic teams.
Their sustained efforts “develop long-term reciprocal community partnerships that create experiential learning opportunities for students while helping to fulfill unmet needs in the community,” says Cassie Price, community initiatives and program coordinator for the Bonner Center.
The University has a long history of raising money for and building Habitat for Humanity homes. In 2003 and 2005, students, faculty, and staff built homes in one week.
Campus
Ayers inauguration slated for April 11
The University will inaugurate President Edward Ayers on April 11 in the Robins Center. The entire University community—including all alumni—are invited, and the event will be webcast live.
Ayers became Richmond’s ninth president on July 1, 2007, and has spent the past nine months meeting with and listening to all of the University’s constituencies while developing a vision of Richmond’s future. He will begin to outline that vision in his inaugural address.
The keynote speaker for the event will be Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust, who became president of Harvard University on the same day that Ayers became president of Richmond.
Both Faust and Ayers are prominent historians of the American South. They will kick off the inaugural events on April 10 with a symposium titled “New Perspectives on the American Civil War.”
For more information about the inauguration, visit inauguration.richmond.edu.
New residence hall opens on the lake
Lakeview Residence Hall opened in January overlooking Westhampton Lake adjacent to Marsh, Wood, and Thomas halls.
Lakeview is the first new residence hall to be built on camps in more than 25 years, the first phase of a campus-wide upgrade of student housing. During the next five or six years, Freeman, Jeter, North Court, Thomas, and Robins halls will be renovated.
Lakeview is a four-story building that can accommodate 141 students in three-person and four-person suites and some single rooms. Special features on the first floor include a multipurpose room, kitchen, group-study room, and computer room.
The University followed strict design and construction guidelines to make the building environmentally friendly, and has registered Lakeview for (LEED) certification. LEED stands for leadership in energy and environmental design, the national standard for designing, erecting, and operating green buildings.
Research
Wright collects artifacts from black inventors
When James Wright assigned a research project to his students 35 years ago, he had no idea it would lead to a life-long passion.
“The assignment was to find and research a black scientist,” says Wright, director of MSI: Richmond, the University’s summer program for rising ninth-graders in Richmond Public Schools.
“It just seemed to me that if you wanted more kids involved in the subjects of math and science, you needed to present them with images of themselves in those disciplines,” he explains.
Robins grant completes campus stadium funding
The Robins Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to help expand the University’s existing on-campus stadium into a multisport venue for football, lacrosse, soccer, and track. First Market Stadium currently hosts Richmond’s lacrosse, soccer, and track programs.
With the Robins Foundation grant, donations and pledges for the stadium exceed $25 million, enough to complete the project in 2010.
“I am deeply grateful for the Robins family’s extraordinary leadership and support, which has touched every area of the University,” says President Edward Ayers. “In this instance, it will foster continued excellence in intercollegiate athletics.”
The expanded stadium will hold a maximum of 8,700 spectators, approximately the same seating capacity as the Robins Center, home of Richmond’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. The University is working with the city of Richmond to secure a special-use permit to proceed with construction of the stadium. University officials expect it to be completed in time for the football team’s 2010 home opener.
In addition to more seating, stadium improvements will include upgraded landscaping, a new scoreboard, a state-of-the art lighting system, and a sound system that will reduce the “splash” of sound outside the stadium.
“The Robins family is synonymous with the University of Richmond and Spider athletics,” says Jim Miller, director of intercollegiate athletics. “This grant from the Robins Foundation completes our fundraising efforts for the on-campus stadium and will have a significant positive impact on the University of Richmond. The on-campus stadium will not only enhance our athletic programs, but also provide a venue for students, alumni, faculty, staff, and members of the local community to gather to celebrate their association with the University. We are grateful to the Robins Foundation for investing in Spider athletics.”
The Robins Foundation also awarded $3 million to fund the new Westhampton Center.
He began learning about African-American inventors and years later began collecting their artifacts. “A lot of the time, I could not get the original invention—rather, I have second, third, or even fourth generation versions of the original piece,” he says.
Part of Wright’s collection will be displayed at the Black History Museum in Richmond through July. He also has shown his collection at The Science Museum of Virginia and Shippensburg (Pa.) University.
His research has led him to rare treasures, such as Temple’s Toggle, a harpoon modification made by Richmond native Lewis Temple in 1845, and ubiquitous toys, such as the Super Soaker, a high-powered squirt gun invented by Lonnie Johnson.
“There are just so many opportunities for that ‘a-ha’ moment during this exhibit,” Wright says. He continues to experience those moments himself as his collection grows.
Choosing the best (wo)man for the job
When Hillary Clinton showed emotion during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, she was caught in a “double bind” that women leaders often encounter, says Dr. Crystal Hoyt, assistant professor of leadership studies.
“This double bind results from the need for women to demonstrate masculine, leader-like characteristics to be perceived as effective,” she says, “but they can’t be too masculine or people won’t like them.”
A new study by Hoyt finds that during times of war or terrorist threats, people of both genders are more likely to support leaders with masculine traits. It also notes that female leaders who don’t display feminine attributes are not particularly well-received.
The study, “Choosing the Best (Wo)Man for the Job: The Effects of Mortality Salience, Sex, and Gender Stereotypes on Leader Evaluations,” was written by Hoyt and two former students, Stefanie Simon, ’07, and Lindsey Reid, ’06. It will be published later this year in Leadership Quarterly.
Kudos
BusinessWeek ranks MBA program 14th
BusinessWeek magazine has ranked the Robins School of Business M.B.A. program 14th in the country on its new list of “The Best Part-Time MBA Programs.”
“This ranking confirms that a challenging curriculum can make a difference in the lives and careers of the region’s most ambitious professionals,” says Dr. Richard Coughlan, associate dean for graduate and executive programs at the Robins School. “At a time when so many M.B.A. programs are promoting instant gratification through rapid completion of the degree, our students have found real value in the opportunities we provide for rich conversation and deep thinking throughout an extended period of study.”
To generate the rankings, BusinessWeek identified finalists from among more than 300 programs and surveyed students who were preparing to graduate. It also considered the impact their M.B.A.s had on their salaries, the importance of the degree in achieving their goals, and a variety of measures of academic quality.
“We share these accolades with the business community of central Virginia,” says Dr. Jorge Haddock, dean of the Robins School. “We’re proud of the relationships we’ve built with the area’s best employers, who have strengthened the Robins School in so many ways.”
Books
Strategic Leadership
Chancellor Richard Morrill, president of UR from 1988–98, has written a book about strategy and leadership in higher education.
The book is “a must-read for presidents, aspiring presidents, senior institutional leaders, board members, and for students of higher education,” says Dr. Thomas Longin, executive editor of Planning for Higher Education.
“For some time now, strategy has been seen as one of the major disciplines of management,” says Morrill, who served as president of Centre College and Salem College before coming to Richmond. “I make the claim that it also can be practiced as a systematic process … hence the term ‘strategic leadership.’”
More faculty books
Creating Global Business Leaders: Business Education at the Intersection of Innovation, Technology, and Globalization (2007). Dr. Jorge Haddock, dean of the Robins School of Business. A harbinger of unparalleled challenges and opportunities for business schools and corporations.
In the Unlikely Event of a Water (2007). Brian Henry, associate professor of English and creative writing. Poems that deal with human interaction—compassion, love, and language—in a “surveillance society.”
Managing for Stakeholders: Survival, Reputation, and Success (2007). Dr. Edward Freeman, Dr. Andrew Wicks, and Dr. Jeffrey Harrison, professor of management. Ten concrete principles and seven practical techniques for managing stakeholder relationships.
A New Generation in International Strategic Management (2007). Dr. Stephen Tallman (editor), professor of management. Emerging scholars provide fresh perspectives on international business strategies.
New Deal Theater: The Vernacular Tradition in American Political Theater (2007). Dr. Ilka Saal, assistant professor of English. How American political theater appealed to a broader audience by employing the everyday language of ordinary people.
The Values of Presidential Leadership (2007). Dr. Terry Price, associate professor of leadership studies, and Dr. Thomas Wren, associate professor of leadership studies. (editors). Presidential scholars from communication, history, law, philosophy, political science, and psychology explore the broader phenomenon of leadership.
Culture
Lora Robins Gallery shows delectable art
Contemporary artist Sue Johnson illuminates the intersection of food, marketing, and mass production in “Eating Wonderland” on display at the Lora Robins Gallery of Design From Nature through June 15.
UR’s Aquaman
Dr. Christopher Stevenson, associate professor of chemistry, set three world records in the 40–44 age group at the Virginia Masters swim meet in December. He set backstroke records for 50, 100, and 200 meters.
Stevenson started swimming when he was 6 and competing when he was 8. He attended the University of North Carolina on a swimming scholarship. During his junior and senior years, he won all-American honors, and he was named the most outstanding swimmer in the Atlantic Coast Conference in his senior year.
While in college, Stevenson competed for Greece at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. “My mom is Greek, and I lived in Greece for three years,” he explains. “I could compete because of my Greek heritage.” He placed 12th in the 100-meter butterfly.
Stevenson joined the Florida Masters Swim Team while attending graduate school at the University of Florida. He became a member of the Virginia Masters Swim Team after joining Richmond’s faculty in 1993. Masters swimming is organized by U.S. Masters Swimming, a nonprofit organization with more than 42,000 members.
“Chris’s swimming has been impressive,” says Matt Barany, Richmond’s swimming coach. “His fitness level is incredible, yet the thing that the current Richmond swimmers and I respect about Chris’s swimming is that he recognizes his strengths and continues to work on them. Even the best swimmers can fear working hard underwater because there isn’t air down there. Chris is like a dolphin when he is underwater.”
Brian Bortell, who bikes and swims with Stevenson, agrees with Barany’s underwater analysis. “Chris has an amazing ability to swim underwater by just kicking. In fact, he can kick 50 yards faster than most competitive swimmers can swim it.”
“Chris is a pool rat,” Bortell adds. “He can’t get enough of it. He’s more comfortable in the water than he is on dry land.”
The exhibit features paintings, collages, and ceramic castings of dinnerware and popular foodstuffs. It also includes “Incredible Edibles,” ceramic castings of nostalgic objects and figures related to eating, such as the Pillsbury Doughboy and Sprout, the young companion of the Jolly Green Giant.
“Eating Wonderland” was curated by Elizabeth Schlatter, deputy director and curator of exhibitions for University Museums, with assistance from the artist.
Grammy nominators tap UR ensemble
“Strange Imaginary Animals,” a CD by ensemble-in-residence eighth blackbird, has generated Grammy Award nominations for best chamber music performance, classical contemporary composition, and classical producer of the year.
The sextet earned one of five nominations for best chamber music performance for the entire CD. Composer Jennifer Higdon received the classical contemporary composition nomination for “Zaka,” one of the CD’s six tracks. And Judith Sherman was nominated for classical producer of the year for “Strange Imaginary Animals” and four other CDs.
The group takes its name from the eighth stanza of Wallace Stevens’ poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” The group organized in 1996 while its members were students at Oberlin Conservatory. They became UR’s ensemble-in-residence in 2005.
Afro-funk fusion hits Camp Concert Hall
Five-time Grammy nominee Angélique Kidjo will bring her “rhythmic Afro-funk fusion” to Camp Concert Hall on March 28.
Born in the West African nation of Benin, Kidjo started singing professionally at age six. She moved to Paris to escape political turmoil and is currently based in New York. Her latest release, “Djin Djin,” was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of best contemporary world album.
For more information about Kidjo’s upcoming performance and other Modlin Center events, visit modlin.richmond.edu.
Faculty
Hoyle named Virginia’s Professor of
the Year
Joe Hoyle, associate professor of accounting in the Robins School of Business, has been selected the Virginia winner in the U.S. Professors of the Year competition, sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
Hoyle was selected for the honor from more than 300 top professors in the country, nominated by their colleges and universities. Winners were chosen from 40 states and the District of Columbia.
Donors
Honor Roll update
The winter issue of Richmond Alumni Magazine mistakenly omitted the names of 31 contributors in its “Honor Roll of Donors.”
The list of donors from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, should have included the following alumni: Deborah Gruhler Harris, W’80, Andrea Keane-Myers, W’91, Trevor P. Myers, R’91, W. Joseph Owen III, B’72, Ralph M. Reahard IV, ’04, John Dale Terry, B’67, Carlton M. Yowell, B’76, and Joel Byrd Yowell, R’49, (deceased).
The honor roll should have including the following parents of current students—Dr. and Mrs. Michael A. Englert and Mr. and Mrs. Gary R. Hosking—and the following parents of alumni: Ms. Rebecca S. Breed, Mr. and Mrs. Alexander J. Capps Sr., Dr. Larry S. Cohen and Dr. Jayne Cohen, Mr. Marty P. Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Curtis, Mr. and Mrs. James J. Hawk, and Mrs. Alvin Lee Sheffield.
The list also should have included the following friends of the University: Ms. Roberta Cha, Ms. Janis Pannepacker, Dr. and Mrs. Christian H. Sachs, Ms. Joan Todd, and Mr. and Mrs. John M. Vittone II.
Finally, the honor roll should have included Dr. Richard A. Mateer, the former dean of Richmond College.
“We apologize for these omissions,” says Molly Dean Bittner, the University’s assistant vice president for advancement. “Each donor is important to us, and we want to take every opportunity to thank them for their gifts.”
