VCU Announces its Alumni Stars Awards

By Tom Gresham

Virginia Commonwealth University will recognize 14 of its most accomplished alumni as recipients of the 2008 VCU Alumni Stars awards at the spring commencement ceremony this week.

The Alumni Stars program, which is sponsored by the VCU Alumni Association and the MCV Alumni Association of VCU, recognizes outstanding graduates who have made significant contributions in the areas of humanitarian achievement, professional achievement, community service and university service. Honorees are selected through faculty recommendations and alumni committees from across the university.

The 2008 VCU Alumni Stars are:

• Golden Bethune-Hill, School of Nursing, (Newport News) executive vice president and administrator of Riverside Regional Medical Center

• Mark Crabtree, D.D.S., School of Dentistry, (Martinsville) a private dentist active in public service, including stints on the Virginia Board of Health Professions and the Virginia Board of Dentistry

• John Cragin, School of Social Work, (Brookline, Mass.) senior director of Commonwealth Care, a state-subsidized insurance program in Massachusetts for the previously uninsured

• Donwan Harrell, School of the Arts, (New York) president and creative director of Kemistre 8, a multimillion-dollar fashion conglomerate 

• Sheila Hill-Christian, College of Humanities and Sciences, (Richmond) chief administrative officer for the city of Richmond

• Steven Offenbacher, D.D.S, Ph.D., School of Medicine, (Chapel Hill, N.C.) professor in the Department of Periodontics at the University of North Carolina School of Dentistry and director of the Center for Oral and Systemic Diseases

• Mary Perkinson, School of Engineering, (Newport News) value stream leader in crane engineering at Northrop Grumman

• Jonathan Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., School of Medicine, (Nashville, Tenn.) chief medical officer and president of the clinical services group of Hospital Corporation of America

• Mark Raper, School of Mass Communications, (Richmond) chairman and CEO of CRT/tanaka, an independent public relations firm

• Catherine Saunders, School of Allied Health Professions, (Richmond) real estate agent and professional gerontologist whose public service includes a past term as president of the Greater Richmond Alzheimer's Association

• Thomas Silvestri, School of Business, (Richmond) publisher of the Richmond Times-Dispatch

• Patricia Slattum, Pharm.D., Ph.D., School of Pharmacy, (Richmond) associate professor and vice chair for graduate studies in the VCU Department of Pharmacy

• Representative Robert Wittman, Ph.D., L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, (Montross) represents Virginia's 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives

• Patricia Wright, Ph.D., School of Education, (Richmond) chief deputy superintendent of public instruction in the Virginia Department of Education

VCU's spring commencement is scheduled for 10 a.m. on May 17 in the Richmond Coliseum.