VCU announces new alumni organization, selection of W. Baxter Perkinson Jr. as president

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University has announced the creation of a new VCU Alumni organization to better engage and support alumni.

VCU Alumni will serve as an umbrella organization for all university alumni, who can then customize their connection to the university by choosing to affiliate with academic-based groups, geographic-based groups or shared interest-based groups.

Alumni groups such as the MCV Alumni Association of VCU, the RPI Alumni Council and others at the college, school or department level will continue to operate and are available as affiliation selections.

"We are very pleased and excited to be implementing a new model that puts alumni in charge of their relationship with their alma mater through VCU Alumni,” said Gordon A. McDougall, associate vice president for university alumni relations and Life member of the VCU Alumni.
“All of the alumni constituent organizations under the VCU Alumni umbrella will be focused on increasing alumni outreach and engagement.”

W. Baxter Perkinson Jr., D.D.S., is VCU Alumni’s first president and presided over the first meeting of the new organization’s board of governors on Oct. 26. Perkinson is a 1970 graduate of the VCU School of Dentistry. He and his wife, Elaine, are Life members of VCU Alumni.

“I share a vision of VCU as a premier urban research university with collaboration between all students and faculty at all levels,” Perkinson said. “We are that university now, and it's time for us to have this universitywide, totally encompassing alumni organization. I am looking forward to working with the many other alumni leaders to make our shared vision a true reality with growth and success."

A longtime supporter of his alma mater, Perkinson has served as vice chairman of the VCU Health System Authority Board of Directors, as rector and member of the VCU Board of Visitors, as a member of the School of Dentistry's Advisory Board and as a member of the Medical College of Virginia Foundation Board of Trustees. He has provided significant financial support for the School of Dentistry, student-athlete scholarships and the VCU Inger and Walter Rice Center for Environmental Life Sciences.

“Baxter's 56 years of affiliation and passion for the university and its mission are unmatched and his leadership and enthusiasm is legendary," McDougall said.

VCU has more than 172,000 alumni living across the United States and beyond. To find out more or to join VCU Alumni, visit https://www.vcualumni.org/ or call (804) 828.2586.