VCU names honorary chair of its Veterans Scholarship Fund

Edward L. Flippen will assist the Office of Development and Alumni Relations to coordinate fundraising efforts

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Ed Flippen

Edward. L. Flippen has been named honorary chair of the Virginia Commonwealth University Veterans Scholarship Fund, awarded annually for meritorious service to VCU student veterans.

Flippen served on the VCU Board of Visitors from 1994-2002 and was rector of the university from 2000-02. He served in the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division from 1958-61 before entering VCU School of Business and graduating in 1965. He holds an M.B.A. and a law degree from the College of William & Mary.

“It is an honor to once again serve VCU,” Flippen said. “I am eager to help with the university’s efforts to assist our veterans.”

In 2004, Flippen and his wife, Pearcy, established a scholarship in the VCU Honors College that was renamed the VCU Veterans Scholarship in 2014. The scholarship is open to veterans with one year of active duty who are enrolled at VCU. Children and grandchildren of veterans also are eligible.

Flippen will assist Jay E. Davenport, vice president for development and alumni relations, and Alexandra McDougall, capital campaign manager, in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations to coordinate fundraising efforts and communications.

“Ed’s service to his country and this university are exemplary,” Davenport said. “We are grateful and fortunate that he is combining those two passions for the benefit of our VCU student veterans. I look forward to partnering with Ed to increase this fund and provide more financial assistance to our students.”

According to the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, more than 2.9 million veterans of the post-9/11 generation have entered higher education after service. The majority are first-generation college students (62 percent), married (47 percent versus 37 percent for nonveteran peers) and a parent (58 percent). Financial responsibilities not covered by the GI Bill often weigh on student veterans, who tend to be older than their classmates and are more likely to be juggling college with families, jobs or service-related disabilities.

Flippen, a Richmond native, retired as a partner at the McGuireWoods law firm. His law career spanned more than 40 years. He has taught at more than a dozen colleges and universities, including the University of Virginia, Duke University and the College of William & Mary, where he served on the board of visitors from 2010-14. He currently serves as a visiting senior research fellow in law at Queen Mary University of London.