VCU Welcomes New Board Members

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley
Division of University Relations

New members of the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors begin their four-year terms today following appointments by Gov. Bob McDonnell.

The new VCU Board of Visitors members are:

• Thomas F. Farrell, II, chairman, president, and CEO of Dominion. Farrell is chair of the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education Reform and served previously as rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. Farrell also is a trustee of the VCU School of Engineering Foundation.

• William Royall, Jr., a VCU alumnus, co-founded and serves as chairman of Royall & Company. Royall has been an adviser to the VCU Interactive Marketing Institute and is a former member of the George Mason University board.

• Sudhakar Shenoy is founder, chairman, and CEO of IMC, Inc. and recently was named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in the Washington, D.C., high-tech industry. He is founding co-chair of the Indian American Republican Council and previously served on the George Mason University board.

• Jacquelyn Stone, partner at McGuireWoods, LLC, is chair of the firm’s hiring committee and serves on the firm’s diversity committee. She also has served on several boards, including the Science Museum of Virginia and the State Council of Higher Education.

“I am pleased to welcome such high caliber board members to VCU and I look forward to working with them to advance VCU’s mission as the top urban, public research university,” said VCU President Michael Rao. “They join us at an opportune time as VCU launches a new strategic plan focused on academic quality and student success.”

Rao also expressed gratitude for the service of board members whose terms expired at the end of June:  Rector Anne J. G. “Panny” Rhodes, Carol S. Shapiro, Richard T. Robertson and Maurice A. Jones.