VCU’s Wilder School Announces “Excellence in Virginia Government” Awards

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs will honor individuals and organizations in six categories for distinctive contributions to the practice of government and to the well being of Virginia’s communities.

The awards will be presented during the Fifth Annual Excellence in Virginia Government Awards ceremony on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, from noon to 2 p.m. at the Greater Richmond Convention Center.

The following awards will be presented for significant contributions to the commonwealth through public service:

The 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented jointly to four Virginia university presidents, each of whom has either retired this year or will do so at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year.

•    John Casteen became president of the University of Virginia in 1990 and oversaw a major restructuring of university administration and governance and one of the largest capital campaigns ever undertaken. He also directed major academic improvements and expansions of the university’s facilities.

•    Patricia Cormier is in her 14th year as president of Longwood University, having served in higher education for more than 40 years. She has overseen a $300 million construction program and developed a new nursing program that began this fall.

•    Eddie N. Moore, Jr. became the 12th president of Virginia State University in 1993. During Moore’s tenure, the university has increased the number of honors students, renovated residence halls and other campus buildings and completed its first multi-million dollar capital campaign.

•    Eugene P. Trani retired on June 30 after nearly two decades of serving as president of VCU. Under Trani’s leadership, VCU expanded academically and physically on both campuses and became the largest university in Virginia in 2006. Campus expansion led to a public-private sector partnership to redevelop Broad Street.  Another initiative joined the schools of business and engineering to foster interdisciplinary teaching, research and public service.

The Public-Private Partnership Award will be presented to the Piedmont Virginia Dental Health Foundation and Mark A. Crabtree, D.D.S., president, Piedmont Virginia Dental Health Foundation; Gordon Green, M.D., director, West Piedmont Health District, Virginia Department of Health; Kim Isringhausen, director of Preceptorship Programs, VCU School of Dentistry; Kathy Lawson, mayor, City of Martinsville; and Paul B. Toms, Jr., president, Harvest Foundation, and chairman and CEO of Hooker Furniture.  The award recognizes the successful and innovative partnership that created the Piedmont Virginia Dental Health Foundation’s Clinic, which has provided more than $1 million worth of dental services since it opened in August 2006.

The Community Enhancement Award will be presented to LEAD VIRGINIA and accepted by Susan B. Horne, president and CEO. LEAD VIRGINIA is a non-partisan, statewide leadership organization with an annual seven-session educational program designed for senior-level executives from public and private businesses and government agencies.  Each program class learns about regional differences and state needs and discusses their perspectives.

The Innovation in Government Award will be presented to the Council on Virginia’s Future and will be accepted by Jane Kusiak, executive director, and John O. Wynne, vice chairman. The Council on Virginia’s Future was established by the 2003 General Assembly to promote positive change by providing a forum in which private and public sector leaders can come together for deliberations that transcend election cycles, partisanship, limited organizational boundaries and short-term thinking. The council developed a performance leadership program called Virginia Performs and an accountability system to promote efficiency and effectiveness in state government. 

The Unsung Hero Award will be presented to Randal E. “Randy” Arno, director, Weldon Cooper Center, Southside Office, Danville, Va. Arno opened the Cooper Center’s Southside office in 1995 to serve as a public policy and practices resource for local and regional leaders. The office initiates, develops and implements programs to support the region and its legislative delegation. Arno has been involved in key programs, including the Workforce Investment Act, the Southside Virginia Tourism Authority, the Roanoke River Basin Commission, the Institute of Advanced Learning and Research, the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center and the New College Initiative. 

The Hill-Robinson Expansion of Freedom Award will be presented to Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D- 16th.  Marsh has labored in the civil rights movement for more than 40 years. Marsh began his legal career in 1961 with the firm of Hill, Tucker and Marsh and immediately enlisted in the fight against the policy of “Massive Resistance,” Virginia’s response to the Brown v. Board of Education court decision. Over the next two decades, Marsh handled more than 50 desegregation cases against Virginia school boards and also has been involved in some of the most important civil rights cases in Virginia and the United States. Marsh was the first African-American mayor of the City of Richmond and was elected to the Virginia State senate in 1991.