New board members tapped

Staff report

Gov. Mark R. Warner announced four new appointments to the U.Va. Board of
Visitors April 11, bypassing all three Gilmore-era board members who were eligible for reappointment.

The new members were the first to be recommended by the new Governor’s Advisory Commission on Higher Education Board Appointments, which Warner established in February to review potential candidates for higher education board appointments “based on merit, experience, sound judgment and proven leadership,” according to the press release announcing Warner’s selections.

“The individuals I have selected for these boards have demonstrated their commitment to higher education through active support of their alma maters,” Warner said. “These appointees also share my commitment to ensuring a system of quality higher education is available to all Virginians. I appreciate their willingness to offer themselves for public service.”

The new appointees, all University alumni, are:

• Mark J. Kington of Alexandria, who holds an M.B.A. from the Darden School. The president of Kington Management Corp., he is chair of Darden’s Progressive Incubator Visiting Committee and a member of the Arts Council and Rotunda Society. Kington also is a member of the National Gallery of Art trustees council and a trustee of the National Public Radio Foundation.

• Don R. Pippin of Wise, who graduated from the University’s College at Wise in 1960 and the Law School in 1963. A semi-retired lawyer, Pippin is a former Norton city attorney and served on the city’s school board. Pippin has served on the Wise College Board and executive committee. He has been active in the Alumni Association, and The Lawn, Cornerstone and Rotunda societies.

• Warren M. Thompson of Herndon, who holds an M.B.A. from the Darden School and served eight years on its board. He’s president and CEO of Thompson Hospitality Corporation, Inc., one of the nation’s largest minority-owned businesses, employing more than 2,000 people and operating in 33 states. Thompson becomes the board’s second African-American member, joining Elsie Goodwyn Holland.

• Edwin Vaughan Jr. of New York, who is a 1961 graduate of Washington and Lee University, earned a medical degree from U.Va. in 1965. He served on the University’s Medical School faculty from 1973 to 1978, and currently is chair emeritus of the urology department at Weill Cornell University Medical Center. He is a former president of the American Board of Urology.

In selecting four new Board of Visitors members, Warner, a Democrat in his fourth month in office, passed over three former members, appointed by former Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore, who were eligible for a second four-year term: Benjamin P.A. Warthen of Richmond, Joseph E. Wolfe of Norton and Timothy B. Robertson of Virginia Beach.

Charles M. Caravati Jr. of Manakin-Sabot, who had been the board’s only physician, completed his second term and was not eligible for reappointment.
The U.Va. appointments were among a series of selections to the boards of several Virginia colleges and universities, and one appointment to the board that oversees the Virginia Community College System, that Warner announced last Thursday. The College of William & Mary and Christopher Newport University each received two new members, and Old Dominion University added one.