Members of the Board: 04-11-2003

Members of the Board

Thomas A. Saunders III

A Norfolk native, Saunders, 66, lives in New York City and Locust Valley, N.Y. A founding partner in Saunders, Karp & Megrue, an equity firm, he received his bachelor’s degree from the Virginia Military Institute in 1958 and an MBA from the Darden School in 1967. He has been on the Board of Visitors at V.M.I., is chairman of the board of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, and was co-chairman of U.Va.’s recent capital campaign.

His memories of the University focus on the camaraderie of the study group members at Darden, which he said is a great place to learn teamwork.

As a board member, he said the University has to look at raising “the lifeblood of capital” to invest in faculty and facilities to become one of the top schools in the country.

For relaxation, he bicycles competitively.

He was appointed in 2001.

Susan Y. “Syd” Dorsey

Dorsey, 42, received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from U.Va. in 1982 and an MBA at Darden in 1987. She is the worldwide marketing manager for state and local government at IBM Corp.’s Richmond office. She is on the Alumni Association’s Board of Managers, a director of the Walter N. Ridley Scholarship Fund, on the selection committee for the Jefferson Scholars and Jerome Holland Scholarships, past board member of the Alumni Association’s Richmond chapter, and director of Virginia High-Tech Partnership, linking high-tech employers with students from historically black colleges.

She remembers discovering she could draw while sitting on the Lawn sketching a pavilion during art class. She still has the drawing. As a board member, she wants the benefits of U.Va.’s high standards for the widest range of qualified applicants.
She plays golf and tennis and is an avid gardener.
She was appointed in 2003.

Warren M. Thompson

Thompson, 43, of Herndon, was raised in Southside, Virginia, received a bachelor’s degree from Hampden-Sydney College in 1981 and an MBA from the Darden School in 1983. He is chairman, president and chief executive officer of Thompson Hospitality, one of the nation’s largest black-owned businesses, operating restaurants and food service companies. Thompson is on the advisory board of the Darden School.

Thompson remembers having his entire family together for his Darden graduation. His father was denied admission to U.Va. but sent all three of his children there. That sense of achievement “parallels with the first day I walked up to the Rotunda for my first board meeting,” Thompson said.

He has a passion for addressing diversity issues. “Given the current situation, I think my timing is perfect,” he said.

Thompson relaxes by playing basketball and boating.

He was appointed in 2002.

Mark J. Kington

A native of Oak Ridge, Tenn., Kington, 44, of Alexandria, received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 1981and an MBA at the Darden School in 1988. Kington is a founding partner of Columbia Capital LLC, an equity firm focusing on communications and information technology, chairman of the Kington Management Corp., an investment and management services company and president of Black Crow PCS Inc. and Y-12 Wireless LP, both wireless telephone services. He also is director of the Kington Foundation.

Kington remembers the fellowship among Darden students and the lasting friendships he made there. As a board member, he wants U.Va. to be a pre-eminent school, competing with all universities, not just the public ones. A devotee of history, he is interested in preservation of landmarks on Grounds. “We need to be good stewards,” he said.

Kington relaxes by spending time outdoors with his family.
He was appointed in 2002.

William G. Crutchfield Jr.

A Charlottesville native, Crutchfield, 60, received a bachelor’s degree from the McIntire School of Commerce in 1965. After serving in the military, he founded in 1974 the Crutchfield Corp., a mail-order consumer electronics retailer. He has been chairman of the McIntire School of Commerce Alumni Advisory Board and served on the board of the Health Services Foundation. He has also been a visiting lecturer at the Darden and McIntire schools.

He focuses his efforts on the University’s College at Wise and on ensuring that future building programs at U.Va. are compatible with Jefferson’s architectural designs. He also is eager to press for improvements at the Medical Center and medical school.

The son of U.Va. neurosurgery professor William Gayle Crutchfield, who was on the faculty from 1941-71, Crutchfield said memories of U.Va. span his entire life.
His hobbies include skiing, boating, flying his own airplane and restoring cars and houses.

He was appointed in 1997.

William H. Goodwin Jr.

A native of Richmond, Goodwin, 62, received his undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech, followed by two years’ service in the Army. He graduated from the Darden School with an MBA in 1966. After graduating, he worked for IBM Corp. designing and installing computer systems, which led to his first company leasing computers. From there he bought sections of AMF Corp., made it profitable and later sold for more than $1 billion. He is an investor in and chairman of CCA Industries Inc., a holding company for a variety of businesses.

He is chairman of the board of the University’s Investment Management Co., which oversees investment of the University’s endowment.

For hobbies, he plays golf, hunts and fishes.

He was appointed to the board in 1996.

Donald R. Pippin

A resident of Norton, where he practices law, Pippin, 64, received a bachelor’s degree in 1960 from Clinch Valley College, now U.Va.’s College at Wise, and went on to graduate from the U.Va. School of Law in 1963. He has served as chairman of the College at Wise’s advisory board and said he would like to enhance the relationship between U.Va. and its campus in Wise. “The state has estimated that there are 32,000 students in the pipeline, and I think the College at Wise is well situated to handle them and assist U.Va. with this challenge,” he said.

Among Pippin’s favorite memories of U.Va. are those of clerking and reading for T. Mumford Boyd, a blind law professor at the Law School.
To relax, Pippin said he walks and reads history.

He was appointed in 2002.

L.F. Payne Jr.

Payne, 57, of Nelson County is chief executive officer of McGuire Woods Consulting and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1988-97. Payne received an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Virginia Military Institute in 1967 and an MBA from the Darden School in 1973. He has served as chairman of the board of Wintergreen Development Inc., as a member of the board of directors of the George C. Marshall Foundation and is a former member of the U.Va. Foundation Board.

Payne remembers the camaraderie of his study group at Darden and has fond memories serving in the Army Reserve in Charlottesville, where his commanding officer was Leonard Sandridge, now U.Va.’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Payne said he wants to work with the other board members to enhance U.Va.’s reputation as Virginia’s premier educational institution.

To relax, he fly-fishes, skis and runs.

He was appointed in 2003.

Terence P. Ross

Ross, 44, of Washington, is a partner in the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He graduated in 1980 from Stanford University and in 1983, from the U.Va. School of Law, where he was research editor and a member of the managing board of the Virginia Law Review.

He remembers fondly the North Grounds Softball League, where he played his favorite season with a team called Johnny Vomit and the Leather Scabs, which he said was an effort to bring punk rock edge to the softball diamond.

“We did not win many games, but we intimidated the heck out of opposing teams,” he said.

Ross still plays softball, golf, coaches a Little League team and reads history.
On the board he has focused on administrative accountability, tuition control, educational quality delivered for the cost paid and assisting Law Dean John C. Jeffries Jr. create an income-based loan forgiveness program.

He was appointed in 1997.

Charles L. Glazer

Glazer, 59, is president and chief executive officer of C.L.Glazer & Co. Inc., a brokerage and investment banking firm in Greenwich, Conn. Glazer received a bachelor’s degree from the McIntire School of Commerce in 1965. He played freshman basketball and varsity football, where he formed lasting friendships with teammates, including current U.Va. football coach Al Groh.

Glazer wants to attract world-class faculty to the University and Medical Center.

“The students, of course, are our most valuable asset,” he said. “Their fresh approach to learning and intellectual curiosity never cease to amaze me.”
Glazer avidly follows U.Va. sports teams, noting that 80 percent of U.Va.’s athletes graduate. “Our coaches are a special group. Not only do they coach, but they teach and mentor as well,” he said.

Two of Glazer’s children attend U.Va., and a third is in high school.
He was appointed in 2000.

Thomas J. Bliley Jr.

A Chesterfield County native, Bliley, 71, earned his bachelor of arts degree in history from Georgetown University and served three years in the Navy, rising to the rank of lieutenant. He is a 20-year veteran of the House of Representatives, from 1980 to 2000, a former mayor of Richmond and former president of the Joseph W. Bliley Funeral Homes Inc. Bliley received the Beta Gamma Sigma Leadership Award from the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business.

While serving in the House of Representatives, Bliley said he was frequently invited to speak to Larry Sabato’s class on politics. “I thoroughly enjoyed the repartee with the students,” he said.

Bliley said as a board member he wants to help the Medical Center, improve the University’s relations with Congress and to assist in getting grants. Bliley enjoys playing tennis and sailing.
He was appointed in 2000.

Georgia M. Willis

Willis, 50, of Ruther Glen, is senior vice president of Virginia Heartland Bank. Willis earned an undergraduate degree from the McIntire School of Commerce in 1983 and was the first woman to receive the McIntire Award. A director and charter member of the University’s McIntire School of Commerce Cornerstone Society, she also serves as president of the board of the Germanna Community College Foundation and is a former member of the board of directors of Shenandoah University’s Harry F. Byrd Jr. School of Business. She founded the Skyline chapter of the Alumni Association in 1991 and is a member of the Raven Society. Willis is youth-oriented because she believes young people represent the future. “It is our responsibility to teach them from our experience and lives, and to assist in their growth,” she said.

Willis’ memories of U.Va. center around the challenges of teamwork and the camaraderie at the McIntire School. “It was a tremendous growth experience,” she said.

Her hobbies include playing the piano, gardening and cooking.

She was appointed in 2003.

John O. “Dubby” Wynne

Wynne, 57, is retired president and chief executive officer of Landmark Communications, Inc. of Norfolk. He received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton in 1967 and his Juris Doctor from the U.Va. School of Law in 1971. A resident of Virginia Beach, he is a member of Landmark’s board and has served on the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the Executive Committee for the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. He is a member of the U.Va. Alumni Association’s board of managers and former co-chairman of Leadership Giving for the $1.1 billion anniversary Campaign for Princeton University. He also serves on the Princeton Board of Trustees.

Wynne said he has wonderful memories of Clark Hall, the Grounds and the quality of the law faculty. “The Law School was a very stimulating environment,” he said.
For hobbies, Wynne reads and exercises.

He was appointed in 2003.

E. Darracott Vaughan Jr.

Vaughan, 63, is chairman emeritus, Department of Urology at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, urologist-in-chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital and attending surgeon in the Division of Urology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Vaughan received his bachelor’s degree from Washington & Lee University in 1961 and his M.D. from the U.Va. Medical School in 1965, joining the faculty in 1971. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1978.

Vaughan is past president of the American Urological Association, the American Board of Urology and president emeritus of the American Foundation for Urologic Disease.

Vaughan remembers U.Va.’s School of Medical as small enough for real communication and camaraderie. Vaughan wants to keep the board informed about the Medical Center and to provide a broader insight into health-care issues.

To relax, Vaughan windsurfs, sails, kayaks, cross-country skis and snowshoes.

He was appointed in 2002.

John Rocco MacMillan Rodney

Student board member Rodney, 21, a chemistry major from Memphis, Tenn., has been active as an Honor Counsel, a Madison House tutor at Charlottesville High School, assistant varsity wrestling coach at Covenant High School, secretary of Delta Kappa Epsilon and a member of the Virginia Society for the Recruitment of Special Scholars.

He has done research at the Medical Center’s Surgical Oncology Lab as part of a team seeking more effective chemotherapy. He is a Jefferson Scholar, an Echols Scholar and a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

As the student member, he wants to share and relate the experiences of current students to the larger issues on the agenda. He hopes to address communications between black and white organizations on Grounds, the state of the Greek system and allocating scarce resources.

His hobbies include hunting, fishing and reading.

He was appointed in 2003.