April 4, 2003 -- The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors elected Richmond attorney Gordon F. Rainey Jr. its 37th rector Thursday.

Rainey was elected to succeed John P. "Jack" Ackerly III. Thomas F. Farrell II, chief executive officer of Dominion Energy Inc., was elected vice rector, a position created by the board earlier this year.

Rainey, 62, is chairman of Hunton & Williams, a Richmond-based law firm. Reared in Oklahoma, he received his bachelor’s degree from U.Va.’s College of Arts & Sciences in 1962. After serving in the Army, including a year in Korea, he returned to U.Va. to attend the School of Law, graduating in 1967. He was appointed to the Board of Visitors in 2000.

Past president of the U.Va. Alumni Association, Rainey has served on a number of boards and commissions, including as a trustee for the Law School Foundation, a trustee for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Board of Trustees and general counsel of the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges and trustee for both the Richmond Historic Riverfront Foundation and the Richmond Memorial Foundation. He also served on Gov. Jim Gilmore’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education.

Regarding the direction of U.Va.’s Board of Visitors, Rainey said, "The board should be primarily focused on the future of the University, so I will be emphasizing the importance of board focus on planning and policy issues."

As rector, a position held by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Rainey hopes to approach issues in a way that engages the members and uses their time efficiently.

Farrell, also a Richmond resident, received his undergraduate degree from U.Va.’s College of Arts & Sciences in 1976 and a law degree in 1979. While at the College, he received the Peter Gray Award, now known as the Gray-Carrington Award and among the most prestigious honors given undergraduates.

Appointed to the U.Va. Board of Visitors in 2001, Farrell has been a member of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.