94-06-10 U.Va. Board of Visitors Establishes Professorships, Names Building

U.VA. BOARD OF VISITORS ESTABLISHES PROFESSORSHIPS, NAMES BUILDING

     CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 10 -- The University of Virginia's
Board of Visitors established two new endowed professorships and
gave a new name to the math-astronomy building during its meeting
here today.
     The Robert P. Black Research Professorship in the department
of economics honors Black, who retired as president of the Federal
Reserve Bank of Richmond in January 1993.  The professorship will
support the teaching of monetary economics at U.Va., where Black
received bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.  Black served
on the advisory board of U.Va.'s Center for Advanced Studies from
1986 to 1994.
     The Maxine S. and Jesse W. Beams Professorship in Physics is
the second chair in the physics department to be given the Beams
name.  Jesse Wakefield Beams, a member of the U.Va. faculty from
1928 to 1969, invented the ultracentrifuge, which played a crucial
role in the development of the atomic bomb and also contributed
toward solving biological and medical problems involving viruses,
hormones and enzymes.  Beams also aided in the development of
guided missiles, for which the United States Navy awarded him
distinguished service certificates.  He was a member of the
National Academy of Sciences and received the 1968 National Science
Medal, in addition to numerous other honors.  He died in 1977.  The
bequest by his wife will supplement the University's Eminent
Scholars Endowment Fund, which is intended to attract and retain
outstanding professors for the University.

     In other business, the Board named the math-astronomy building
for William J. Kerchof, the son of immigrants from Bohemia. 
Kerchof had a long career in the trucking industry beginning in the
1920's.  Over the next 40 years, he established a reputation as one
of the country's most knowledgeable sources on truck part
interchangeability and availability.  Without the advantage of
modern computerized inventories, Kerchof, who died in 1982, enabled
hundreds of transportation operators to keep their vehicles on the
road.
     His daughter, Jane C. Albach of Richmond, and son, William C.
Kerchof of Pinehurst, N.C., honored their father's devotion to
education at the University attended by two grandsons, W. Braden
Kerchof, '77, and Douglas R. Albach, '82.
                               ###
                                                    June 10, 1994

 

Karen A. Castle
University News Office
kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu
(804) 924-7116


[Submitted by: Karen A. Castle  (kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu)
               Wed, 15 Jun 94 14:07:27 EDT]