Anna Lou Schaberg (B.S.’66, M.Ed.’70) worked for Richmond Public Schools for 29 years, notably coordinating programs for gifted students from 1977 to 2000. After her retirement in 2000, Schaberg served as executive director of The Bob and Anna Lou Schaberg Fund at...

Burt Adelman, M.D., and Thomas F. Huff, Ph.D., met as medical faculty members in the 1980s and remained close friends until Huff’s death in 2015. That same year, Adelman and his wife, Lydia Rogers, contributed $72,000 of the initial $100,000 in gifts that established...

In 1984, Harry and Marcia Thalhimer established the Charles G. Thalhimer Family Endowed Scholarship with a $250,000 gift to honor Harry’s father, Charles. The scholarship is awarded annually to two top-performing students, one undergraduate and one master’s student,...

A longtime businessman and philanthropist, C. Kenneth Wright helped build today’s Virginia Commonwealth University through his significant contributions. As a young man, Wright washed cars for a local automobile rental business. After serving in World War II in the...

Dr. Craig Sirles, BA ‘75/H&S, is a self-described “dedicated and serious student of words” so it is no surprise that his love of language and writing led him to be a student in the Department of English in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences. His studies put...

Dabney (B.S.’75) and Joseph (B.F.A.’76) Cortina hit it off instantly when a friend introduced them at Virginia Commonwealth University almost 50 years ago. They’ve been married for more than 40 of those years. “VCU has always played an important role in our lives,...

Bestselling novelist and Virginia Commonwealth University alumnus David Baldacci along with his wife, Michelle, generously established two scholarship awards in the College of Humanities and Sciences with a $1.1 million gift — one that provides experiential learning...

Debbie House (M.T.’94) considers Virginia Commonwealth University a special place. It’s where she trained to be a teacher, and Richmond is where she met her husband, Todd. In 2013, Debbie gave $1,000 to the VCU School of Education’s Annual Fund to support the master...

Domenic Sica, M.D. (M.D.’75, H.S.’78) served as chairman of VCU Health’s Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Hypertension and a professor of medicine and pharmacology at VCU from 1981 to 2022, when he retired. Sica has always been a staunch supporter of the School...

Dorothy Fillmore earned her master’s in English/English Education at VCU in 1984, and worked as an adjunct faculty member in the department from 1984-1986. Soon after, she began her 35-year career in academic advising and administration at VCU, connecting with and...

In 2023, Elise Blankenship, Ed.D., a retired associate professor in the VCU School of Education, pledged a $1.75 million estate gift to provide scholarships for full-time upper-level and graduate students in the school. Blankenship’s pledge will be added to the Jean...

Eric Witzig (M.S.’95/GPA) walked the streets of Washington, D.C., for more than 20 years as both a uniformed police officer and homicide detective. Some of his major cases included the 1981 attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr. and...

When it came time for Gail W. Johnson, R.N. (B.S.’67, M.S.’76) to apply for college, the aspiring nurse looked to the Medical College of Virginia, where, as a child, she’d had surgery. “MCV was the only place I applied,” Johnson said. “It really changed my life. I...

In 1951, Goldie Zimberg (B.A.’72) moved back to Richmond with her husband, Yale H. Zimberg, M.D. (M.D.’51, H.S.’56), for his surgical residency program at the Medical College of Virginia. Years later, she pursued a degree in English at Richmond Professional...

When Iris Harrell’s parents got divorced during her junior year at what is now the University of Mary Washington, her college education was left in jeopardy. She didn’t have enough money to supplement the scholarships that had allowed her to be the first member of...

In 2000, Jane (B.F.A.’68) and Robert “Will” (M.S.W.’69) Hatcher created two endowed scholarships at the Virginia Commonwealth University: one in the School of the Arts, where Jane earned her degree, and one in the School of Social Work, where Will earned his. Over...

Jay Weinberg served on the VCU Board of Visitors, including as rector, from 1989 to 2001. During his tenure, it became clear that the university had a deep need for scholarship funds for outstanding students. Then-VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D., appointed...

It’s always been about stories for Jeffrey Blount (B.S. Mass Communications, ’81). More importantly, it’s always been about telling stories. That, the human ability to relate a story to another human in a manner that is informative and creative, has been the one...

An endowed scholarship in the VCU School of Business honors the memory of local entrepreneur Karen Riefner Evans (B.S.’83). The fund was created in 2018 by Evans’ husband, Jim, while Karen was in treatment for a rare and aggressive form of cancer. “Karen’s treatment...

Two years after graduating from the VCU Department of Communication Arts, Jim Gregory (B.F.A.’71) moved to New York and founded his own company. Over 40 years, his small advertising agency became a renowned branding consultation firm, garnering heavyweight clients...

Joanne Kerbs Caramanica had been working with foster children in Prince William County, Virginia, in the early 1980s, when she enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University’s new Master of Social Work program. Drawn to the field since she was a child, it was a natural...

In 1989, John Patykula (M.M.’82), assistant professor and assistant chair and coordinator of VCUArts’ guitar program, established a scholarship to honor his former teacher and mentor, Jesús Silva. Silva, who passed away in 1996, was a world-renowned guitar virtuoso....

Jose Ortiz, (BS, Physics and Computer Engineering ’08 and MS Electrical and Computer Engineering ’10) has worked as an avionics lead engineer on several record-breaking, unmanned aircraft projects since completing his undergraduate and graduate studies at VCU. A...

Julia (B.S.’01) and Nicholas Cain (B.S.’01) were two of the first graduates of Virginia Commonwealth University’s chemical engineering program, enrolling in 1997 and earning their bachelor’s degrees in 2001. They went on to become part of the leadership team that...

In 2017, Katherine G. Nelson (B.S.’93) and her husband, John R. Nelson Jr., Ph.D., an emeritus member of the VCU School of Business Foundation board, established the Katherine Gomez Nelson Scholarship Program in the VCU School of Business with a $100,000 pledge. The...

After graduating from VCU with degrees in music education, Kathy (B.M.E.’65) and Emerson (B.M.E.’65) Hughes spent many years teaching music and performing in Richmond. In 2018, they turned their attention to the students at VCUarts with a gift to the school’s...

Kevin Theisen established a generous award in the Department of Chemistry to recognize students with an interest in software programming. As a successful software developer and entrepreneur, Kevin knows the potential for new ideas and applications in this specialized...

Lidia Marisa Vallarino, Ph.D., who retired as a professor from the Department of Chemistry in the VCU College of Humanities and Sciences, died January 22, 2017. Affectionately known in the department “Dr. V,” she was a prolific scholar, authored over 80 publications...

VCU Department of History alumnus ​Marc Noble​ (BA ‘72/H&S) generously established the Marc Noble Scholarship in the History of Technology award in 2013. Marc, who received a bachelor’s degree in history from VCU and a master’s certificate in project management from...

Mark Newfield (B.S. ’87) wasn’t always so sure about his own potential. Though he did “reasonably well” at Northern Virginia Community College, the Washington, D.C., native thought a four-year college education was out of reach. “My two worries were ‘Am I smart...