Alumni in the News

Alumni in the News is drawn from the University news service Headline News. Links to Web sites external to the University of Virginia should not be considered endorsement of those Web sites or any information contained therein.

 

September 29, 2008

Ellis "Skip" Prince '77 has been named as the new commissioner of the United States Hockey League. More

 

september 11, 2008

City Council President, William J. Pantele '83, is running for mayor of Richmond, Virginia. More

 

september 9, 2008

Beth Ann Wilkinson '87 was a star partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Latham & Watkins in 2006, when she took a gamble and joined Fannie Mae as general counsel. At the time, the mortgage company was trying to dig itself out of an $11 billion accounting scandal. But the effort to turn around Fannie has taken a radical, indeed humbling turn: The federal government has seized control of the company and its sibling, Freddie Mac. More

 

september 6, 2008

In a surprise decision, the College of William and Mary's Board of Visitors decided to forego a national search for a new president and appoint W. Taylor Reveley III '68 as the 27th president in the more than 300-year history of the school. More

September 4, 2008

Sean May '98, a rising star in the Adams County District Attorney's Office, was killed in the backyard of his northwest Denver home. The prosecutor will be remembered by friends and colleagues as "one of the best." More

 

august 23, 2008

Former federal judge, C. Timothy Corcoran '73, plans to enter a Catholic seminary at age 62. Corcoran hopes a fully ordained Roman Catholic priest by age 66. More

 

Glenn Gundersen '80, trademark and copyright lawyer at Dechert in Philadelphia, says there's a powerful correlation between trademark filings and the overall health of the economy. And using that metric, things aren't as bad now as they might seem, he asserts. More

 

 

august 18, 2008

Kevin Martingayle '91 never imagined his practice would be at the center of so much conflict. "Anytime I detect someone is behaving like a bully, I will take up that battle." More

 

august 5, 2008

Few members of the University of Virginia's Board of Visitors have been as influential as Gordon Rainey '67, who this year steps down after two four-year terms. He was rector during restructuring, and since 2006 he has been chairman of UVA’s $3 billion capital campaign, which he will continue to lead. More

july 31, 2008

G. Steven Agee '77 was featured during his first month as judge on one of the nation's most important appellate courts. Agee now sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. More

Tim Ryan '96 is featured in an article about attorneys are returning to the fold after seeking opportunities elsewhere. "While it is typical for lawyers to rejoin a firm after a political appointment comes to an end, increased lateral shuffling in the current legal market has some attorneys heading back home after a stint with the competition." More

july 30, 2008

On July 23 a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that the city of Fredericksburg, Va., acted properly in banning a member of its city council from invoking the name of Jesus Christ in prayers at the start of meetings. People for the American Way, a nonprofit, took up the city's case but recruited two Hunton & Williams litigators to share brief-writing duties and make the oral arguments. An associate, Terence Rasmussen '02, argued the case in district court; a partner, Robert Rolfe '76, took over on appeal. The two talked to The Am Law Daily about the case. More

july 18, 2008

Louise S. Sams '85, executive vice president and general counsel of Turner Broadcasting Systems, as well as president of Turner Broadcasting System International, was featured for her many roles as general counsel. More

july 14, 2008

Charles Lee '76 made a call to Peter Ueberroth in the middle of the night on May 12, 1984, over a crackling phone line from Beijing that carried the news that determined the fate of the Olympics. Lee was sent to persuade China to send their team to the Olympics for the first time — defying a Soviet Union-led boycott. More

july 12, 2008

David Baldacci '86 talks about his writing life on the occasion of his recently released 12th thriller novel, "Stone Cold." More

july 9, 2008

If Congress takes up legislation next year to increase consultation with the White House over any future war plans, it may have a trio of Virginians to thank. The National War Powers Commission, which proposed a new consultation process, was the brainchild of former Virginia Gov. Gerald L. Baliles '67. To run the commission, Baliles turned to two Virginians from academia: W. Taylor Reveley III '68, interim president of the College of William and Mary, and John Jeffries Jr., '73, former dean of the Law School. More

july 7, 2008

Virginia Supreme Court Justice G. Steven Agee '77 has been sworn in as a judge on the U.S. Court Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Agee is replacing J. Michael Luttig '81 , who resigned in 2006 to become senior vice president and general counsel at the Boeing Co. More

July 2, 2008

Acting New Jersey criminal justice director Deborah Gramiccioni '97 said she wants the crime-fighting arm of the state's Attorney General's Office to focus more closely on financial crimes, such as mortgage fraud and money laundering. More Law.com featured Gramiccioni in her role as New Jersey's new head of the Division of Criminal Justice. More

july 1, 2008

Ted Mathas '92 was named chief executive officer of New York Life Insurance Company, the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States with 15,000 employees and 50,000 agents worldwide, and more than $280 billion in assets under management. Mathas also retains the title of president of the company, a post he's held since July 1, 2007.  As CEO, he will oversee all of the company's U.S. and international operations including individual life insurance, retirement income, investments and long-term care insurance. More

June 19, 2008

Retiring Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charles Lee '76 will be inside Beijing Stadium, marching with the U.S. Olympic team in the opening ceremonies of the Summer Games soon. Lee, fluent in Mandarin, is the U.S. team's Chef de Mission for the Beijing Olympics. Lee will serve as the head of the U.S. delegation, bringing any problems the athletes have to the attention of Beijing Olympic officials. More

June 16, 2008

Janet Napolitano '83 was featured in the Wall St. Journal's Washington Wire column as a potential pick for vice president. At 50 years old, the Arizona Governor is an appealing red-state Democrat. More

may 14, 2008

Charlie Peters '57 is quoted in New York Times column on Barack Obama's primary loss in West Virginia. Peters' is quoted as saying Obamba needs imagination and a “tremendous effort” to dispel bias in West Virginia, and quickly, “because once it’s set in concrete, you’ll have a hell of a time.” More

May 8, 2008

Allen W. Groves '90 has been appointed as the University of Virginia’s associate vice president and dean of students. Groves has served as the university’s interim dean of students for the past nine months. He joined UVa’s administration in May 2006 as a student affairs fundraiser, a position that he continued to hold while serving as interim dean. Prior to coming to UVa, Groves was a labor and employment attorney with Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Atlanta. More

may 6, 2008

Thomas G. Slater Jr.'69, a partner in the Richmond law firm Hunton & Williams, was elected president of the Virginia Military Institute’s Board of Visitors. Slater has been a member of the board since 2003 and has been active in VMI alumni organizations since his graduation. More

may 1, 2008

The United States Olympic Committee has appointed Judge Charles Carter Lee '76 as Chef de Mission for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team at the Beijing Olympic Games. Judge Lee speaks Mandarin and has given various lectures on the California legal system in China in both English and Mandarin. He has served as a judge with the Los Angeles County Superior Court since 1989. More

April 26, 2008

In a rare display of bipartisan camaraderie in an otherwise heated election year, a caravan of the state's political stars — past and present — made its way to an occasion of tribute to retiring U.S. Senator John Warner '53. The event marked the first time that eight Virginia governors appeared at the same forum. More

April 23, 2008

Will Hopkins '86, a former partner in the Washington office of Ross, Dixon & Bell, was featured on the WSJ's Law Blog as one of the finalists in American Idol's songwriter competition. Hopkins's song, "When You Come From Nothing," is among the contest's final top 20. More

April 22, 2008

Bill Pollock '75 is so passionate about protecting directors of companies that he started National Insurance Partners, an independent insurance and risk management organization dedicated in large part to advising company executives and directors on compensation, benefits, wealth management and insurance matters. More

april 9, 2008

A. Stephens Clay '67, a partner at Kilpatrick Stockton, discusses why he became a lawyer and his thoughts about the practice of law. More

april 8, 2008

Robert Burton '79, deputy administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, plans to retire in July. While at OFPP, Burton has played a key role in directing and developing governmentwide acquisition policies, regulations and initiatives. He has guided agencies through changes in contracting and acquisition policies as OFPP handled contracting issues. More

april 3, 2008

Maurice Jones '92 was named the next publisher of The Virginian-Pilot. Jones' appointment makes Landmark Communication's The Pilot the country's largest daily newspaper with a black publisher. More

Charlottesville's crossword enthusiasts and word-savvy students put down their puzzles long enough to hear a talk at the University by Will Shortz '77, crossword editor for The New York Times. Shortz holds the world's only college degree in "enigmatology," the study of puzzles. More. Listen to Shortz's UVA tribute puzzle on NPR's Weekend Edition, More.

March 28, 2008

When Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III '72 took the bench in 1984 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, he had no idea that things would be so different decades later. A featured speaker at the Virginia Festival of the book, Wilkinson gave the audience a glimpse of his life on the bench by answering frequently asked questions about his position. More

March 27, 2008

Gloria Cordes Larson '77 was inaugurated as the president of Bentley College on March 28. Larson, who has been on the job since July, joined the school from the law firm Foley Hoag, where she co-chaired the government strategies group. Larson is Bentley's first female president. More

March 17, 2008

Tyler Duvall '98 and his colleagues have ignited a national argument — the first real debate about how to fund transportation in 50 years, according to the Washington Post. Duvall is the assistant secretary for transportation policy and is committing discretionary DOT funds to seed five high-profile experiments to combat road congestion. More

March 16, 2008

Jeff Wells '87 has embarked on a new career as an innkeeper with his life partner, Mac Pence, in Richmond. Maury Place at Monument, the luxury four-guest room bed and breakfast was featured in a Richmond Times Dispatch special publication. More

March 13, 2008

President Bush nominated Virginia Supreme Court Justice G. Steven Agee '77 to the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Both Virginia senators, Republican John W. Warner '53 and Democrat Jim Webb, applauded the move. Agee is nominated to fill the vacancy left by J. Michael Luttig '81, who resigned in 2006 to become general counsel for Boeing Corp. More

March 2, 2008

kstreet lounge and its owner, David Chung '98, were featured in a Washington Post article about the late-night bars and lounges have opened within a block of 14th and K streets NW in the past few years, transforming the area into the District's trendy new nightspot. More

 

Charles Elson '85, the first director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, is raising questions about Delaware's incorporations gold mine. He's publicly urging the state to consider small changes to its corporate law code in response to growing calls for greater rights for stockholders in public companies. "One of Elson's great strengths is his massive Rolodex that includes people who are dealing with corporate governance issues in the trenches," said Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron Steele '70, LL.M. '04. More

February 16, 2008

John W. Warner '53 has been named a 2008 recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal, the highest external honors given by the University of Virginia. Warner, R-Alexandria, is a five-term senator who is retiring this year. He will receive the medal for citizen leadership. More

february 14, 2008

PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem '73 sat for a roundtable airing this weekend on GolfChannel.com. Commissioner since 1994, Finchem addressed drug-testing, the success of the FedExCup and the Tour's new cut policy in the discussion. More

February 10, 2008

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office sent Deputy DA Shanna Batten '95 to Washington, D.C., to help federal counterparts handle increased requests to return criminal suspects who flee across the Mexican border. Batten handles requests from DAs in California to have criminal suspects hiding in Mexico or Central America returned to U.S. soil. Officials said one-fifth of the nearly 600 active extradition cases in which criminals fled to Mexico originated from California. More

February 7, 2008

Jim Malone's '72 active membership in six golf clubs, along with his ability to play multiple rounds in a single day, won him the title of Golf Nut Society's Golf Nut of the Year title. More

January 29, 2008

Citigroup Inc. has hired Ned Kelly '81, former chief executive of Mercantile Bankshares, as president of its alternative investment unit. More

January 25, 2008

Alex Mejias '05 was featured as a recent alumnus who in addition to passing the New York Bar Exam has ventured into a professional music career. Mejias was in Charlottesville to celebrate the release of his first solo pop/rock CD. More

January 21, 2008

Nancy L. Buc '69, a partner in the law firm of Buc & Beardsley in Washington, D.C., has been elected Chair of the Board of Directors of the Food and Drug Law Institute, the leading non-profit association comprised of food and drug attorneys and manufacturers. More

The ground-breaking work and distinguished career of former Manhattan assistant district attorney Linda Fairstein '72 are the basis for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and was featured in an article in The Scotsman. More

January 16, 2008

The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership will honor U.S. Sen. John W. Warner '53, R-Alexandria, at its annual Spring Gala in April. Warner, 80, has served in the Senate since 1978. He is retiring this year, at the end of his fifth term. More

After years of practicing law in New York, NY, Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA, Lee Anne Washington '88 has returned to her hometown of White Stone, Virginia. Washington is now the Republican candidate for Virginia's 99th District House of Delegates position that was vacated one month ago. More

January 14, 2008

The Virginia Bar Association has renamed its Distinguished Service Award in honor of Gov. Gerald L. Baliles '67, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and will present the first renamed award to Supreme Court of Virginia Senior Justice Elizabeth B. Lacy LL.M. '92 at its annual meeting in Williamsburg on Friday, Jan. 18. VBA President Glenn C. Lewis said, "The renaming of the award for Governor Baliles and its presentation to Justice Lacy are entirely fitting. They have been not only two of the most outstanding public servants in Virginia of this generation; for many years they also have been consistently and visibly dedicated to the mission and programs of The Virginia Bar Association." More

January 9, 2008

Bart Epstein '99, Tutor.com's chief legal counsel and Internet safety advisor was a winner of the Norton Cyber Smackdown at CES 2008. The quiz show, co-hosted by a FOX "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" whiz kid Nathan Lazarus, Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson, and Symantec Internet safety advocate, Marian Merritt, challenges contestants to discover how much — or how little — they know about online lifestyles and online safety. Epstein easily won his round and earned the highest score of any Smackdown contestant. More

January 7, 2008

Though his retirement is official today, Augusta County (Va.) Circuit Court Judge Thomas H. Wood's '67 schedule won't change too much during the next three months. Until legislators name his successor in March, Wood plans to fill in on the bench. Wood has overseen a variety of cases in his 23-year career on the bench. More

January 1, 2008

Judge J. Michael Williamson '67 will take over as president judge of the Clinton County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas. More

Alumni in the News Archive