THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA ORAL HISTORY PROJECT INTERVIEW S WITH ALEXANDER G. GILLIAM, JR. Conducted on January 19, February 2, and February 3, 2012 by Sheree Scarborough HISTORY ASSOCIATES INCORPORATED 300 N. STONESTREET AVENUE ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 20850 Telephone: (301) 279-9697 Fax: (301) 279-9224
[email protected] Alexander G. Gilliam, Jr. Biographical Statement Alexander G. “Sandy” Gilliam, Jr. was born in 1933 in Baltimore, Maryland. He received his B.A. in history from the University of Virginia in 1955. Gilliam served a year in the U.S. Army in counterintelligence. Returning home, he spent a year in graduate school at the University of Virginia and taught at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond. In the early 1960s, he was in the Foreign Service, and served in both Israel and Africa. Later in that decade, he worked in the State Department under Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and studied Arabic in the Middle East. In 1970, he joined the administration of Virginia Governor Linwood Holton. In 1975, Gilliam returned to the University of Virginia, where over the course of thirty-four years, he served as assistant to three University presidents: Frank Hereford (1974-85), Robert O’Neil (1985-90), and John T. Casteen III (1990-2010). Gilliam also served as secretary to the University of Virginia Board of Visitors from 1991-2009. Since 2009, Gilliam has held the title of University Protocol and History Officer. Interview Synopsis Mr. Gilliam begins the interview discussing his family background and multigenerational ties to the University of Virginia. Both his father and grandfather attended the University.