Virginia Tech Magazine, Summer 2010
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VirginiaTech magazine Hereditary Hokies Saving the bay | Factor ofX Saving thebay|Factor summer 2010 vol. 32, no. 4 Message from the President Contents Summer 2010 VOL. 32, NO. 4 Arts on campus entering new era By Charles W. steger ’69 8 Beyond Blacksburg Research programs at each of the 12 Virginia Tech Agricultural Research and Extension Centers spread across the commonwealth are purposefully varied and data-driven, 10 benefiting the agricultural diversity and economy of each region. 10 Hereditary Hokies If the admissions office manned a recruiting table at your latest family reunion, your family may be genetically Hokie. Passed down from generation to generation, Hokie Spirit runs through the bloodlines of many Hokie families. 14 Saving the Chesapeake Bay Virginia Tech researchers are at the forefront of renewed efforts to save the Chesapeake Bay, pitted against excessive nutrients and sediment that degrade water quality and threaten aquatic life. See how experts at Virginia Tech are restoring the future of a Center for the Arts, opening in fall 2013. national treasure. 14 Shortly after I became president, we made a commitment, The Center for the Arts complex will include both new and 18 Campus, circa WWI on Founders Day in 2000, to invigorate the university’s fine and renovated facilities at the intersection of North Main Street and performing arts spaces and programs. Later, I posited on this Alumni Mall. Its location at the main entrance to campus near D.C. Wolfe (civil engineering ’21), a musician and engineer, was also a prolific photog- page thoughts on the importance of the arts in the college ex- the center of the Town of Blacksburg symbolizes our commit- rapher. From pole-vaulting on the Drillfield to cadets with disarming smiles, Wolfe’s photos—compiled with memorabilia in two previously unpublished scrapbooks—offer perience. [Editor’s note: See the Winter 2001 issue of Virginia ment to the arts and to other dimensions of the educational a unique glimpse of the Blacksburg campus. Tech Magazine.] experience, as well as its importance to the university and to our As a university, we strive to educate the whole person—to broader community. In addition, the central location surely will prepare students for life at work as well as for life beyond work. stimulate arts-related businesses. 20 Factor of X Creating successful scientists, engineers, and businesspeople is a The Center for the Arts will comprise three major areas: Virginia Tech dazzled the world in 2003 with System X, the fastest supercomputer in very different endeavor now than in the past. Research dem- the performance hall, visual arts galleries, and the Center for academia, trumpeting the university’s technological credentials. Seven years later, the onstrates that participation in the arts is a pivotal element in Creative Technologies in the Arts. The performance hall will lightning-quick supercomputer is still producing groundbreaking results for scientists in Blacksburg and around the world. this endeavor, that exposing students to the different modes of have the flexibility to present theater, music, and dance perfor- thinking and problem solving are necessary parts of the creative mances. The visual arts galleries will incorporate display space process. for traditional visual art as well as emerging interactive and 28 In the fishbowl with Rob Wittman 20 Two of history’s greatest artists, Leonardo da Vinci and digital forms. It will exhibit artwork on loan to the university as Spending a day with Congressman Rob Wittman (biological sciences ’81) is to real- Michelangelo, were also among history’s greatest engineers. Da well as parts of our permanent collection. ize that every minute is scheduled in order to maximize his influence, outreach, and Vinci, who painted and sculpted some of the world’s greatest The Center for Creative Technologies in the Arts will be service. But Wittman wouldn’t have it any other way, and he’ll never forget his roots. artistic treasures, also designed machines for human flight and housed in new space as well as renovated space in Shultz Hall. greatly advanced the state of knowledge in fields as diverse as The center, a technological incubator, laboratory, and studio 31 Alumni Association News Letters to the editor. 2 anatomy and civil engineering. Michelangelo, whose master- setting, will be used to explore the many intersections of art, page 31: Commentary Around the Drillfield. 4 pieces include the Pieta, the Statue of David, and the Sistine education, and technology and will enhance education at the page 32: The generations of Virginia Tech alumni Philanthropy. 25 Chapel ceiling, also engineered the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica primary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels. The page 35: 2010 reunions and homecomings Corps of Cadets. 39 in Vatican City. For these great thinkers, there were no bound- center will include the Collaborative Performance Lab, a venue page 36: New board members, award nominations Book Notes. 40 aries between the creative arts, science, and the mechanical arts. for exploring visual and performance arts using the latest inter- page 37: National Capital Region’s record-setting job fair Now, one decade after sharing these ideas with you, the arts active technology. Class Notes. 42 are entering a new era on the Virginia Tech campus. In June Through the center, we can leverage the strengths of existing In Retrospect . 47 2010, we broke ground for the Center for the Arts. Opening arts programming and explore new relationships between the DEPARTMENTS in fall 2013, this $89-million, 130,000-square-foot facility will arts and technology. So, Virginia Tech finally will have facilities feature a 1,260-seat performance hall, visual art galleries, and supporting the arts to match the university’s world-recognized creative-technology lab spaces. prowess in so many areas of academe. Cover: Photos from the Echols-Saunders family; memorabilia from the family and the Alumni Museum in the Holtzman Alumni Center. Read the full story on page 10. Photo by Jim Stroup. Virginia Tech Magazine Summer 2010 1 Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor: Send us your thoughts at [email protected] Virginia Tech Magazine Proud to see Restoring the traditional my “steam tables,” a much- great interest. It was good I was proud to have Summer 2010, Vol. 32, No. 4 Tech tackling tough architectural theme and style used book from my under- to read about a friend and my name listed with all of Editor of the campus and affirming graduate days in mechanical excellent servant of Virginia the others who have served Jesse Tuel issues Assistant Editor I would like to praise the future use of Hokie Stone engineering. Norris was also Tech, Ray Smoot. the university so unself- Denise Young Art Director Denise Young and the staff was a challenge and one of a mechanical engineer—and I thought the issues and ishly. Thanks for writing the Glen Duncan edu at for our greatest achievements. initiates for Pi Tau Sigma, the interests that drove the arti- article. Virginia Tech Magazine t Graphic Designer Valerie Anderson The university should know honorary mechanical engi- cle’s subjects to want to serve .v having the courage to publish Bill Coulbourne ’68 e Intern the article in the recent issue that without Ray Smoot’s neering society, were required Virginia Tech by being the Chelsea Newman ’10 Happy to be Hokies Dewey Beach, Del. Contributors (Spring 2010) titled “Tearing These little Hokies were ei- steady leadership and over- to obtain the signatures of all student body president cer- Maj. Carrie Cox I couldn’t resist sending ther hungry or steaming mad Down Animal House.” As a sight of the process, this could current faculty and student tainly mirrored mine when Lori Greiner you this photo of my new to learn the Hokies were Hokies in Disney Richard Lovegrove have never happened. Ray members at the time of the I was a junior and decided Steven Mackay 48-year-old mother with plans excluded from the NCAA World vtmagazin grandson and his little buddy. Albert Raboteau of sending my 10th-grader and basketball tourney. had to deal with a number of new member’s initiation. to run. I can still remember w Since I am a ’93 gradu- Copy Editors On the left is Joseph Coolick, Richard Lovegrove 8th-grader away to Virginia diverse constituencies. Some H.J. “Jack” Heikkenen, a Garland Rigney talking to ate and have a husband ww and Charlie Taylor is on the Laura Purcell universities in a couple years, beaches. The photo was taken wanted the campus to go retired entomology professor, me about running when I who’s a “Hokie by marriage” Webmaster right. They were born several at Waikiki Beach on Oahu. modern, some postmodern, delighted in telling me the had never considered it, and Juliet Crichton I was impressed that Virginia days apart in November 2009, to me, my family honored Alumni Association and some wanted to fill all following story. Whenever he I thought I must be out of Communications Director Tech had the audacity to print and were about six weeks old Janine Pratt ’80 Virginia Tech on April 16, Melissa Vidmar the open space around the told me that he lived at 802 my mind. I just wanted to the truth about alcohol use in the photo. Their moms are Cheltenham, Pa. 2010, while vacationing Photographers Drillfield. By Ray’s skillful Preston Ave., they invariably graduate out of the engineer- Michael Kiernan and problems at their own good friends and were Chi at Disney World. It was a John McCormick management of the construc- said, “Oh, you live in the Nor- ing program, move on, etc.