For many, the road to lifetime achievement started at Virginia Western Community College. The Virginia Western Alumni Association established the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2006. This prestigious award recognizes Virginia Western Community College alumni and former students who have attained extraordinary distinction in his or her professional field or life and serves to honor all the fine men and women whose attendance at Virginia Western helped them achieve their educational and professional goals and to better serve their communities.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for nomination, the candidate must:

• Be a graduate of or have completed a minimum of two semesters at Virginia Western Community College.
• Be present to accept the award.
• Have attained extraordinary distinction and success in his or her profession or life.
• Be a person of such integrity and stature that the College will take pride in his or her recognition.
• Have attained regional, statewide, or national prominence and have significant involvement in civic, cultural, or charitable affairs.

How to Nominate

Anyone may nominate a Virginia Western Community College alumna/us or former student for this award by completing a nomination form. Self nominations are also welcome.  Any one individual can receive the Distinguished Alumni Award only once a lifetime. Please note that nominees remain nominated for two (2) years after the receipt of their nomination.

The 2009 Nomination Form will be available soon, please check back.

Please Note: One form is required for each candidate.

The Selection Process

Following receipt of a completed nomination form, Foundation staff contacts the nominee and request they complete a Candidate Information Questionnaire that indicates their willingness to participate in the selection process. The Distinguished Alumni Award Committee will then select the recipient based upon a scoring system.

Award and Presentation

The recipient or recipients will receive the award at a special presentation and a plaque will be placed on the Virginia Western Distinguished Alumni Wall outside Whitman Auditorium. Publicity on the recipient will appear in Impact, The Word From Western, the alumni website, and a news release will be provided to the media.

For more information on the Distinguished Alumni Award contact Erik Williams, Alumni Relations Coordinator at ewilliams@virginiawestern.edu or (540) 857-8914.

Previous Recipients

 2008 - Donna L. Mitchell '81

Donna L. Mitchell is a 1981 graduate of Virginia Western Community College and credits the college with changing her life. “My years at Virginia Western were a pivotal time for me,” she writes. “The warm, nurturing, empowering environment there brought me from a shy child to a self-confident young woman.” A confidence that bred accomplishment, Donna transferred to Virginia Tech where she was “very well prepared” to earn separate degrees in Business Management and English. Not afraid to take risks, she found a niche where she could intertwine both her business and analytical skills as a stockbroker for UBS Financial Services Inc. for more than 20 years and, now, the Vice President of Investments.

Donna wrote in the College’s 2006 annual report “Every day, Virginia Western proves the adage that, “If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime.” To further student’s access to education, she and her family established the James Mark Mitchell Endowed Scholarship in 1997 in memory of her brother. In 2004 Donna and four of her classmates from Virginia Western established the Friendship Endowed Scholarship and the Friendship Annual Scholarship to financially assist female students in the college’s service region.

The impact of her efforts for Virginia Western continue to be felt as she tirelessly supports the Educational Foundation in its day-to-day fundraising and advocacy initiatives. Donna is a past president of the Educational Foundation having served in that position in 2006 and 2007. She was also instrumental in establishing the College’s first Alumni Association in 2004 and served as the first Alumni Council chair until 2006. In 2008 she was awarded the Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy by the Virginia Community College System.

 2007 - Dr. Kent A. Murphy

   Dr. Kent Murphy began his educational endeavors at Virginia Western Community College, where he completed 61 credit hours before transferring to Virginia Tech, earning his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees and is now Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Luna Innovations Incorporated, a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ. Luna Innovations develops and manufactures new-generation products for the healthcare, telecommunications, energy and defense markets. Through its disciplined commercialization business model, Luna has become a recognized leader in transitioning science to solutions. Luna is a two-time Tibbett’s award winner, the 2005 recipient of the Governor’s Technology Award for Entrepreneurship, and the 2007 Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year.

   Dr. Murphy is formerly a tenured professor in Virginia Tech’s Bradley Department of Engineering and has over 35 patents which have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in product revenue. In 2001, he was named Virginia SBIR Entrepreneur of the Year, and in 2004 was recognized by the Governor and Science Museum of Virginia as Virginia’s Outstanding Industrialist of the Year. Dr. Murphy is a founding member of the Virginia Research and Technology Advisory Commission, appointed by the Governor, and continues to serve today. He is also a member of the NVTC Board of Directors, Greater Washington Board of Trade Potomac Tech Task Force, the Governor’s Office Productivity Advisory Committee, and the SBIR Steering Committee in association with the National Research Council and the National Academies. In May of 2003, he gave testimony at the Full Committee Hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on S.189, the 21^st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, a $3.4 billion nano technology funding bill. At a reception honoring the recipients on November 15, Dr. Murphy commented, “If it were not for Virginia Western, I would not be here in front of you today or have founded a company that has provided over 300 jobs for the Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia.”

2007 - Charlotte C. Tyson '84

   Mrs. Charlotte C. Tyson is a 1984 graduate with her Associates of Science degree in Nursing from Virginia Western Community College. She went on to earn her Bachelor's of Science Degree in Nursing from the Medical College of Virginia and a Master's of Healthcare Administration from Pfeiffer University. She has been Lewis-Gale Medical Center’s Chief Operating Officer since October, 2005, and is currently serving as the hospital’s Interim CEO. As a 521-bed tertiary facility, Lewis-Gale Medical Center has provided state-of-the art medical care for residents of the Roanoke Valley and Southwest Virginia for nearly 100 years and played an instrumental role in Virginia Western’s first major gifts campaign by giving the largest gift in the history of the college, $1.5 million dollars.  

   Prior to that time, Mrs. Tyson was the hospital’s Chief Nursing Officer, Quality Management Director, and Director of Oncology/Medical Surgery Departments. She serves on the Board of Directors of Project Access of the Roanoke Valley and is professionally associated with the American College of HealthCare Executives, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, and the American Society of Health Care Risk Managers. She was featured in 2006 in a Virginia Western Educational Foundation billboard campaign providing a “you can do it too” encouragement to our region’s youth. At a reception honoring the recipients, Mrs. Tyson commented, “I am so proud to be a graduate of this institution which provides such a positive impact on our region.”

2006 - John B. Williamson, III '75

   John B. Williamson, III was announced as the first recipient of the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award at Virginia Western's 40th Anniversary Celebration at The Hotel Roanoke on January 17. A 1975 graduate of Virginia Western in Business Administration, John went on to earn his B.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University and his M.B.A. from The College of William & Mary. John has held numerous positions in both the public and private sectors including Assistant County Administrator for Nelson County, County Administrator for both Nelson and Botetourt County, and is currently Chairman, President & CEO of RGC Resources, Inc. In addition, John has held many positions on local and regional boards including President of The Arts Council of the Blue Ridge, Chairman of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce, and President of the Virginia Western Educational Foundation. John also spearheaded Virginia Western’s first major gifts campaign which raised $4 million dollars to support key initiatives of the college.  As the commencement speaker for Virginia Western in 2000, he told the graduates "Had it not been for Virginia Western, I might not have ever started on my college education." He echoed those thoughts in his acceptance speech when he dedicated his Distinguished Alumni Award to the faculty at Virginia Western for their commitment to student success.