Spotlights

2006 Outstanding Alumnus – Ronald Lee Tillett
Public Service Award – The Honorable Roger L. Gregory
Undergraduate student – Courtney Koogler, mass communications
Graduate student – Christine A. Winschel, chemistry

2006 Outstanding Alumnus – Ronald Lee Tillett

The College of Humanities and Sciences honored the Honorable Ronald Lee Tillett as the distinguished alumnus at its annual spring awards night ceremony held at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. A native of Norfolk, Va., Tillett graduated from the College in 1979 with a B.S. in Urban Studies. He later attended the University of Pennsylvania Executive Education program at the Wharton School of Business.

Tillett served more than 23 years in state government. In his public service career, he was a staff member on the House Appropriations Committee and analyst for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. In 1987, he became deputy treasurer of Virginia's Treasury Department, and was named state treasurer in 1993. Tillett was the commonwealth’s secretary of finance under both former Gov. George Allen and former Gov. Jim Gilmore. In 2001, Tillett joined Morgan Keegan & Co. as managing director of public finance.

Tillett has received several board and gubernatorial appointments, which include a seat on the governing board of The College of William & Mary, and chair of the Governor’s Advisory Board of Economics and the commonwealth’s Debt Capacity Advisory Committee. Tillett was president-elect of the National State Treasurers’ Association and president of the Southern States Treasurers’ Association. He also has served an appointment to the board of the Virginia Tourism Corp. Presently, Tillett serves on the board of trustees of the VCU Foundation, chairs the Richmond Retirement board of trustees and also sits on the board of directors of Virginia Blood Services. He also serves on the board of directors of Union Bankshares Corp.

Public Service Award – The Honorable Roger L. Gregory

The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs named the Honorable Roger L. Gregory the 2006 recipient of its Public Service Award.

Gregory is the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which includes Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. He began servinga lifetime appointment to that court in 2001. By appointment of the Chief Justice of the United States, he serves on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, and by appointment of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, he serves on the State-Federal Judicial Council.

Among his noted achievements, Gregory received a bachelor’s degree from Virginia State University in 1975 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan in 1978. In 1982, his career as an attorney culminated in forming the law firm of Wilder & Gregory, alongside L. Douglas Wilder, who later served as Virginia's governor and is currently the mayor of Richmond.

Gregory is a former VCU rector. He has a distinguished record of professional service
and is a fellow of the Virginia State Bar Association. He also is the former president of the Old Dominion Bar Association, a board director for both the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys and the Richmond Bar Association and a former member of the board of visitors of Virginia State University. Additonally, Gregory currently sits on the board of directors for the Christian Children's Fund and board of trustees of the Virginia Historical Society.

Undergraduate student – Courtney Koogler, mass communications

Courtney Koogler will be the first to tell you that internships are the key to success. Rather than coasting through her years at VCU, Koogler is determined to prepare herself for a career in public relations. With the help of VCU’s Career Center, Koogler landed a summer internship in Dominion’s Corporate Philanthropy Department.

The company contributes more than $10 million each year to various nonprofit organizations, including VCU. Under the supervision of VCU alumna Renee Johnson, Koogler is acquiring skills and professional insight and is eagerly expanding her network of contacts. Johnson graduated from VCU in 1993 with a B.A. in English and agrees that internships like Koogler’s are invaluable in proactively acquiring experience.

“Dominion’s internship program trains students like me to be successful after college,” says Koogler. Her work with Johnson has been rewarding, and she hopes that other students in the College will take advantage of such learning opportunities that are outside the traditional classroom.

For more information on providing internships, contact Lois Badey, director of development at (804) 827-0856.

Graduate student – Christine A. Winschel, chemistry

The National Science Foundation appointed Christine A. Winschel, a graduate research assistant in the VCU Department of Chemistry, to accompany a U.S. delegation traveling to the 56th Annual Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany. The first VCU student to receive this honor, Winschel visited the island city of Lindau from June 25-30, where she represented VCU and interacted with Nobel laureates.

 “This is a great honor for VCU that showcases the strength of our chemistry program and research on an international level. Attending Lindau is highly competitive and we are pleased that Ms. Winschel represented the VCU Department of Chemistry,” said Nicholas Farrell, Ph.D., chair of VCU’s Department of Chemistry. 

Winschel was one of 60 U.S. students in a delegation of 450 other students from around the world. Her major research focus is organic chemistry and her work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. She plans to pursue a career in teaching.