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Tag: Virginia 500 spotlight

Virginia 500 spotlight: WILLIAM G. “BILL” CRUTCHFIELD JR.

PERSONAL MOTTO: Believing that a glass is half-full

MOST VALUED POSSESSION: My family

HOW I UNWIND FROM WORK: I rarely do. That’s a problem.

HOW I CHOSE MY CAREER PATH: I followed my passions — entrepreneurship and consumer electronics.

HOBBY/PASSION: Flying airplanes, operating my boat, repairing my classic cars, installing complex electronics in my homes and trying unsuccessfully to train our four dachshunds

SOMETHING I WOULD NEVER DO AGAIN: Take piano lessons. I have no musical ability.

MOST RECENT STREAMING SHOW I ENJOYED: “Yellowstone”

DID YOU KNOW?
A 1965 graduate of the University of Virginia, Crutchfield is also an Air Force veteran who commanded a Titan II intercontinental ballistic missile crew. At 15, he founded a small business installing hi-fi sound systems in homes around Charlottesville; in 1974 he was restoring a Porsche 356 in his garage when he ran into a problem figuring out which audio system to install in the sports car. That’s when he started his mail order catalog, which has morphed into an online retailer selling everything from televisions to drones.

September 2023 Virginia 500 Spotlight: DONNA PRICE HENRY

FIRST JOB: I worked at a Dairy Queen during the summers while I was in high school.

FAVORITE APP: Apple Fitness, except when it tells me that I’m behind in meeting my goals for the day

HOW I BALANCE WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE: Some days, I am better at this than others. In my role as chancellor, my days are full, as are evenings and weekends at events at the college and in the community. I love my family and their support of my work. When I’m with them, I try to be completely present. My favorite time is in the kitchen and enjoying conversations.

DID YOU KNOW? U.Va. Wise’s first female chancellor and a biologist by training, Henry arrived in 2013 from Florida Gulf Coast University. She has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. This fall, the college began offering its first graduate degree program: a master’s of education degree. 

August 2023 Virginia 500 Spotlight: BYRON L. BOSTON

FIRST JOB: From my freshman year of high school through my senior year of college, I worked as an usher in St. Louis. It was a great first job — I worked major sporting events and at the Gateway Arch.

HOBBY/PASSION: I’m very passionate about physical fitness, and kayaking is one of my favorite hobbies.

WHO I ADMIRE: I admire my parents greatly. They were simply and truly good human beings — caring, compassionate, good to other people and very reliable.

DID YOU KNOW? A first-generation college student, Boston graduated from Dartmouth College in 1981 with an economics degree and went on to earn his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1986. He joined Dynex, a real estate investment trust with a market capitalization of more than $673 million, in 2008 as chief investment officer and became CEO in December 2014. Boston established a scholarship for first-generation students at Dartmouth.

Virginia 500 Spotlight: JENNIFER CHRONIS

FIRST JOB: Retail salesperson at The Fashion Factory in Burke

HOBBY: Exercise in any form —walking, hiking, biking, swimming

PERSON I ADMIRE: Abraham Lincoln, for leading our country through one of its darkest times, ending the Civil War and signing the Emancipation Proclamation

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Stay calm and keep everything in perspective.

WHAT MAKES ME PASSIONATE ABOUT MY WORK: Serving our public sector customers and helping them perform their missions more effectively, better serve constituents and improve the quality of education through digital transformation

SOMETHING I’D NEVER DO AGAIN: Go out in a boat in the Chesapeake Bay when a storm is approaching

DID YOU KNOW? Chronis is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and combat veteran with more than two decades of service. She served in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, stationed in Saudi Arabia and Iraq, and Operation Enduring Freedom in Bosnia. A University of Virginia graduate, she has also worked for Amazon Web Services, IBM and Verizon. In 2015, Chronis ran as a Republican for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors against incumbent Supervisor John Foust, a Democrat. Foust won reelection, garnering 15,014 votes to Chronis’ 12,615.

Virginia 500 Spotlight: Catherine Buell

Director, Amazon Housing Equity Fund, Amazon.com Inc. Arlington County

WHAT WOULD A COMPETITOR SAY ABOUT YOU? Much like the Roomba vacuum cleaner, Catherine is “pleasantly persistent” and doesn’t give up. She will keep at it, work to find a middle ground and show results.

WHAT I’VE LEARNED: Don’t forget to have fun along the way! Life will take you by surprise in the most wonderful way, if you let it. 

WHAT MAKES ME PASSIONATE ABOUT MY WORK: I am deeply moved by the ability to help people. Much of my work is serving as a bridge builder — connecting highly resourced, sophisticated, caring business leaders with community leaders and organizations that are doing truly meaningful work.

WHAT’S ONE THING YOU WOULD CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA? I would make it easier to build more affordable housing options across the state.

MOST RECENT BOOK READ: “Will,” by Will Smith and “True Refuge: Finding Peace and Freedom in Your Own Awakened Heart,” by Tara Brach

DID YOU KNOW? Buell leads Amazon’s housing equity fund, which has committed $795 million in loans and grants for 4,400 affordable residences in Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Virginia 500 Spotlight: Mark C. Lowham

BEST ADVICE FOR OTHERS: You never learn anything when you are talking.

FIRST JOB: Analyst for Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York

WHAT I WAS LIKE IN HIGH SCHOOL: Mr. Clean and a bit of a nerd, but I still managed to be elected student body president

PERSON I ADMIRE: My father. He was the classic American gentleman, Marlboro man and CEO wrapped in one.

WHAT A COMPETITOR WOULD SAY ABOUT ME: He is an honorable man.

WHAT MAKES ME PASSIONATE ABOUT MY  WORK: I love being a mentor to young people who are building their careers.

ONE THING I’D CHANGE ABOUT VIRGINIA: Ensure education equity is pervasive across the state.

FAVORITE APP: Homesnap

FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: Jackson Hole, Wyoming

DID YOU KNOW? Lowham’s office handled the then-record-breaking $43 million sale of AOL co-founder Steve Case’s McLean estate in 2018, as well as the current state-record sale of the $48 million River View estate in Fairfax County to Washington Commanders owners Daniel and Tanya Snyder in November 2021.

Virginia 500 2022 SPOTLIGHT