byline: Virginia Business

In November 2022, Pryor was elected to his ninth term as president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation. As of June, Pryor had not announced if he would seek another term; his current term will end in November.

The owner of a hay and grain farm in Goochland, Pryor is president, CEO and chairman of Virginia Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance.

He also is president and chair of the board of Jackson, Mississippi-based Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance, a board member of the American Farm Bureau Federation, president and board chairman of Countryway Insurance, a board member of American Agricultural Insurance and a board member of the American Farm Bureau Insurance Services.

Pryor says he chose his career path because of his family farm and the fact that his father sold Farm Bureau insurance.

“I’ve had a unique opportunity to see the value of a Farm Bureau membership,” Pryor says. “I like being a part of that, and I feel very fortunate to be able to lead this organization.”

HOW I CHOSE MY CAREER: I’ve been involved in my family’s farm operation in Goochland County my whole life, and my father sold Farm Bureau insurance. I’ve had a unique opportunity to see the value of a Farm Bureau membership.

Campbell’s life has taken him off to the races for as long as he can remember. Grandson of Martinsville Speedway founder H. Clay Earles, who built the paperclip-shaped speedway in 1947, Campbell has worked at Martinsville since he was a child. He worked in maintenance, concessions and souvenirs before moving up to vice president and general manager, finally taking over as track president in 1988.

A longstanding fixture in Virginia motorsports, Campbell also has driven in some Late Model, K&N East and ARCA races.

When the family racetrack was sold to International Speedway in 2004, and later absorbed by NASCAR, Campbell remained with the track as president, and in 2021 was named president of NASCAR’s mid-Atlantic region. In 2023, he served as interim president of Watkins Glen International raceway in New York.

Every spring and fall, Martinsville Speedway hosts NASCAR Cup Series races. Earlier this spring, the historic racetrack hosted a triple-header race weekend, including Long John Silver’s 200, Dude Wipes 250 and Cook Out 400. It’s the only track on the circuit that has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races since 1949.

Formerly chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce North America, Bell became CEO of Fortune 500 defense, aerospace and information technology firm Leidos in May 2023, replacing the retiring Roger Krone.

So far, he’s presided over some big wins, including an $823 million task order announced in late July from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to provide services for the Defense Enclave Services’ Department of Defense Network program. Earlier that month, Leidos announced that it won a potential $476 million contract to continue providing cargo mission engineering and integration services for NASA’s International Space Station and Artemis lunar missions.

Bell started his career at Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin), then joined McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), where he was a senior vice president and strategy lead for Boeing Defense and Space. Bell had led defense contractor Rolls-Royce North America since 2018.

Leidos reported $15.4 billion in annual revenue in fiscal 2023 and employs 47,000 employees worldwide. In November 2023, Leidos announced a C-suite shakeup and reorganization.

Bell holds a bachelor’s degree in business and sociology from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology. He serves on the Aerospace Industries Association’s executive committee.

Hayes began his career in aviation by delivering duty-free items to passengers at Boston’s Logan International Airport. In June, Hayes became chairman and CEO of Airbus Americas, leading European corporation Airbus SE’s commercial aircraft business and coordinating among its helicopter, space and defense businesses in North America. Hayes oversees 10,000 Airbus employees across all 50 states.

Hayes takes the reins of Airbus’ North American operations at a critical moment as the company aims to win business from Arlington-based competitor Boeing, which has been weathering an ongoing crisis after a string of safety problems in recent years. Last year, Airbus outperformed Boeing as the top manufacturer for the fifth year in a row.

In 2023, Airbus recorded a record number of jet orders, and delivered 735 commercial aircraft. It reported 2023 revenues of $65.4 billion, up from $58.8 billion the previous year.

Hayes grew up in London and earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from the University of Bath. He joined British Airways in 1989, rising to become its executive vice president for the Americas before joining JetBlue in 2008. He served as the airline’s CEO from 2015 to 2024. 

2023 was quite a year for Heller and his team. Having joined the federal contractor as its CEO the previous year, Heller led Amentum as it integrated three major acquisitions, executed a strategy to become a mission modernization partner for customers and announced an agreement to merge with Jacobs’ Critical Mission Solutions and Cyber and Intelligence businesses.

Expected to be finalized in the second half of 2024, the merger will create a new systems integration and engineering solutions company that will serve the federal government, its allies and commercial entities. This new entity is expected to employ 53,000 people across 83 countries and generate $13 billion in annual revenue.

Before joining Amentum, Heller spent seven years directing growth strategy for Falls Church-based PAE, taking it from $1.6 billion in annual revenue to $2.76 billion.

Heller is a graduate of West Point and the University of Pittsburgh where he serves on the Chancellor’s Global Advisory Council and the board of the Business Alumni Association. In 2024, Heller received one of WashingtonExec’s Chief Officer Awards for CEOs, was named one of its Top Execs to Watch and received his eighth Wash100 Award.

As vice president and site executive of Micron Technology Virginia, Micron’s high-tech semiconductor manufacturing facility for computer memory chips, Parks oversees more than 1,600 employees at one of Virginia’s largest exporters. And an upcoming, federally subsidized expansion will see the plant’s workforce nearly double in size, as Micron plans to move its existing DRAM manufacturing from Taiwan to Virginia.

In high school, Parks worked as an electrician before earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics and mathematics from Stephen F. Austin State University. He started his career at Philips Electronics before moving in 2004 to Texas Instruments, where he rose through the ranks, becoming site manager for multiple facilities.

Parks serves on the George Mason University Foundation’s board of trustees, Norfolk State University’s board of visitors and the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s board.

Idaho-based semiconductor manufacturer Micron reported fiscal 2023 revenue of $15.54 billion, compared with $30.76 billion for the previous year. In April 2023, Micron announced the formation of the Northeast University Semiconductor Network, a partnership focused on collectively developing the next generation of the U.S. semiconductor industry’s workforce.

As chair of Gentry Locke’s executive board, which was formed in 2023, Monday leads the board’s work and oversees efforts to recruit, develop and retain legal and staff talent.

Monday was named managing partner of the state’s eighth largest firm in 2013 — making her one of the first women to lead a large law firm in Virginia — a position she held for a decade.

For more than three decades, Monday has represented clients in Virginia’s state and federal appellate courts in cases involving commercial and business disputes, health care, property, personal injury, local government and domestic relations.

A fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, Monday helped to draft new rules for the expanded jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals in Virginia in 2021.

After earning a degree in English from William & Mary, Monday stayed at the university for law school. While visiting her alma mater in October 2023, Monday received the annual Edmund Randolph Award for Excellence in Oral Advocacy. Known as the Silver Tongue Award, the honor recognizes appellate advocates who have improved standards of appellate practice, the administration of justice and ethics in the profession.

President of the firm since 2018, Lauster manages a wide array of innovative projects. One such project is the Virginia Living Museum’s 23-acre campus: the Wild Care Center. Opening in early fall, the 5,000-square-foot facility, which includes numerous sustainable and energy-conserving design features, is creating a window into the world of veterinary and preventative animal care, nutrition and the connection between humans and the environment.

With 2023 revenue of $523.7 million, W.M. Jordan is seeing strong growth; however, Lauster is equally committed to growing the next generation of leaders. He is a steward of W.M. Jordan’s internship program, which was recognized by the Hampton Roads Workforce Council with its 2023 Innovation Awards. 

Lauster previously was an adjunct professor at Tidewater Community College, where he volunteered on several advisory committees. 

A graduate of the CIVIC Leadership Institute in Hampton Roads, he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering technology from Old Dominion University and graduated from Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He serves on the board for the Hampton Roads Chamber and is vice chair of Bon Secours Hampton Roads Foundation’s board.

Shenandoah’s president since 2008, Fitzsimmons joined the private liberal arts school in 2001 as dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

This year has been a big one for Shenandoah, with a record-breaking $20 million donation in May from SU alumnus Wilbur Dove and his wife, Clare, toward building a performing and visual arts center on campus.

Also, the university launched an undergraduate engineering program, master’s programs in mental health counseling and speech language pathology, and a doctorate in medical science during the past academic year. 

In May, Shenandoah was named one of 11 institutions to receive funding from the Stevens Initiative to launch a global virtual exchange connecting young people in the United States, the Middle East and North Africa. And the university’s Hub for Innovators, Veterans & Entrepreneurs (HIVE) is set to open this fall.

Fitzsimmons has a master’s in Latin American studies and a doctorate in political science from Stanford University. 

WHAT I DO FOR FUN: Ski, salsa dance, hike, read, travel

WHAT I WAS LIKE IN HIGH SCHOOL: Driven, a voracious reader, eager to see the world, hopeful to make a difference someday