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Manufacturing: ROBERT H. ‘ROB’ SPILMAN JR.
Publicly traded furniture manufacturer and retailer Bassett Furniture Industries was founded in 1902 and continues to be headquartered in Henry County’s Bassett area, part of greater Martinsville. The company sells home furnishings in about 100 retail locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Spilman, who has been with B[...]
Education: MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH
Since becoming Virginia State University’s president in 2016, Abdullah has led the public HBCU to national prominence, as well as a budget surplus after the university was in debt before his tenure. U.S. News & World Report ranked VSU in the top 30 of its Best Overall HBCUs for 2022 and it was also named […]
Education: MICHAEL RAO
Already one of the highest-paid officials in state higher education, Rao recently received an 8% raise. In June, VCU’s board of visitors approved raising his salary to $708,000, citing his fundraising abilities and stewardship of the university and its medical facilities since the pandemic. Since his 2009 appointment as presid[...]
Health Care: RONY THOMAS
During its 40 years, nonprofit LifeNet has assisted with 8 million organ, tissue and cell transplants. It employs more than 1,400 people globally, including 991 in Virginia. Known as an organ procurement organization (OPO), LifeNet connects patients with newly available organs — often kidneys, which are needed by about 80% of [...]
Telecommunications: ERNIE ORTEGA
Ortega has spent his career in the telecom business since the days when a mobile phone couldn’t fit in your pocket. If you saw the movie “Wall Street,” Ortega says, you might recall the Motorola 8000 brick phone — it’s a model he used to sell. Ortega now serves as CEO of GTT Communications, which runs […]
Real Estate: T. RICHARD LITTON JR.
Litton serves as president of HGI, a real estate investment and management firm that reported a gross asset value of more than $19 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The company focuses on office, retail, multifamily and alternative investments throughout the country and the United Kingdom. One of its most famous properties i[...]
Economic Development: Victor Hoskins
Named one of Washingtonian magazine’s 2022 Tech Titans, Hoskins came to Fairfax in 2019 after leading Arlington Economic Development and playing a key role in luring Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 East Coast headquarters to Virginia. In Fairfax, he’s continued attracting major businesses and retaining others, including the North Am[...]
Living Legends: ROBERT DUVALL
Perhaps most famous as Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen in the first two “Godfather” films, Duvall, 91, is still making movies, 60 years after he first hit the silver screen as Boo Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Since the 1990s, Duvall has lived on a 360-acre farm in Fauquier County, and he formerly co-owned [&h[...]
Energy: DIANE LEOPOLD
Entering her 28th year with Dominion, Leopold is responsible for all the Fortune 500 utility’s operating segments, with oversight for Dominion Energy Virginia and Dominion Energy South Carolina, as well as the company’s gas distribution and contracted assets division. In all, she is responsible for nearly 7 million customer [...]
Federal Contractors/Technology: WILLIAM J. ‘BILL’ LYNN III
In June, Leonardo DRS, a U.S. subsidiary of Italian defense contractor Leonardo SpA, announced it would merge with Israel-based Rada Electronic Industries Ltd., with plans to go public by the end of this year. Rada will become a wholly owned Leonardo subsidiary, operating under DRS’s Advanced Sensing and Computing segment. Lyn[...]
Nonprofits/Philanthropy: TED HART
For 30 years, Charities Aid Foundation of America has enabled cross-border giving by Americans to validated charities and charitable projects worldwide. Hart has led the organization for the last decade. His passion for the nonprofit’s work stems from “the privilege of helping our donor clients bring their dreams and prayers[...]
Nonprofits/Philanthropy: KEVIN A. LYNCH
During his four-decade career working closely with people who are blind, Lynch says he’s observed firsthand the unlimited capabilities of this largely untapped workforce. “Without a doubt, there is nothing that people who are blind can’t do,” says Lynch, who has led the nation’s largest employment resource for people w[...]
