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Law: F. DOUGLAS ROSS
Ross’ practice focuses on banking, real estate, title insurance, shareholder and partnership disputes, and defamation. His notable courtroom victories include a summary judgment that favored a national underwriter on a title insurance claim, which was upheld by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also defended a client in [...]
Real Estate: TONY FIORILLO
Fiorillo started his career at ECS in 1993 as a field technician, serving as chief operating officer before he was promoted to president in 2020. Founded in 1988, ECS focuses on geotechnical, construction materials, environmental and facilities engineering. It has more than 80 offices and testing facilities in the U.S. and more [...]
Real Estate: ROBERT C. ‘BOB’ KETTLER
Kettler comes from a real estate family. He attended the University of Miami with an interest in architecture. But after taking a year off to sail to South America with a friend, he switched his focus to real estate and business. He also studied at George Washington and American universities, though he didn’t finish his [&hell[...]
Living Legends: MORTON G. THALHIMER JR.
In 1926, Thalhimer’s father started Neighborhood Theatre Inc. (branded as Neighborhood Theaters), which grew to a chain with 25 locations and a combined 76 screens, stretching from Virginia to Washington, D.C., and Maryland. The junior Thalhimer took over the family movie theater business, becoming CEO in 1948. He also served [...]
Government/Politics: CAREN MERRICK
As Virginia’s current secretary of commerce and trade, Merrick came to the job with prior experience working with the governor. When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, she became the founding CEO of the Virginia Ready Initiative — a public-private partnership that Gov. Glenn Youngkin co-founded with his wife, Suzanne. VA[...]
Health Care: SEAN T. CONNAUGHTON
Since 2014, Connaughton has led the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, which runs the state’s Healthcare Emergency Management Program with the Virginia Department of Health. As president and CEO of the trade organization, he strives to support the sustainability of Virginia’s health care system, reduce health ca[...]
Transportation: WILLIAM E. ‘BILL’ WOODHOUR
A.P. Moller-Maersk lost its quarter-century reign as the world’s largest shipping company when it was overtaken by Mediterranean Shipping Company in January. Woodhour has been at the helm of the Danish shipping giant’s U.S. arm, Maersk Line, a Norfolk-based subsidiary founded in 1983 to support the U.S. Navy, since 2016. Mae[...]
Law: RISA L. GOLUBOFF
Since 2015, Goluboff has served as the first woman dean of the University of Virginia School of Law. A renowned legal historian with degrees from Princeton, Yale and Harvard universities, her scholarship and teaching focuses on American constitutional and civil rights law and their historical development throughout the 20th cent[...]
Real Estate: LISA CHANDLER
After an early childhood spent moving around the globe following her father, an Air Force officer, Chandler landed in Norfolk in 1973 at Old Dominion University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental health. In 1991, she joined the realty company started by her mother-in-law, Nancy Chandler; it merged with comp[...]
Manufacturing: THOMAS E. ‘TEDDY’ GOTTWALD
President and CEO since March 2004, Gottwald succeeded his father, Bruce, as chairman of the board a decade later. NewMarket is the parent company of Afton Chemical Corp. and Ethyl Corp., which manufacture lubricants and fuel additives. NewMarket traces its roots to Ethyl Gasoline Corp., a company acquired in 1962 by his late gr[...]
Manufacturing: GARY M. MIGNOGNA
With a nuclear industry career spanning four decades, Mignogna has served as president and CEO of Framatome and its predecessor, Areva Inc., since 2014. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Drexel University and his MBA from the University of Lynchburg. Framatome, a nuclear reactor�[...]
Retail/Wholesale: TRAVIS HILL
This year Virginia ABC CEO Hill had to face customers unhappy about finding their favorite spirits missing from the shelves. The shortage was partially due to disruptions in the supply chain and congestion at U.S. ports, which all retailers have struggled with during the pandemic, according to Hill. Staffing issues also played a[...]
