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Education 2024: MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH
A scan of Abdullah’s accomplishments since joining the public, historically Black university in 2016 makes clear why his résumé includes so many accolades, prestigious board appointments and spots on top 10 and “best of” lists — not to mention a multimillion-dollar contract to stay on as president through 2029. Under h[...]
Living Legends 2024: PAUL B. MANNING
In January 2023, Manning and his wife, Diane, donated $100 million to the University of Virginia to create the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, which will advance research into new medical treatments, such as cellular and gene therapies, nanotechnology and immunotherapy. U.Va. broke ground on the institute in D[...]
Economic Development 2024: WILL PAYNE
Payne and his team helped secure a 65,000-acre development deal in Southwest Virginia, announced in November 2023, with Fortune 100 energy company Energy Transfer as part of the Energy DELTA Lab initiative. His team is leading a 10-year strategy, developing the land with projects that could generate 1 gigawatt of power. The deal[...]
Law 2024: DAVID C. BURTON
Burton, who specializes in labor and employment law, has defended employers in federal court cases involving disability, the Family and Medical Leave Act and age discrimination. He’s also defended clients in claims brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and has represented management in labor contract negotiati[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: JOHN WASSON
Since joining ICF International in 1987, Wasson has risen to become the global consulting and technology services provider’s chairman and CEO. During the past two decades, ICF has doubled in size every five years on average. It reported fiscal 2023 revenue of $1.96 billion, up 10% from the previous year. Wasson, who holds a ba[...]
Media 2024: KELLY TILL
After 24 years as an advertising executive with Tribune Publishing’s The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press, Till became the first female publisher in the 172-year history of the Richmond Times-Dispatch in 2022. She also serves as regional vice president of sales for the newspaper’s parent company, Lee Enterprises. Till joined [...]
Professional Services 2024: BILL MARX JR.
Marx became Grant Thornton’s D.C. market managing principal in July, leading the Arlington regional office for the Chicago-based U.S. arm of the global accounting firm network. He succeeds Greg Wallig, who left in June. With more than 25 years of experience, Marx has been a tax principal at Grant Thornton for 13-plus years. [...]
Manufacturing 2024: PRABHAT JAIN
Jain has been CEO of Virginia Transformer, the continent’s largest U.S.-owned power transformer manufacturer, since 1982 — 14 years after he arrived from India, mechanical engineering degree in hand. Over 42 years, he has grown the company from 35 employees to more than 2,700 across six plants. Jain started as a machine sh[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: JOHN S. MENGUCCI
A 1980 McDonald’s All-American High School Band drummer, Mengucci aspired to have a career in music, but his father suggested he explore the more practical emerging field of computers. So, Mengucci earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Clarkson University and an MBA from Syracuse University. Previously CACI’s[...]
Real Estate 2024: BRENDAN BECHTEL
Serving as CEO since 2016 and chairman since 2017, Bechtel is the fifth generation to lead his family-owned global engineering, construction and project management company. Ranked the nation’s second largest construction company by Engineering News-Record, Bechtel Corp. has completed more than 25,000 projects in 160 countries [...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2024: CAREY A. SMITH
A six-time winner of Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 Award recognizing leading government contracting executives, Smith joined Fortune 1000 defense contractor Parsons in 2016 and quickly rose through its ranks; today, she serves as chair, president and CEO. Smith helped take Parsons public in 2019 and led its acquisition and integr[...]
Law 2024: THE HON. S. BERNARD GOODWYN
It’s little wonder Goodwyn’s classmates at Southampton High School handed him the “most likely to succeed” superlative. Quarterback of the high school football team, Goodwyn was also president of the student body and valedictorian. Goodwyn headed to Harvard, where he played football and ran track. An economics major, Goodwyn graduated magna cum laude. After earning […]
