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Arts | Entertainment | Sports 2023: KEVIN W. LEMBKE
Lembke has spent his entire career in the amusement park industry, starting at SeaWorld Orlando in 2000, and he’s been president of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA since 2018 (except for a brief break in 2019). In preparation for the park’s 2023 season, he oversaw the opening of two new rides: DarKoa[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: MEHUL P. SANGHANI
A Virginia Tech graduate, Sanghani runs one of the fastest growing federal contractors in Virginia’s tech sector. In December 2022, IBM announced it would purchase Octo from Arlington Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum, and Octo is now a part of IBM Consulting’s U.S. public and federal market arm. Born in India,[...]
Education 2023: MICHAEL RAO
In his 14th year at VCU, Rao has had a year of ups and downs. VCU opened its $125 million STEM building in April, and in May it announced an $18 million donation from Washington, D.C.-based real estate analytics company CoStar Group to build an academic building for arts and innovation. However, VCU Health made […]
Agriculture 2023: MATTHEW J. LOHR
Lohr has worked in agriculture and public service for his entire career. As Virginia’s secretary of agriculture and forestry since January 2022, he manages an 810-employee department that oversees Virginia’s largest private sector, which has an annual economic impact of over $105 billion. A three-term state delegate [...]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: WILLIAM W. ‘BILL’ LOVETTE
Lovette was Sauer Brands’ executive chairman and interim CEO in 2019, when Charlotte, North Carolina-based Falfurrias Capital Group purchased Richmond-based family-owned spice company C.F. Sauer. He then made way for Martin Kelly, who became president and CEO of the renamed Sauer Brands later that year. However, as of Janu[...]
Professional Services 2023: GREG WALLIG
In June, Wallig added a new job title: head of public policy for Chicago-based global accounting firm Grant Thornton. He continues to lead Grant Thornton’s Washington, D.C.-Arlington office as well, a position he took in 2018, 13 years after joining the company. As public policy head, Wallig will develop Grant ThorntonR[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: JENNIFER BOYKIN
After receiving her bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and a master’s in engineering management from George Washington University, Boykin began her career at Newport News Shipbuilding in 1987 in the nuclear engineering division, moving up the ranks, before becoming president[...]
Finance | Insurance 2023: VIKRAM ‘VIK’ ATAL
Atal was appointed PRA’s president and CEO in March, after serving as a board member since 2015. He previously spent 27 years in leadership positions with Citigroup Inc. and was president and founder of Atal Advisers LLC, a business and strategy consulting firm. PRA Group, a global player in acquiring and collecting nonper[...]
Real Estate 2023: ROBERT C. ‘BOB’ KETTLER
Coming from a long line of real estate developers, Kettler got his start in real estate in 1974, remodeling apartments while still a student at George Washington University. He left school to focus on work. Discovering a passion for community development, he founded real estate development company Kettler in 1977. Founded in 197[...]
Education 2023: JAVAUNE ADAMS-GASTON
Rising in prominence since Adams-Gaston became its leader in 2019, Norfolk State now ranks regularly in the top 20 historically Black colleges and universities, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. In 2021, Norfolk State received its largest single-donor gift, $40 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, ex[...]
Hospitality | Tourism 2023: NEIL AMIN
As CEO of one of Virginia’s largest hotel operators, Amin brings a mix of hands-on experience and MBA expertise to the company his Indian immigrant father and uncle started in the 1970s. Amin lived with his family in one of their hotels in Chesterfield County until he was 12, pitching in with maintenance and handling [&hel[...]
Finance | Insurance 2023: SIMON R.B. HAMILTON
Hamilton’s first job as a teen was mowing lawns — or, rather, running his own lawn-mowing business, with his brother as his first employee. That enterprising spirit has taken him a long way, first to a perch as vice president of investments at Baltimore-based advisory firm Ferris, Baker Watts, and then to Wise Investor G[...]
