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Law 2023: WENDY COLLINS PERDUE
“If you are not having fun,” says Perdue, “you are not doing it right.” A longtime leader in legal education, Perdue joined the faculty of Georgetown University Law Center in 1982, ultimately becoming an associate dean. Since 2011, she has been the University of Richmond’s law dean and specializes in civil procedure, c[...]
Living Legends 2023: GILBERT T. BLAND
As Urban League of Hampton Roads president and chairman, Bland guides an organization focused on enabling African Americans and others in Hampton Roads to secure economic self-reliance, parity, power and civil rights through its services and programs. As a James Madison University student, the Harrisonburg native was a standout [...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: BRIAN KENNER
When Amazon.com was scouting for potential locations for its East Coast HQ2 headquarters years ago, Kenner was Washington, D.C.’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development, a position in which he worked hard to lure the e-tailer to the district, although ultimately Amazon picked nearby Arlington County. Now, Kenner wo[...]
Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: KATHY WARDEN
Warden was named CEO of the world’s third largest aerospace and defense company in 2019 after serving as its president and chief operating officer. Ranked No. 38 on Forbes’ 2022 World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list, she previously worked for General Dynamics and Veridian before joining Northrop Grumman in 2008. Ranked No. [...]
Media 2023: KELLY TILL
In 2022, Till became the first woman to lead the Richmond Times-Dispatch in its 172-year history, after leading Southeastern U.S. regional advertising sales for parent company Lee Enterprises, a position she also holds. Before joining Lee, Till was an ad executive for The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press. An alumna of Old Dominio[...]
Finance | Insurance 2023: RICHARD FAIRBANK
With bachelor’s and MBA degrees from Stanford University under his belt, billionaire Fairbank began his path to a Fortune 500 corner office at Virginia’s Signet Bank. There, he teamed up with Nigel Morris, now managing partner of QED Investors, to co-found a credit card spinoff business that became Capital One Financial, one[...]
Finance | Insurance 2023: JAMES SCHENCK
Since becoming CEO in 2014, Schenck has led a period of growth for PenFed, the nation’s second largest federal credit union, with 2.9 million members. During his tenure, PenFed has grown its assets from $17.6 billion to $35.5 billion in 2022 and more than doubled its membership. The credit union reported $1.18 billion in 2022 [...]
Arts | Entertainment | Sports 2023: TONY BENNETT
The No. 4-seeded Cavaliers suffered a painful loss to No.13-seed Furman University in the first round of this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, but Bennett — who this season became the winningest coach in the team’s history — took the setback in stride, celebrating the Cavaliers’ 25th appearance at the Big Dan[...]
Media 2023: DAVE LOUGEE
Lougee is no stranger to the world of mergers and acquisitions that have become part of the media business. In May, Tegna terminated its merger agreement with New York hedge fund Standard General when the financial agreements needed to fund the deal expired. In 2015, Gannett Co. spun off its broadcasting and digital business to [...]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: REID A. BROWN
What began in 1919 as a bottling operation for cherry cola is now a major beverage-distribution business delivering more than 5 million cases of domestic and craft beers, ciders, seltzers and nonalcoholic beverages annually. Reid Brown is among the fourth generation to run Brown Distributing, joining the family business in 2006. His brother, Jason Brown, […]
Retail | Wholesale | Food | Beverage 2023: TING XU
A Shanghai native, Xu graduated from Old Dominion University and settled in Richmond in 1989. She was working as a computer programmer for the state health department in 1993 when she started a small decorative flag venture in her garage, investing $20,000. Established in part to provide work for her parents, who had been engine[...]
Finance | Insurance 2023: FRANK ROTMAN
Rotman started fintech venture capital firm QED Investors with Capital One co-founder Nigel Morris in 2007. With $4.3 billion under management, QED has invested in more than 200 companies, including Credit Karma, Klarna and SoFi Technologies. As a student at the University of Virginia, Rotman worked as a research assistant at NA[...]
