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Media
DOUG DAVIS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND REGIONAL MANAGER, NEXSTAR MEDIA INC., PORTSMOUTH Davis is the point person in Virginia for the country’s largest broadcast television group. Based in Portsmouth, home to WAVY and WVBT’s studios, the New Jersey native came up through the sales and management side of the business, serving in account executive, sales […]
Government | Politics
HALA AYALA DELEGATE, VIRGINIA HOUSE OF DELEGATES; DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR,PRINCE WILLIAM County Part of the new guard of Democratic state lawmakers, Ayala won her seat in the House of Delegates in 2017 by defeating a five-term GOP incumbent. This spring, she beat a full field of opponents to win the Democratic nomination for […]
Education
MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY, ETTRICK While many college presidents enjoy basketball, few have Abdullah’s moves. In March, a video of him tying up an opponent went viral, receiving millions of views and appearing on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Abdullah has overseen dramatic turnarounds at Virginia State University since he became its 14th president in […]
Retail | Wholesale
MICHAEL AKROP CEO, LEESA SLEEP LLC, VIRGINIA BEACH Akrop, who was Leesa Sleep’s president and chief operating officer, earned a promotion in January, becoming the online mattress retailer’s CEO. He has an extensive background in digital startups, having logged nearly a decade at Zappos, the online shoe retailer, and then two years at Vroom, a […]
Energy
EDWARD H. ‘ED’ BAINE PRESIDENT, DOMINION ENERGY VIRGINIA, RICHMOND Baine is an example of the American dream made real. He grew up poor, working on his family’s tobacco farm in Lunenburg County, where, he says, he learned the value of hard work, dedication and responsibility. He subsequently applied that lesson during his more than […]
Health care
NANCY HOWELL AGEE PRESIDENT AND CEO, CARILION CLINIC, ROANOKE Agee leads Carilion Clinic, a nonprofit integrated health system that serves more than 1 million people in Virginia and West Virginia and is the Roanoke Valley’s largest employer. Agee began her career in health care as a nurse, then moved into leadership roles at Carilion. As […]
Law
FARHAD AGHDAMI MANAGING PARTNER, RICHMOND OFFICE, WILLIAMS MULLEN, RICHMOND In his 22-year career with Williams Mullen, the state’s third-largest law firm, Aghdami has focused on high-net-worth individuals and families, middle-market business owners, institutional fiduciaries and charitable entities. An expert in wealth transfer tax and business succession, he has published numerous articles on private-wealth law. He […][...]
Aiming for the max score
As we assembled this second annual edition of the Virginia 500, I found myself visualizing a dartboard — with 500 darts. In choosing the top 500 Virginia executives and power players in business, higher education and government/politics, several are guaranteed to strike the inner bull’s-eye. I’m certain we can all agree that the leaders of […]
Manufacturing
R. MARCUS ‘MARC’ AMMEN CEO, UNIVERSAL FIBER SYSTEMS LLC, BRISTOL Ammen has led the Bristol-based fiber manufacturer for 12 years, overseeing its two business units — Universal Fiber, which makes solution-dyed, synthetic filament-based fibers, and Premiere Fibers Inc., based in North Carolina, which produces manmade fibers. Founded in 1969, the company also has manufacturing facilities […][...]
Arts | Entertainment | Sports
TONY BENNETT DEAN AND MARKEL FAMILIES MEN’S HEAD BASKETBALL COACH, VIRGINIA CAVALIERS MEN’S BASKETBALL, CHARLOTTESVILLE The University of Virginia men’s basketball team fell victim to a positive COVID-19 test in March, forcing it to withdraw from the ACC Tournament — a “gut punch,” Bennett called it. The team was cleared in time to play in […]
Living Legends
FRANK BATTEN JR. CHAIRMAN, DOMINION ENTERPRISES, NORFOLK Batten’s 13-year quest to sell his family’s newspaper holdings was accomplished in May 2021, when Paxton Media Group announced it was purchasing the Landmark Community Newspaper group of 47 daily and weekly newspapers. Landmark had previously sold off The Virginian-Pilot and The Roanoke Times, where Batten once worked […]
Virginia 500
Who are Virginia’s most powerful and influential leaders in business, government, politics and education this year? Find out in the second annual edition of the Virginia 500: The 2021 Power List. Read more about the power list from our publisher and how we assembled the Virginia 500 from our editor. Executives are listed in [...]
