Appointed/elected
Nancy Grden, associate vice president of Old Dominion University’s Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, has been appointed the initial executive director of the Hampton Roads Maritime Collaborative for Growth & Innovation, which aims to expand the role of maritime in the region’s economic development. Grden also will serve as special assistant to the university president on maritime initiatives and will co-lead with faculty on one of the new collaborative’s initiatives: to position the college as a globally recognized academic institution focused on the maritime ecosystem for degree programs, research and innovation.
Frank McKenna, cancer survivor, personal trainer and owner of Beach Better Bodies, was appointed to participate as a consumer reviewer in a scientific peer review to evaluate research applications submitted to the Lung Cancer Research Program, a congressionally directed medical research program. Consumer reviewers represent the collective view of patients by commenting on the impact of research on issues such as diagnosis, treatment and quality of life. Scientists, other reviewers and McKenna voted on how a $14 million congressional appropriation for fiscal year 2020 will be spent on lung cancer research.
Dr. Ethlyn McQueen-Gibson has been appointed as chair of the board of directors for the Hampton Roads American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for a two-year term. With a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Ursuline College, she is an associate professor at Hampton University’s school of nursing and the inaugural director of its Center for Geriatric Excellence and Minority Aging. Among other boards and commissions, she also serves on the Virginia Governor’s COVID-19 Long Term Care Task Force and the Health and Human Services Federal Advisory Council to Support Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. Additionally, she volunteers at the Community Free Clinic of Newport News.
Joe Taylor, president and CEO of Taylor’s Do it Center and Pleasants Hardware, was elected vice chair of the board of directors for Do it Best Corp. He is currently serving a three-year term on the 12-person board, which includes member-owners from across the country. Taylor’s Do it Center and Pleasants Hardware are member-owners of the Fort Wayne, Indiana-based co-op, the only U.S.-based hardware lumber and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry. Do it Best Corp. has annual sales nearing $4 billion, supporting thousands of independently owned locations throughout the United States and more than 50 other countries.
Awards and honors
Joanne “Jo” Cross, a real estate agent with Long and Foster Realty, was named to the Virginia Realtors Hall of Fame by the Virginia Realtors at its virtual 2020 awards ceremony on Sept. 30. The honor is usually reserved for one or two people annually and recognizes those who have made extraordinary and distinguished contributions to the real estate profession and Virginia markets for at least 25 years. Among other awards, Cross is a Realtor Emeritus and has been active on the national association level continuously for at least 40 years.
Lawson has received the 2020 Multifamily Project of the Year Award for Seaside Harbor Apartments from the Home Builders Association of Virginia, a trade association dedicated to enhancing and protecting housing in Virginia. Seaside Harbor was selected for the award for its overall architecture, design appeal, functionality and creative plan integration in apartment living. It is an eco-friendly EarthCraft Certified state-of-the-art workforce housing community located three blocks from the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach’s ViBe Creative District. The community provides affordable housing with high-end amenities to low-income families in the Virginia Beach resort area.
Donations and Grants
Animal Resources of Tidewater has received a $33,000 grant from the William H. Donner Foundation to support its medical assistance program, which provides crucial veterinary care for Hampton Roads pets whose owners cannot afford it. Between 2015 and 2019, $565,000 was spent on this program designed to help families suffering financial difficulties keep their pets healthy and out of shelters. The save rate for sheltered pets in Hampton Roads was 71% in 2015 and rose to 82% by the end of 2019. The grant will bring the organization closer to its goal of a 90% save rate in the region.
Smithfield Foods has donated $100,000 to the commonwealth to support programs for homeless veterans and their families, adding to more than $210,000 in previous contributions. The donation from the company’s philanthropic arm, The Smithfield Foundation, was presented to the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation and will be designated for its Veteran Homeless Fund. The foundation established the fund to provide one-time gap assistance to homeless veterans in the process of being housed and those in danger of becoming homeless. In 2015, Virginia became the first state in the nation to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to functionally end veteran homelessness.
Education
Old Dominion University is the first academic research facility in the country to have a School of Cybersecurity offering interdisciplinary degree programs for both undergraduate and graduate students. Expanding from the college’s existing Center for Cybersecurity Education and Research, the school was launched during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month on Oct. 1. Research scientists will be hired in the upcoming year and more than three dozen faculty across campus will be affiliated with the school. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, cybersecurity jobs are now growing faster than the average for all other occupations.
