“Award/Recognition” Class Notes

Brian C. Drummond (Col ’80 CM) has been elected to the board of trustees of the George Mason University Foundation for a three year term. Brian is currently serving his second three year term on Virginia Bar Council. He continues to practice law in Northern Virginia, and he divides his time between his homes in West Falls Church and Cocoa, FL. 

Frank Sica (Arch ’78) was honored with two awards from the American Institute of Architects. Sica received AIA New York State’s prestigious Henry Hobson Richardson Award,  which recognizes AIA members practicing in the private sector who have made significant and transformative contributions to the quality of New York public architecture. He also received this year’s Robert and Louise Bethune award from the Buffalo/WNY AIA in recognition of a lifetime of notable contributions to the profession of architecture through practice, mentorship, and community leadership.

Ed Coleman (Col ’04) was selected to the 2023 “Legal Elite” list by Business North Carolina magazine for his litigation law practice. Inclusion is based entirely on peer review and fewer than 4 percent of the lawyers in North Carolina are recognized on this list. Coleman is a partner at Ragsdale Liggett PLLC in Raleigh, North Carolina and practices in civil litigation defense.

Alison Deich (Col ’10) has been named to Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PPLC’s partnership. Deich is a partner in the law firm’s antitrust practice, where she represents a wide range of plaintiffs in antitrust, civil rights and environmental litigation. She is currently working on a number of high profile antitrust cases such as Jien v. Perdue Farms, where the firm represents a proposed class of poultry plant workers. 

James Lewis (Col ’76 CM) has been elected to a two-year term as Chief Judge of the Virginia Beach Circuit Court.

Ed Ehler (Educ ’68) marked the 55th anniversary of the 1968 men’s gymnastics team, which defeated Virginia Tech at Tech. Ehler, a former captain of the West Virginia University team, coached the UVA squad at the invitation of faculty member Edward Ratliff “Butch” Slaughter, while pursuing his master’s degree in education.

W. Lee Jones (Arch ’82) has been awarded the AIA Charlotte Citizen Architect Award by the Charlotte American Institute of Architects. The award recognizes the work of architects who serve as elected or appointed officials, public administrators or institutional leaders and establish and contribute to the development of laws, regulations, policies, or initiatives that promote excellence in architecture. Jones serves as park and recreation director for Mecklenburg County, N.C.

In addition, the county’s Park and Recreation Department received the Great Public Space Award for Romare Bearden Park at the City of Charlotte’s Urban Design Awards. The goal of the local awards program is to recognize and celebrate quality urban design in Charlotte, while encouraging continued community discussion around what makes for unique and great places.  This is the second year in a row that the department has received an award from the organization. Last year, the department received the Merritt -New Construction Award for the Eastway Regional Recreation Center.

Steve Collins (Col ’83) has been named Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press Association. He is the state house reporter for the Sun Journal, in Lewiston, Maine, and a co-founder of Youth Journalism International, a Maine-based nonprofit that teaches and publishes students around the world.

Dr. Kern Jackson (Col ’87 CM) was delighted to return to UVA and be recognized by the Virginia Film Festival for the screening of Descendant on Nov 5. Descendant was awarded the Special Jury Award: Creative Vision in the U.S. Documentary Competition during the Sundance Film Festival. Netflix has acquired the documentary, co-presenting the film with former President and First Lady Michelle and Barack Obama’s media company Higher Ground. In addition, the vision, support and partnership of Participant Media continues to inspire the visibility of storytelling. Co-writing and serving as co-producer for this film elevates the visibility of a collection of Jackson’s archived oral histories and interviews with informants – an accomplishment and sacred honor. As a folklorist, Jackson’s preoccupation is with the nuances, the nooks and crannies of culture, as inspiration for honoring the ancestors and the people of Africatown, U.S.A., in Mobile, Alabama.

Paul W. Hobby (Col ’82 CM), founding partner of Genesis Park and GP Capital, has been inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame Foundation. The foundation honors the accomplishments and contributions of outstanding business leaders by celebrating and telling their stories.

Craig W. Sampson (Col ’90, Law ’93 CM) has been named president of Barnes & Diehl, P.C. in Richmond, Virginia. Sampson serves on the board of governors for the Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar and is a coauthor of Family Law: Theory, Practice, and Forms, a volume in the Virginia Practice Series that is published annually by Thomson Reuters. Sampson is the son of Thomas W. Sampson (Col ’64) and parent of Sabrina Sampson (Col ’21 CM).

J. Kevin Moore (Col ’83 CM) has been named to the 2022 Northern California Super Lawyers list for construction litigation. He is an attorney at Bold, Polisner, Maddow, Nelson & Judson in Walnut Creek, California.

Travis McDonald (Arch ’80 CM) received the UVA School of Architecture’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2021. The award recognizes exceptional graduates from the School of Architecture who have demonstrated creativity, innovation, leadership and vision in their body of work, as well as in their service to UVA. McDonald has directed the restoration of Thomas Jefferson’s retirement retreat Poplar Forest since 1989. McDonald has also served on the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee for the University since 2007, and his book on Jefferson and Poplar Forest will be published by the UVA Press in the spring of 2023.

Bill Campbell (Engr ’60, ’66 CM) of Williamsburg, Virginia, was inducted into the James Blair Society of the College of William and Mary on Feb. 12, 2022. The James Blair Society is an organization that consists of those who have contributed at least $1 million to the College of William and Mary. The funds will be used to establish a scholarship in his name for students who are residents of Virginia and whose major is physics.

Angelo Antidormi (Col ’99 CM) has been promoted to director of acquisitions by The Procopio Companies, a fourth-generation, full-service real estate development and construction management firm. In his new role, he will lead the acquisitions team through the acquisitions, entitlement, and design phases, building and maintaining Procopio’s portfolio pipeline as the firm targets continued expansion.

Joseph W. Brown (Col ’65 CM), Of Counsel, Jolley Urga Woodbury & Holthus Attorneys at Law, received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award from Nellis-Creech Air Force Base. The award honors Brown’s 32-plus years of remarkable support to Nellis and Creech. This is the first time the award has been presented by the Nellis Support Team.

Brown has been a valued and treasured member of the Nellis Air Force Base, Creech Air Force Base and Las Vegas communities for many years. He is a former U.S. Marine, one of the founders and former chair of the Nevada Military Support Alliance and a former honorary commander and vice commander of the Nellis Support Group to the Commander of the Air Combat Command, and, until recently, had been honorary commander for the 526th Intelligence Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base.

Brown also received the National Guard Association of the United States Patrick Henry Award, which provides recognition to officials and civic leaders who, in a position of great responsibility, distinguished themselves with outstanding and exceptional service to the Armed Forces of the United States and the National Guard.