“Award/Recognition” Class Notes

H. MacNeil “Mac” Dobbins (Col ’16 CM) has joined the Bridge Investment Group as Vice President of its Industrial Net Lease Group. He is responsible for acquisitions and asset management for the division’s Private Equity Funds. He previously served as Principal, and earlier as Senior Associate at Gladstone Commercial Corporation, a publicly traded real estate investment trust. He began his financial career and served as a Senior Credit Analyst at United Bank after graduating from UVA in 2016. His office is in Arlington, Virginia.

Mike Smith (Arch ’05) was honored in Mass Transit magazine as a member of the 2021 class of the publication’s “40 Under 40.” The annual feature recognizes 40 up-and-comers in the public transportation industry for their contributions, innovation, leadership, and community impact. Currently serving as Chief of Safety for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, Mike was selected out of over 150 nominations representing a cross-section of disciplines from across the U.S. in both the public and private sectors. He is proud of his humble beginnings as a student driver at UVA’s University Transit Service, a position he held both through all four years of study as an urban and environmental planning major in the School of Architecture, and also after graduating, on a part-time basis limited to late nights and weekends. He has worked in a variety of roles in a 20-year career, in operations, safety, regulatory compliance, and project management.

Steve Nesbit (Engr ’80, ’82 CM) is serving as the 67th President of the American Nuclear Society, the organization for nuclear science and technology professionals.  ANS works to advance, foster, and spur the development and application of nuclear science, engineering, and technology to benefit society.  Elected by the society in 2020, his term of office runs through June 2022.

Kevin Martingayle (Law ’91), a past president of the Virginia State Bar, was recently elected to the governing council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents. He has also held a number of other legal organization leadership positions, including his current service as a member of the executive committee of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Judges & Lawyers Assistance Program, which supports judges, lawyers, law students and legal staff in handling mental health and substance abuse challenges. Kevin resides in Virginia Beach with his wife, Lizzie, and has a trial and appellate law practice.

Walter Calvert (Com ’80 CM) was elected a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel.  The American College of Tax Counsel is a professional association of tax attorneys with fellows limited to a maximum of 700 across the United States.  Fellows must be nominated for membership and must then undergo a rigorous screening process prior to being elected.  Walt is a partner in the transactional Tax practice of the Venable LLP law firm.

Byron Dickson (Arch ’63 CM), lead practitioner at Dickson Architects & Associates, has been appointed to a four-year term on the City of Roanoke Architectural Review Board. Dickson Architects, which serves Southwest Virginia and adjoining states, celebrated its 50th anniversary June 7.

Ralph Aronberg (Engr ’78 CM) was recently awarded Engineer of the Year by the Broward County (Fla.) chapter of The American Society of Civil Engineers.  Ralph has been a member of ASCE for over 40 years, and is now a life member. His specialty is traffic and transportation. He began his career with the Florida Department Of Transportation, then worked for the Broward County traffic engineering division. He opened his own firm in 1983, where his work evolved into forensics.  He has been published in his field on a number of occasions, and is a fellow member of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers.

Mark G. Haley (Col ’78), co-founder and partner at Prism Hospitality Consulting, LLC, was inducted into the Hospitality Finance & Technology Professionals International Hospitality Technology Hall of Fame, the highest level of recognition in the area of technology. Since 1989, 49 individuals have received this award as a reflection of their contributions to the hospitality industry.

Classmates Alan MacKenzie (Col ’88 CM), Steve Furr (Col ’88 CM), Jim Wolfe (Com ’88 CM) and Avron Stoloff (Com ’88 CM) completed the August 2021 Triple Bypass bicycle event in Colorado. The grueling event covers 110 miles and over 10,000 vertical feet in one day.

Hedieh Fakhriyazdi (Arch ’09) Director of Social Responsibility and the Weil Foundation, has been awarded a 2021 Innovation Award by the New York Law Journal for her leadership in making our communities more equitable, inclusive, just and sustainable through philanthropy and social impact initiatives.

Hedieh was recognized as one of the legal industry’s innovative individuals and honored for her achievements leading Weil’s Social Responsibility department and charitable foundation. Her recent accomplishments include the launch in 2019 of the Weil Legal Innovators program, a groundbreaking philanthropic initiative that partners with top law schools and nonprofit organizations to provide annual public service fellowships for rising law students. Hedieh has also launched Community@Weil, enhancing the Firm’s community service platform to help attorneys and staff give back in meaningful ways.

The winners of the Innovation Awards will be recognized in the New York Law Journal’s upcoming Professional Excellence magazine and honored at the New York Legal Awards in New York City on October 13, 2021.

In August 2021, Steven Bingler (Arch ’72) AIA will celebrate the 38th anniversary of Concordia, an Architecture, Planning, and Community Engagement Firm headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana, that he founded in 1983.  Bingler is a leading advocate for innovative, equitable, and community-centered architectural, urban design, and stakeholder engagement solutions. His work has received support from Ford, Rockefeller, Bill and Melinda Gates, and other foundations. His research papers have been widely published and his op-eds have appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Most recently, he was the principal investigator for the Global Transformation Roundtable, a Rockefeller Foundation-funded initiative that produced “Sea Changes,” a document outlining planning principles for communities to address climate change.  Bingler is included in Wikipedia’s roster of internationally acclaimed urban planners.  A native of Charlottesville, he is a member of The Raven Society.

Sarah Yancey (Educ ’66) was elected chair of the board of directors of AFS-USA, the largest partner in a worldwide network of non-profit, volunteer-based international education organizations. A former teacher and assistant principal at Parkway South High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Sarah has been an AFS-USA volunteer for nearly 50 years. 

David Meredith (Com ’03), CEO and Board Director of Everbridge, ranked among Comparably’s “2021 Best CEOs for Diversity” in the largest companies category. Meredith ranked alongside peers from industry leaders including Zoom, Adobe, IBM, Google, Microsoft, Uber and Ford Motor Company.  Comparably, a leading workplace culture site measuring employee sentiment, compiled its annual Best CEOs for Diversity to shine a spotlight on leaders who create inclusive cultures for all.  

Paul A. Lombardo (Grad ’82, Law ’85), Regents Professor and Bobby Lee Cook Professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law, was chosen as the 2021 Jay Healy Health Law Teacher of the Year by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics.