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E.V. Williams |
Eastern Virginia Medical School has
received a $2.7 million unrestricted gift from the estate of E.V.
Williams, founder of a local road construction company.
"Mr. Williams' bequest is a tremendous
gift on behalf of EVMS, and his generosity will help us recruit
outstanding physicians and scientists to our faculty as we continue our
tradition as an innovator in medical education and research," said
President J. Sumner Bell, M.D. "We are very grateful to be the
beneficiary of this farsighted generosity."
Williams was founder and chairman of E.
V. Williams Co., Inc. Established in 1940, his company built most of
the major highways in this region, including I-64 east of Richmond,
parts of I-95, and I-264 from Norfolk to the Oceanfront, as well as
important roads in other parts of the Commonwealth and the nation.
Williams, who died on Nov. 28, 2003, at
the age of 93, was a founding member and past president of the Virginia
Transportation Construction Alliance (VTCA). In a resolution honoring
Williams on May 12, 2000, his 90th birthday, the VTCA Board of
Directors said Williams, "exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit at the
heart of Virginia's transportation construction industry."
"E.V. was a great entrepreneur and a
great businessman," said Robin D. Ray, chairman and president of the
EVMS Foundation. "We are so pleased that he recognized the important
contribution EVMS makes to health care and education in our community,
and that his generosity will help our medical school grow and prosper."
Williams' bequest is the second-largest
gift in EVMS history. In 2001, EVMS received a $2.9 million
contribution from John S. Thiemeyer, Jr., M.D., professor emeritus of
orthopedics and one of the school's founders.
"This was very exciting news,
especially coming in January after we had such strong year-end
fundraising," Ray said.
In December 2004, donors contributed
$795,000 to the EVMS Foundation, and the school's new Annual Fund
Campaign got off to a quick start, raising $270,000 toward its goal of
raising $500,000 in unrestricted contributions by June 30, 2005.
"The new Annual Fund Campaign is a very
important component of our new advancement plan," Bell said. "Our
faculty are very successful in attracting grants for new programs and
projects, but there are few federal programs or private foundations
that fund basic operating expenses. And as a young school, we have not
had the time to build the big endowment that older schools rely on. So
the Annual Fund Campaign is providing a new source of operating revenue
for EVMS."
Bell noted that it would take a $10
million unrestricted endowment to generate $500,000 in annual operating
funds.
The 2004-2005 Annual Fund Committee is
chaired by Frederick V. Martin, chairman of Virginia Investment
Counselors of Norfolk and vice president of development for the EVMS
Foundation, and Wayne F. Wilbanks, managing principal and chief
investment officer of Wilbanks, Smith & Thomas Asset Management of
Norfolk and secretary/treasurer of the EVMS Board of Visitors.
The EVMS Annual Fund Committee includes
members of the EVMS Board of Visitors, EVMS Foundation Board of
Trustees, EVMS faculty, alumni, parents, and community volunteers. |
