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Members of the Board of Visitors
as Shown by College Catalogs, 1872-1972

Legislation creating the VAMC provided for appointed and ex-officio members. This provision continues for VPI & SU today, although changes have been made regarding the number and qualification of appointees and the offices to be represented ex officio on the board. All appointments have been made by the governor "with the advice and consent of the Senate."


In 1872 the State Board of Education and the president of the State Agricultural Society served on the board in an ex-officio capacity. In 1873 this policy was changed so that only the state superintendent of public instruction and the president of the agriculture society served ex officio. During one of the periods of struggle for control of the College the president of the agricultural society, not being subject to appointment by any elected official, was dropped as ex-officio member. The state superintendent of public instruction continued, however, until 1966. Shortly after 1902 the president of the Board of Agriculture and Immigration (now Commerce) was added as ex-officio member.


Appointments to the board were always made for a specified term of years which did not necessarily coincide with the academic year. Since the College catalogs were published to coincide with the academic years, members often began serving before their names appeared in the catalog or retired from the board before the names were removed.


Adams, B. D., 1913-1920* Anderson, Joseph R., 1872-1873 Armstrong, E. J., 1876-1878
Barker, J. M., 1909-1913* Barton, Joseph M., 1889-1892 Beverley, J. H. C., 1904-1905*
Beverley, R. Carter, 1921-1924 Beverley, Robert, 1919-1921 Beverley, Robert, 1872-1874
Black, Harvey, 1872-1876** Blewett, W. C. (Jr.), 1963-1965 Bliss, C. H., 1881-1882
Boatwright, Mrs. R. G., 1944-1953 Bocock, Thomas S., 1873-1875 Bolling, Mrs. A. Stuart (Jr.), 1967-1971
Bowman, A. M., 1911-1914 Broaddus, Andrew, 1881-1885 Brockenbrough, B. B., 1899-1904
Brown, J. Thompson, 1889-1908; 1912-1921** Bruce, Charles, 1880-1881 Bruce, David K. E., 1946-1947
Buchanan, John L., 1886-1889* Burks, E. C., 1875-1879 Burruss, W. H., 1947-1955
Button, Charles W., 1877-1880 Byrd, Harry F., 1929-1944 Carrington, J. C., 1901-1912**
Carson, R. P., 1880-1881** Carter, H. L., 1889-1892 Casto, Harold, 1970-
Churchman, J. W., 1909* Claytor, Miss Mary Fred, 1953-1961 Clement, G. Frank, 1971-1979**
Cloyd, D. M., 1897-1905 Cloyd, J. M. 1891-1893 Cloyd, Joseph, 1872-1873
Cochran, Alexander B., 1873-1876 Cochran, George M., 1960-1968 Cochran, R. S., 1906
Coles, Walter, 1875-1878 Cowan, John T., 1872-1873 Cowherd, Roderick, 1959-1963*
Craig, R. S., 1914-1918 Cutchins, Clifford A., (III), 1965- Davis, Westmoreland, 1942
DeJarnette, D. C., 1872-1876 Eberwine, Vernon G., 1944-1956** Edmonds, Thomas, 1878-1882
Eggleston, Joseph D. (Jr.), 1906-1912* Eggleston, William, 1876-1879** Erwin, William J., 1960-1968
Eskridge, Allen, 1924-1952 Farr, R. R., 1882-1886* Ferguson, Homer L., 1930-1938
Ferguson, Meade, 1920-1924 Ferneyhough, J. G., 1928-1930 Finney, L. Stanford, 1937-1942*
Fishburn, J. P., 1948-1954 Fitzgerald, T. C., 1889-1896 Furr, G. L., 1954-1962**
Gibbs, Mrs. Mavis M., 1963-1971 Gilmer, Mrs. Turner A., 1953-1961 Givens, J. E., 1968-
Goode, John, 1872-1875 Goodykoontz, Robert O., 1968- Graham, Mrs. Henderson P., 1961-1964
Graves, S. H., 1893-1895 Green, Duff, 1881-1882 Grimsley, D. A., 1880-1881
Hall, Sidney B., 1931-1941* Hancock, John W. (Jr.), 1963-1971 Harrison, C. S., 1880-1881
Hart, Harris, 1918-1930* Harvie, Lewis E., 1872* Hering, E. A., 1893-1897
Hill, W. D., 1900-1901 Horsley, J. R., 1928-1944 Houff, Mrs. Louis A., 1955-1958
Howard, D. J., 1949-1957* Hubbard, E. W., 1881-1885 Johnson, Adger S., 1964-
Johnson, L. E., 1908-1912** Keiley, A. M., 1880-1881 Kent, Robert C., 1875-1876
Kirkpatrick, B. F., 1910-1914 Kizer, C. G., 1905-1910 Kline, L. D., 1908-1912
Kraft, Christopher C., 1970-1978 Lancaster, Dabney S., 1941-1946* Landis, John W., 1966-1970
Lane, Mrs. E. H., Jr. (Helen) 1968-1977 Lane, E. H., 1956-1966 Lawson, J. W., 1875-1878
Lee, Fitzhugh, 1878-1881 Lee, W. H. F., 1873*; 1874-1878; 1886-1888 Leftwich, J. B., 1880-1881
Lester, John C. (Jr.), 1969-1971* Lewis, J. Marshall, 1922-1930 Lovell, John T., 1877-1880
McConnell, Mrs. R. L., 1944-1955 McDowell, James, 1889 McKinney, P.W., 1883-1887
McMath, Albert J., 1921-1923* Magruder, E. W. 1920-1922 Massey, John E., 1890-1898*
Mathews, H. J., 1893-1897 Maynard, H. L., 1894-1899 Mellon, Paul, 1950-1955
Meredith, John A., 1878-1881 Miles, Waldo G., 1966-1970 Miller, G. Tyler, 1946-1949*
Milnes, W. P., 1877-1879 Moffett, W. Stuart, 1930-1936 Moffett, W. Stuart (Jr.), 1952-1960
Montague, E. E., 1918-1920 Moss, R. S., 1918-1943** Mount, W. D., 1914-1918
Musgrave, J. S., 1899-1903 Mustard, W. D., 1883-1887 Nininger, E. D., 1944-1954
Noell, R. J., 1908-1912 Ott, John, 1883-1887 Page, Rosewell, 1912-1913
Pamplin, Robert B., 1971-1979 Paschall, Davis Y., 1957-1960* Payne, A. D., 1886-1888
Payne, F. M., 1891-1895 Pendleton, W. C., 1881-1882 Penn, John E., 1873-1875
Preston, Samuel D., 1952-1960 Price, T. B., 1895-1899 Read, Charles C., 1938-1947
Read, G. M., 1955-1962 Reed, Chas. Hancock, 1949-1958; Rice, F. E., 1880-1881;
Rice Millard B. (Jr.), 1971* Rice W. Thomas, 1961-1968**; Robertson, Wyndham, 1899-1908;
Robinson, Mrs. J. Kenneth, 1971-1979 Ross, J. D. H., 1886-1890; Rowe, C. Eugene, 1968-**;
Ruffner, William H., 1872-1882* Russell, R. A., 1926-1950 Ryan, J. F., 1899-1903
St. Clair, Peyton F., 1906-1914 Sanders, Paul D., 1955-1963 Scruggs, Langhorne, 1880-1881
Shackleford, W. C., 1913-1922 Showalter, Mrs. English, 1959-1968 (Jean) Slater, L. A., 1881-1885
Smith, H. M. (Jr.), 1906-1910, 1912-1920 Smith, J. P., 1874-1877 Smith, Miss Mary Phlegar, 1944-1953
Smith, Oscar F. (III), 1954-1962 Smith, Roy R., 1971-1978 Southall, James W., 1898-1906*
Sproul, W. W., 1924-1937*; 1937-1941 Staples, Waller R., 1886-1888** Stearnes, R. C., 1913-1918*
Stuart, Harry, 1945-1951 Stuart, W. A., 1872-1874 Sullins, David, 1877-1880
Southerlin, William T., 1872-1873 Taliaferro, W. B., 1876-1879 Taylor, James C., 1872*; 1881-1886**
Thomas, Joseph W., 1893-1897 Thornhill, A. B., 1918-1922 Tidball, E. M., 1873-1874
Turnbull, N. S., 1886-1892 Turner, J. A., 1912-1920 Tyler, J. Hoge, 1887-1890**
Tyssowski, John, 1956-1960 Vawter, Charles E., 1886-1899** Venable, A. R. (Jr.), 1888-1894
Walker, Frank S., 1920-1926 Walker, Gilbert C., 1872* Walton, Mrs. H. H., 1944-1955
Wampler Charles W., 1942-1959* Wampler, Charles W. (Jr.), 1965-1969* Watkins, J. B. 1903-1908; 1912-1928**
Watts, Robert B., 1920-1924 Webb, L. W., 1942-1952 Wharton, Gabriel C., 1874-1877**
Whitehurst, James L., 1970-1974 Wilhelm, Mrs. Jane Gilmer, 1961-1968 Wilkerson, Woodrow W., 1960-1966*
Will, Erwin H., 1958-1966 Wilcox, Bolling, 1883-1887 Williams, J. H., 1881-1883
Williams, Wyatt A., 1962-1970 Wine, William E., 1943-1954** Wood, T. Gilbert, 1922-1930
Woods, J. P., 1924-1948** Woods, Micajah, 1911 Wright, T. Judson, 1924-1928
Wyatt, Harry C., 1962-1970** Yates, Mrs. E. Floyd (Mary), 1955-1963


* Ex-officio member
** Also served as rector of the board

Source: Kinnear, Duncan Lyle, The First 100 Years: A History of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Blacksburg, Virginia: Virginia Polytechnic Institute Educational Foundation, 1972), Apprendix I, p. 476.

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Last Updated on: Monday, 11-Mar-2002 17:34:09 EST