Virginia Tech will honor five alumni at commencement
Virginia Tech will honor five alumni this week for their contributions to the university and their communities.
During commencement exercises, the following awards will be presented: the Ut Prosim Medal, the University Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Alumni Distinguished Service Award.
The Ut Prosim Medal is the university’s highest honor and is given for notable and remarkable service to the university. Mary and Willis Blackwood will be honored with the medal this year.
The University Distinguished Achievement Award is given to an individual with nationally distinguished achievement, whether personal or professional, in any field or endeavor of enduring significance and value to society. Gladys West will receive the award this year.
The Alumni Distinguished Service Award honors alumni in recognition of their outstanding service to the university, their communities, and their professions. Greta Harris and Jim Pearman will receive the award this year.
University Commencement is at 8:30 a.m. Friday in Lane Stadium. To watch the ceremony or learn more, visit commencement.vt.edu.
About the recipients
Mary Nolen Blackwood ’73 and Willis P. Blackwood ’72
The Blackwoods met at Virginia Tech. They went on to generously support their alma mater and send two children to Virginia Tech — Morgan Blackwood Patel, a 2003 graduate of the College of Engineering, and Nolen, a graduate of the Pamplin College of Business.
The Blackwoods have both served on the Virginia Tech Foundation Board and the Blackwood Department of Real Estate is named for them.
Mary Nolen Blackwood earned a degree in psychology at Virginia Tech and a master's degree in hospital and health administration in 1979 from the Medical College of Virginia, now Virginia Commonwealth University.
She would go on to spend her career with the Commonwealth of Virginia. She worked as a health planner in the Office on Aging and the chief of staff for the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation, and Substance Abuse Services.
She has served on the College of Science Roundtable since its inception in 1986, becoming its second chair and first woman to chair the position. She was also the first inductee into the College of Science Hall of Distinction and was a recipient of the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2019.
Willis Blackwood earned a bachelor’s degree in business management at Virginia Tech before going on to serve in the Navy. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, he worked in the Richmond Division of Safeway Stores in the real estate department.
There, he found a passion for real estate and would go on to earn his MBA at Virginia Commonwealth University. In 1981, he opened the Richmond office for S.L. Nusbaum Realty, a Norfolk-based regional real estate company, and became a partner in the firm.
In 1988, he founded Blackwood Development Company, which has developed and redeveloped shopping centers across the state.
The Blackwoods split their time between Richmond and Bonita Springs, Florida. Willis Blackwood has served on the boards of Metro Richmond Chamber, Chesterfield Business Council, Richmond Real Estate Group, several country clubs, the Virginia Tech Foundation, and Pamplin Advisory Council.
The Blackwoods generously support the Pamplin College of Business, the College of Science, and Virginia Tech athletics, to name a few. They are members of the university's Ut Prosim Society at the President's Circle level and members of the Legacy and 1872 societies. They also carry the distinction as Foremost Benefactors. They live out the Virginia Tech motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), in their daily lives.
James E. “Jim” Pearman Jr. ’70
Pearman is a proud Virginia Tech alumnus and founder of Partners in Financial Planning in Salem.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the Pamplin College of Business and currently serves on the Virginia Tech Program in Real Estate Industry Advisory Board, the Pamplin Accounting and Information Systems Advisory Board, and the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund board of directors. He is an emeritus member of the Pamplin Advisory Council.
In addition to his service to Virginia Tech, Pearman also sits on several area boards and is active in the financial planning community.
He chairs the board of Feeding Southwest Virginia and Alta Mons Inc., is treasurer and board member of The Hokie Way, and holds board memberships with the Virginia United Methodist Pensions, Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation, and the Eastmont Community Foundation.
Pearman has served in the financial services industry for over 50 years.
He is active with the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and previously served on the Board of NAPFA Consumer Education Foundation. Pearman also has served as an industry expert for the North American Securities Administrators Association Exams Advisory Project Group.
In addition, he has authored the book “Financial Planning for the Older Client” and has been quoted on financial planning topics in a variety of local and national publications.
Pearman and his wife, Brenda, live in Salem and are generous supporters of numerous areas at Virginia Tech including athletics, WVTF, and the Pamplin College of Business. They are members of the Ut Prosim Society President’s Circle and the 1872 and Legacy societies.
Greta J. Harris ’83
Greta J. Harris is a member of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and president and CEO of the Better Housing Coalition, the Richmond area’s largest nonprofit community development corporation. During her career, she has been involved in more than $750 million of investments in affordable housing that has provided good places to call home for more than 20,000 modest income individuals.
Prior to leading the Better Housing Coalition, Harris was vice president for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a national nonprofit community and economic development organization, where she led local offices in southern and midwestern regions.
She earned a bachelor's degree in architecture from Virginia Tech and a master's degree in architecture and urban design from Columbia University.
In addition to serving her alma mater on the Board of Visitors, Harris has been a member of the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design Dean’s Advisory Board and past member of the Virginia Tech Foundation Board. In 2016, she was named the Virginia Tech Black Alumni Philanthropist of the Year.
Harris is active in her community and serves on the boards of the Markel Group, the Greater Washington Partnership, Housing Partnership Network, and ChamberRVA and co-chairs the Virginia Redistricting Commission.
Among her many accolades, Harris was a 2023 Virginia Business Magazine Women in Leadership Award winner. She received the National NeighborWorks Association’s 2021 Practitioner of the Year Award, the Ruth Coles Harris Leadership Institute 2021 Leadership Award, was a Bold Women of 2020 honoree by Richmond Magazine, a 2019 YWCA Outstanding Women Award winner, a 2019 Style Weekly Executive Women in Business honoree, and a 2018 Richmond Times Dispatch Person of the Year honoree. She also was recognized as a 2014 Outstanding Virginian by Equality Virginia.
Harris generously supports Virginia Tech’s diversity and inclusion efforts, including the InclusiveVT Scholarship Fund. She is a member of the 1872 and Legacy societies.
Gladys West ’00
West is a pioneer in mathematics and “hidden figure” who paved the way for the Global Positioning System that revolutionized navigation worldwide.
West has been a trailblazer and lifelong learner from her childhood on a rural Virginia farm to the U.S. Air Force Hall of Fame and to Virginia Tech, where she earned her Ph.D. at age 70.
She graduated first in her high school class and went on to Virginia State College, later renamed Virginia State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1952.
She was a public school teacher before earning her master’s degree from Virginia State in 1955. She went on to the Naval Surface Warfare Center, where she was only the second African American woman hired and among only four African American employees total.
West was an integral part of the team that developed the modern Global Positioning System. She would later go on to serve as project manager for Seasat, the first satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth’s oceans.
West retired in 1998 but continued her education throughout her career and post-retirement. In 2000 she earned a Ph. D. in public administration and policy affairs from Virginia Tech. In 2018 the Virginia General Assembly of Virginia passed a joint resolution honoring her.
