Virginia Tech's D.C. area employees, staff celebrate continued expansion

As Virginia Tech’s footprint in the greater Washington, D.C., metro area continues to grow, so does its annual employee appreciation event for the region.

On May 22, area employees and staff members celebrated at the Northern Virginia Center in Falls Church with tacos and ice cream as well as amenities such as massages and a caricature artist.

“You are Virginia Tech,” said Bryan Garey, vice president for human resources, who traveled from Blacksburg for the event. “At the end of the day, Virginia Tech is not about the buildings. It’s not about where we’re located. It’s about you.”

Staff awards were presented, and employees across the region were nominated for their service, including Debbie Cash from the University Libraries, who was honored with the Outstanding Staff Award for the region.

“As an institution, we are deeply invested in this region and its future,” said Julie Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen Dean of Engineering and chair of the Northern Virginia Steering Committee. “I want to express my sincere gratitude to each and every one of you who tirelessly work to make Virginia Tech in the D.C. area a place of learning, research and discovery, innovation, and community.”

Virginia Tech representatives from across the D.C. area, including the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington, Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria, the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, and the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Laboratory in Manassas, also delivered remarks.

Lance Collins, vice president and executive director of the Innovation Campus, thanked all the employees in the region for their hard work over the past year and reaffirmed the opening of Academic Building One, which will open its doors for students and classes in January.

View the picture gallery below from this year’s D.C. area employee appreciation day celebration.