Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) soon will announce the appointments of Thomas Saunders III of New York and Thomas Farrell Jr. of Richmond to the University's Board of Visitors, sources close to the governor confirmed yesterday.
Current Board members William G. Crutchfield Jr. and Terence P. Ross will also be re-appointed to serve additional terms.
Current members James C. Wheat III and Walter F. Walker will not be reappointed.
Of the 16 Board members, only these four were up for reappointment because their terms were completed. All members serve four-year, staggered terms and are eligible for reappointment once.
Saunders currently serves as the co-chairman of the University's capital campaign, which netted a total of $1.43 billion and ended December 1.
Because of his huge and ongoing success in the groundbreaking campaign, "Saunders was a natural choice, and the administration is obviously delighted with his appointment," Government Prof. Larry J. Sabato said.
A graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and the University's Darden business school, Saunders now serves as chairman of the Darden Business School Association and is a founding partner of the private equity firm Saunders Karp & Co.
Saunders has had an "extraordinarily successful business career in New York," Board Secretary Alexander G. "Sandy" Gilliam said.
Saunders has donated generously to the Darden School and the University as a whole, he added.
Farrell now serves as the chief executive officer of Virginia Power and Dominion Resources.
"He is a terrific addition to our board because of his corporate experience and his reputation to the corporate community both nationally and in Virginia," Sabato said.
A graduate of both the College and the University's law school, Farrell has worked at the law firm of McGuire, Woods, Battle & Booth.
While an undergraduate, Farrell received the University's prestigious Gray-Carrington award.
Both new appointees are "great guys with excellent experience," Gilliam said. "They will make great additions to the Board."
The reappointees come as no surprise, Sabato said.
Ross is "close to both Republican governors [Allen and Gilmore] and their staffs," he said, and Crutchfield is a local resident of Charlottesville.
It would have been difficult to remove a member with community ties after the recent effort by local Del. Mitch Van Yahres (D-Charlottesville) to pass legislation adding an additional local resident to the Board, he added.
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