Youngkin makes five appointments to the UVA Board of Visitors

Five new people will join the appointed body that perhaps makes the most important decisions in the Charlottesville area. Governor Glenn Youngkin selected five people to the University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors on Friday night in time for new terms that began on July 1.

Three of the appointees are Virginia residents and two are out of state residents. One lives nearby UVA in Albemarle County. Three of the five graduated from UVA with economics degrees. 

• Daniel M. Brody of Albemarle County is the founder and president of Health Data Services, Inc. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Brody contributed a total of $80,000 to Youngkin’s campaign, his inaugural committee, and his political action campaign. He is a 1973 graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences with a degree in economics. According to his biography on the Brody Jewish Center’s website, he’s also involved in residential development in Albemarle County. 
• Marvin W. Gilliam, Jr., of Bristol, Virginia had been appointed to a second term ten years after his first expired. According to the Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia, Gilliam is the head of MAM Development and a former partial owner of Cumberland Resources Company, a coal company. Like Brody, he also obtained an economics degree. Gilliam has contributed a total of $150,000 to Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC and $120,000 to the Youngkin campaign. 
• David Okonkwo, MD, PhD of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a Professor of Neurological Surgery at University of Pittsburgh where he is director of the Neurotrauma Clinical Trials Center. Okonkwo earned his undergraduate degree at UVA before getting a master’s and a doctorate at Virginia Commonwealth University. He completed his neurosurgical residency at the UVA Medical Center. According to his biography on the website for UPMC Enterprises, Okonkwo is also team neurosurgeon for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
• David F. Webb of Virginia Beach is the Vice Chairman with CBRE’s Capital Markets Group. CBRE bills itself as “the global leader in commercial real estate services and investment.” Webb leads a group called the “Mid Atlantic Debt & Structured Finance Team” which includes several development projects in Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia. Webb also has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the T.C. William School of Law at the University of Richmond. Webb donated $35,000 to Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC.
• Porter Wilkinson of Bethesda, Maryland is the counselor and chief of staff at the Smithsonian Institute Board of Regents. According to her bio, she has served as law clerk to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and also served in that position then Justice Brett Kavanaugh was on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Wilkinson earned her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina and her law degree from the UVA School of Law. 

The terms of Mark T. Bowles, Elizabeth M. Cranwell, Thomas A. DePasquale, and Babur B. Lateef, M.D. and Jim Murray expired at the end of June.

“Our outgoing board members have served UVA admirably, and we have made tremendous progress toward the goals laid out in the 2030 Strategic Plan,” said University President Jim Ryan in an article posted on UVA Today. “I’m enormously grateful for their leadership and counsel, and look forward to working with our newest members on University priorities in the months and years ahead.”

The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Supervisors is September 13 through September 14. (BOV meeting page)

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