ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996 TAG: 9608270082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors elected Henry Dekker its new rector, or chairman, on Monday.
Dekker served as vice rector since 1991. James Turner, an executive vice president with General Dynamics Corp., was named to that post Monday. Dekker replaced Cliff Garvin, the retired chief executive officer of Exxon Corp., whose term on the board expired this summer.
In the next year, Dekker said, he expects to continue the initiatives already under way. Those include work on the University Plan, a blueprint for the school's next five years, and plans to expand Tech's endowment to $1 billion by 2015.
Dekker, a Norfolk native, came to Virginia Polytechnic Institute on High School Day in 1940 and "fell in love with the mountains and the cadet corps." He was president of the corps in 1942, served during World War II and graduated in 1947. He became treasurer of VPI in 1949.
Dekker went on to a career in the textile business and founded Louis Feraud of America, according to a statement issued by Tech. He retired as vice chairman in 1991. He has been a member of the board of visitors since 1989, and has been active on a variety of university boards. Among his positions: a director of the Virginia Tech Foundation, member of the Pamplin College of Business Advisory Board, member of the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, and chairman of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Alumni Association.
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Dekkerby CNB