Spectrum - Volume 17 Issue 13 November 17, 1994 - Russell announces retirement

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Russell announces retirement

By David Nutter

Spectrum Volume 17 Issue 13 - November 17, 1994

George "Buddy" Russell, vice president for alumni relations, has announced his retirement effective March 1, 1995.

Russell, who has served as vice president since 1991, has been with the university since 1956. He joined the Extension Division first as an assistant county agent, rising to become a professor and director of resource development and home economics.

"Our alumni are fortunate to have had Buddy's long-time leadership. We are grateful to Buddy for his many loyal years of service," said university President Paul Torgersen.

"I am very excited about my retirement," Russell said. I have been at Virginia Tech for a very long time. Like a lot of people, there are a number of things that I have been putting off over the years, and I welcome the opportunity to have the time to work on those things. But I'll still be around, helping out where I can."

Russell joined the Virginia Tech Alumni Association in 1968 as director of alumni affairs. He oversaw the creation of new alumni activities as thousands of new Tech graduates joined alumni ranks after the rapid university expansion in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.

Russell had served as executive vice president for a decade of the then-independent Alumni Association. In 1991, President James McComas made Alumni Relations a component of the university structure.

Russell received his bachelor's degree from Virginia Tech in 1953, earning his master's from the University of Maryland and doctorate from the University of Wisconsin.

He was a National 4-H Fellow at the University of Maryland and has received fellowships from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Extension Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Wisconsin.

Torgersen said that a search for a new vice president would begin shortly. (Please see additional information on the search in the University Council story on page 3. )