University's anniversary book available
Spectrum Volume 19 Issue 14 - December 5, 1996
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of Virginia Tech's founding in 1872, Tech's Office of University Relations is publishing a special coffee-table book, which will be available in early December from Harmony House Publishers.
Titled Images & Reflections: Virginia Tech, 1872-1997, the 112-page book features nearly 70 color photographs taken by an award-winning photographer, about 80 sepia-tone photographs from the university's archives, and summaries of the administrations of Virginia Tech presidents from Charles L.C. Minor to Paul E. Torgersen. Edited by Larry Hincker, associate vice president of University Relations, and Clara B. Cox, manager of public-service communications, the publication includes a foreword by Alumni Distinguished Professor James I. "Bud" Robertson Jr. Cox wrote the historical text.
Most of the color photographs were shot by Todd Buchanan, a free-lance photographer from Glen Ellyn, Ill., whose work has been published in such magazines as National Geographic, Time, Newsweek, Life, and Geo. While working at two newspapers, Buchanan was part of two Pulitzer prizes, one for team coverage of the 1984 Olympics and another one in 1989 as part of staff coverage of a bus crash.
The photographs from the university's archives cover 125 years of Virginia Tech history, beginning with the school's founding in 1872 as Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. Among them are shots of buildings and facilities that no longer exist, campus scenes, student life, and each president.
The historical text provides overviews of the university's presidential administrations, including that of Scott Shipp, who served less than two weeks, and the two different terms of John L. Buchanan. Two chapters are devoted to the 26-year administration of Julian A. Burruss.
To order the book, which costs $39.95 plus postage and handling, call Harmony House at 1-800-809-9334.