Trani Built a Better VCU

Eugene P. Trani has been president of Virginia Commonwealth University for 19 years. Under his leadership, the university has become the largest in the Commonwealth of Virginia. A large part of the inner city of Richmond has been transformed from what was a rapidly decaying part of our city into a bustling, vibrant area. All of us should be eternally grateful. The transformation has been truly amazing.

I have often referred to Gene as the "spark plug" of Richmond. Gene has accomplished so much during his 19 years that it is difficult to highlight all of his successes, but at the risk of offending a few, the following are some of them:

• The School of Engineering enrolled its first students in 1996 and today has an enrollment of 1,200 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. Thanks, Gene, for embracing this vision and overseeing its success.

• The Massey Cancer Center not only has a new, state-of-the-art main facility downtown, but it also has expanded to multiple locations in our community. The facility at Stony Point is the largest of these community branches and is simply fantastic.

• Gene has overseen the expansion and building of a new business school with the help of both the Snead and Markel families as well as the state legislature.

• There has been a total revitalization and rebuilding of the main campus at VCU for not only the academic programs, but for the athletic programs as well.

• The Virginia BioTechnology Research Park was Gene's vision. He revitalized a portion of our city that was vacant, unsightly land. Today, there are many buildings that have been built that have resulted in not only significant economic development for Richmond and our community, but have fostered research in many different disciplines.

• The research budget for VCU has dramatically in creased during Gene's tenure. This is very important because research attracts outstanding investigators and faculty, which in turn attracts outstanding students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. This is necessary to foster economic development.

During the earlier years, Gene was able to lead VCU Life Sciences, which included the hospital and related functions, to form a separate entity from the academic university. It is now known as the VCU Health System, with its own board of directors. It certainly has created a major improvement in both the medical care in our community and the renovation and building of new structures for excellent education and leading research efforts.

All of the projects that Gene has led have probably had a construction cost of well over $2 billion. Part of the cost was funded through major capital campaigns, the most recent of which was a successful campaign that raised over $400 million.

During Gene's distinguished tenure, the VCU student body underwent a transformation as well, seeing an increase in average SAT scores and grade-point averages. International student enrollment exploded, bringing another layer of diversity to the campus.

Gene also forged partnerships with numerous international universities and established VCU's presence in the Middle East as the first American university to offer a degree to students in Qatar's Education City.

As he skillfully managed all of these aspects of a university presidency, Gene also exhibited a personal devotion and leadership to our community and a commitment to service.

He served as chair of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce and as chair of Richmond Renaissance, the predecessor to today's Venture Richmond. His leadership was instrumental in the diversification of the Richmond economy. He was a full and committed partner in pushing the local economy to new heights -- by bringing a higher awareness of the importance of scientific discovery and unbelievable educational opportunities.

In addition, Gene continued to pursue his other passion, U.S. history and foreign affairs, remaining a pre-eminent scholar in these areas and publishing several books.

I would be remiss if I did not mention that Gene is also fortunate to have a great wife who has supported him in all of his endeavors. Lois is a wonderful and caring person and has always been at Gene's side. I suspect the old saying of behind every successful man is an even more successful woman surely applies to the Tranis!

All in all, Gene Trani will stand as a model for other university presidents nationwide who aspire to leave a lasting legacy. His commitment to education, research, patient care, and the community is exemplary. His desire to make a difference in the community at large is commendable. I hope many others will look to him as an example of greatness.

William H. Goodwin Jr. is chairman CCA Industries Inc.