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The late Charles W. Steger, Virginia Tech’s 15th president, is one of the two 2018 recipients of the Baldwin Memorial Town and Gown Award.
The other recipient is longtime Virginia Tech public relations officer, Lawrence Hincker. Named in honor of the late Vernon L. Baldwin, a longtime Virginia Tech faculty member, and his wife, Lois, the award is conferred upon individuals who help make significant contributions to further positive relations between Blacksburg and Virginia Tech and/or for long service to both the Blacksburg Community and Virginia Tech.
President Steger was recognized for his many years of service to advancing Virginia Tech and the greater university community, and particularly how he fostered quality of life improvements throughout Blacksburg.
He served virtually his entire professional career at the university and the last 14 years as president. He was instrument in transforming Virginia Tech while growing enrollment, vaulting it into the ranks of the top 40 research universities nationally, expanding its footprint around the state and the globe, overseeing the largest building boom in university history, and of course, gaining entry into the Atlantic Coast Conference fulfilling a half-century long dream of Hokies everywhere.
However, the Baldwin Award is conferred for community service in addition to university service. Not commonly known is Steger’s support for K-12 education. Steger was instrumental in a land-transfer deal that enabled construction of the new Prices Fork Elementary School in Montgomery County. Around 2007, the county school system was stymied in its search for land to replace the old Prices Fork school. Steger oversaw a complicated land swap arrangement between the county and university where Virginia Tech agricultural land became the sit of the new school, which opened in 2011.
His support for building a new high school in Blacksburg following the collapse of the BHS gym significantly influenced the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in its difficult decision to fund a new school amidst many other school priorities. In addition to his obvious interest in the power of education, Steger knew that successful faculty recruitment depended upon having quality local schools.
In the wake of several studies by the Town of Blacksburg to improve the community’s downtown and bolster its business environment, he lent his support to creation of the Blacksburg Partnership. Today the Partnership continues its work to improve quality of life in the Blacksburg community and beyond.
Steger was an unabashed supporter of the arts and, early in his tenure as president, he championed a new campus home for the arts, now known as the Moss Arts Center. Although members of his leadership team wished to site the planned performing arts center near U.S. 460 highway and the university’s new hotel Steger insisted it be located adjacent to Blacksburg’s downtown. A student of urban environments, he knew the center would contribute to downtown vibe and vitality.
Steger regularly met with town leadership and encouraged his own leadership team to become and stay involved in community organizations. Clearly, Virginia Tech’s growth in research and enrollment while advancing the university’s national and international structure has contributed to the strong economic climate in Blacksburg and the New River Valley. Charles W. Steger was the driving force behind decades of university and community growth.
The Community Foundation of the New River Valley manages the Baldwin Memorial Award Fund and contributes $500 to a charity designated by the awardee. Steger’s widow, Janet, designates his 2018 award to the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Larry Hincker is a founding director of the Blacksburg Partnership, the economic development arm of the town and remains on the board of directors. The Blacksburg Partnership is comprised of civic and business leaders from town government, Virginia Tech, and the local business community and seeks to improve local quality of life and the business climate in the greater Blacksburg area.
He served more than a decade on boards of the former Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce and the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and was among a small group on the Blacksburg Chamber board working in concert with the Christiansburg Chamber effectuating the merger that formed the unified group now known as the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce.
He was among a small group of university leaders who met monthly with the Town of Blacksburg leadership team addressing issues of mutual concern. He served on the Town’s Downtown Advisory Group and its Marketing Advisory Group as well as the South Main Street Task Force.
In 1990, Hincker launched a decades-long brand management program to help build name recognition for Virginia Tech, the name derived from the university’s legal title, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
In the following decade, Hincker led a university-wide integrated marketing program coupled with university strategic goals and the tagline, Invest the Future. Hincker then launched the university’s first ever national advertising plan supporting brand efforts and undergraduate recruitment.
Upon his retirement, Virginia Business Magazine said: “He’s the person who made VPI into Virginia Tech”.
Hincker designates his Baldwin award check to be made payable to the Christmas Store.
— Submitted
