New University of Richmond Scholarship Honors McGuireWoods Chairman
September 12, 2002
The Robert L. Burrus Jr. Scholarship Program for Developing Leaders, named in honor of the chairman and senior partner of McGuireWoods LLP, was announced at a University of Richmond luncheon held in Jepson Hall today. Burrus also is a member and former rector of the university's board of trustees. The luncheon was hosted by William E. Cooper, president of the University of Richmond, and Richard J.M. Poulson, executive vice president and senior advisor to the chairman of Smithfield Foods Inc.
The scholarship will help underwrite the tuition costs of deserving candidates in the university's new Executive Master's Program in Leadership Studies. The program, designed for professionals from all sectors-business, government and non-profits-will start its first class in fall semester 2003.
Kenneth P. Ruscio, dean of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, said: "This degree will offer courses in organizational change, ethics, and the history and philosophy of leadership and offer master's candidates the opportunity to expand their intellectual capacity as leaders." Selective and rigorous, the master's program will provide an interdisciplinary, strategic and action-oriented systems approach to leadership issues and challenges, according to Ruscio.
Poulson worked with the university to initiate the funding of a scholarship to honor Burrus, who serves on Smithfield's board of directors. Poulson said: "It is a singular pleasure to be able to honor Bob Burrus, a man who never sought recognition, but who is a credit to his profession, McGuireWoods and the University of Richmond."
After the initial contribution, a matching fund initiative raised more than $375,000 for the scholarship's endowment fund. The drive was co-chaired by McGuireWoods Managing Partner William Strickland and Gilbert E. "Bud" Schill Jr., a McGuireWoods partner in the firm's Commercial Litigation Department.
Burrus received a B.A. degree from the University of Richmond in 1955. He learned of the scholarship being established in his name a week before the luncheon. Burrus told contributors at the luncheon: "Recent media coverage of lapses in the public and private arenas point to the importance of personal integrity and the need for this type of program. And those who benefit through the scholarship will learn true leadership stems from sound judgment ... not just seeking personal benefit."
University of Richmond President William E. Cooper said of the new scholarship in Burrus's honor: "Bob Burrus has distinguished himself as the leader of one of the nation's outstanding law firms and as an alumnus and rector of the University of Richmond. It is most fitting that a scholarship for developing leaders be named after him - one of Richmond's finest." Last spring, the university honored Burrus with its Trustees' Distinguished Service Award for his many years of service to the university.
McGuireWoods is one of the 50 largest law firms in the United States, with approximately 600 lawyers in 14 offices throughout the United States, Europe and Central Asia, serving clients and affiliations throughout the world For more information, visit the firm's Web site at www.mcguirewoods.com.
The University of Richmond is a private, highly selective university consistently ranked among the nation's top universities by all of the leading college guides. Richmond is noted for its challenging academic programs, excellent facilities, and strong financial resources-including an endowment of approximately $1 billion. The university has a full-time enrollment of approximately 3,400 in schools of arts and sciences, business, law and leadership studies. In addition, some 1,300 part-time students take evening and weekend classes through the School of Continuing Studies. For more information, visit the university's Web site at www.richmond.edu.