Edwin C. “Ed” Hall of Roanoke, Va., and his family were celebrated August 23, 2022, with a ceremony recognizing their enduring generosity toward Virginia Western Community College. Directors from the Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation were on hand as well as other community leaders as the College renamed its Business Science Building as the Hall Family Center for Business Science.
Hall is a former Educational Foundation Board President and currently serves as Chair of its Scholarship and Grants Committee. Earlier this year, he received the 16th Annual Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy, recognizing him as a philanthropy leader in the Virginia Community College System.
This legacy giving is in addition to Hall’s previous gifts of $1.1 million to establish and support Virginia Western’s Hall Associates Career Center; $100,000 for the Edwin C. Hall Endowed Chair for Management: Entrepreneurship; and the establishment of the Glenna H. Hall Memorial Endowed Scholarship for Women in Business established by Edwin C. Hall.
Hall, founder of the Roanoke-based real estate firm Hall Associates Inc., pledged a multigenerational planned gift in 2021 to the Educational Foundation. Initial giving is valued at $1 million to support the Virginia Western Forward Permanent Endowment Fund: a vision of Dr. Charles W. Steger Jr., plus $250,000 for the Virginia Western Rapids Response Student Emergency Fund. Generational giving will culminate in a further multimillion-dollar gift to the Virginia Western Forward unrestricted endowment fund.
The Business Science Building opened in 1988 and today its top floor showcases Virginia Western’s new Networking Lab and Cyber Security Lab. It also houses Whitman Theater and the Student Commons.
“Ed’s belief in the College runs deep,” said Virginia Western President Dr. Robert H. Sandel. “He has mentored our students. He has guided, pushed, advocated, defended and rallied our vision and our growth.
There is no one more dedicated to our mission, our values and our ultimate success. He’s now shared that commitment with his family, which will only magnify his overall impact to the College.”
