
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 30, 1993                   TAG: 9303300116
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

EXECUTIVES, LAVERY TO BE HONORED

Two Roanoke Valley business leaders will receive Virginia Tech outstanding alumni awards Friday as the university celebrates Founders Day 1993.

Joe Thomas of Salem and Harold Hoback of Roanoke have been selected to receive Virginia Tech's Alumni Distinguished Service Award.

William Lavery, president emeritus of Virginia Tech, has been chosen by the university's Board of Visitors to receive the William H. Ruffner Medal for a lifetime of distinguished service.

Thomas, president of Thomas Bros. Inc., was a member of Tech's Athletic Committee, president of the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund and most recently chairman of the Second Century Campaign. The campaign, a university drive designed to enhance intercollegiate athletics, raised $18.6 million, $1.6 million over its goal.

Thomas was vice chairman of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors and was a member of that county's Public Service Authority. A former member of the Lewis-Gale Hospital board of trustees and Richfield Retirement Community board chairman, Thomas served as president of the Medical Foundation of the Roanoke Valley. He was founder and vice president of LifeGuard 10 Emergency Rescue Helicopter Service.

As president of Virginia Tech for 13 years, Lavery helped the university evolve. When he stepped down in 1988, he was appointed Preston Professor of International Affairs.

For Lavery, who in 1969 served as a U.S. Agency for International Development consultant to El Salvador and was appointed by President Reagan in 1986 to lead the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development, his work as the Preston Professor brought his career full circle - and made use of the experience he gained along the way.

Hoback is president of AFH Corp., a real estate holding company, and senior vice president of Chaney, Thomas, Stephenson and Hill Inc. insurance and bonding agency. A member of the Virginia Tech Foundation board of directors and Virginia Tech Alumni Association, Hoback was a charter member of the Ut Prosim Society. He is president and director of the Tech Corps of Cadets Alumni. Hoback is on the legislative affairs committee of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce and Virginia Retail Merchants Association. He is a past director of the Roanoke Regional Chamber and Virginia Retail Merchants.

by CNB