BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech Athletics Department announced Tuesday that it will be renaming its student-athlete development suite in honor of alum and longtime contributor Paul Lombardi and his family following a generous seven-figure gift commitment designated toward a focus on career development for student-athletes.
Located on the sixth floor of Lane Stadium, the Office of Student-Athlete Development now will be called the Lombardi Student-Athlete Development Center.
"Student-athletes are inherent leaders driven to be successful," Lombardi said. "They play integral roles in supporting their teams, and in some instances, serve as captains of those teams, and all serve as the face and leader representatives of our athletics programs. Not all of them are going to be professional athletes, so why not provide these leaders the facilities and equip them with the resources and tools that they need to be successful off the playing field and do that in advance of graduation?"
Lombardi, who was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Reston, Virginia, graduated from Virginia Tech in 1995 with a degree in mechanical engineering and has enjoyed a successful business career. He currently serves as the chairman of the board for TeraThink, a company that consults on information technology and management for the federal government.
Lombardi and his family have been involved with athletics in the past. They endowed a scholarship for the football program and provided financial support for the development of the indoor practice facility and the Inside Backers Gridiron Club.
Lombardi also is involved in other areas on campus. He currently serves on the advisory board for the Apex Center for Entrepreneurs and plans to spearhead the evolving collaboration between that center and the athletics department's Office of Student-Athlete Development. The Apex Center – founded by Hokie alums and athletics department contributors Brian Callaghan, Ted Hanson, Win Sheridan and Jeffrey Veatch – offers a portfolio of programs that are interdisciplinary and provide any Hokie from any major and any year the opportunity to engage in all phases of entrepreneurship and innovation process. The Apex Center also encourages alumni to interface with the next generations of entrepreneurs.
"There's an opportunity to integrate and further collaborate the entrepreneur program with the student-athlete population," Lombardi said. "I want to make sure Derick Maggard, who runs the Apex Center [as its executive director] and Danny White and Reyna Gilbert-Lowry [senior associate ADs] … are in lock-step in making sure that the student-athletes have access and can and will participate in the Apex programs, and also make sure that the Apex programs and leadership team are accessible, providing support, guidance and counsel to the student-athletes. There is a mutual benefit to both."
"Paul's gift is earmarked to benefit our student-athletes' career pursuits and the Leadership Institute," Virginia Tech Director of Athletics Whit Babcock said. "It provides much-needed long-term funding, and it will go to programmatic activities. Paul's support underscores his strong belief in Virginia Tech, what it stands for and what it teaches.
"We're still in the process of raising more money for some of the infrastructure in that space. Paul has jumped in with both feet and helped us with the primary mission, which is the programming for the student-athletes. It's for all the right reasons. If there is anything I know about Paul, he's all in about Virginia Tech … and we're honored to have the Lombardi name on that facility and look forward to enhancing it together with him for many years to come."
The department's student-athlete development area focuses on multiple components that enable student-athletes to get the most out of their college experience and has received national recognition from schools throughout the country.
Reyna Gilbert-Lowry, senior associate athletics director of student-athlete development and also the department's senior woman administrator, oversees leadership, career, and personal development of Tech's student-athletes. This mostly consists of providing education to help student-athletes for successfully transitioning into and out of college, enhancing student-athletes' networking and professional skills, connecting student-athletes with potential employers, and scheduling student-athletes to participate in service events within the community.
Danny White, another senior associate athletics director, oversees the area's Leadership Institute, with an emphasis on study abroad and sport's global influence on international development. This past May, White took a small group to Rwanda as part of a study abroad course, and over the past six years, more than 100 Tech student-athletes have traveled to places like the Dominican Republic, Switzerland and Rwanda.
"Mr. Lombardi's values are in alignment with our mission of developing today's champions to become tomorrow's leaders," Gilbert-Lowry said. "The generosity displayed by him and his family reinforce the significance of developing Hokie student-athletes personally, socially, and professionally. Not only will this gift enhance the quality of programming offered by the Office of Student-Athlete Development for our current student-athletes, but it also will be a huge recruiting advantage for our coaches, as they continue to recruit top talent to Virginia Tech."
For more on Virginia Tech Athletics' Office of Student-Athlete Development, please click here.
