Capt. John E. “Ned” Riester Jr. ’78, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Virginia Military Institute, is retiring after 29 years.

Cadets at Virginia Military Institute recently demonstrated a computer-controlled golf cart to assist those who have trouble with mobility. The idea came about when the VMI Alumni Association got requests for golf cart transportation around post during reunions.  

Community service projects brought assistance to organizations such as Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Lime Kiln Theater, Health Center Bull Oyster Fest, Waddell Elementary School Garden, Rockbridge SPCA, Boxerwood Garden, Virginia Museum of Civil War, and Timber Framers.  

Growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, a small town near Boston, Cadet Kate Taylor ’24 never thought of herself as the kind of student who’d attend a military school. When the time came to apply to colleges, she sent applications far and wide, aiming mostly at what she calls the “big football schools.

Cadet Colin Butler ’23 explains his cadetship — four years of purposeful effort that have resulted in wearing academic stars as a civil engineering major, serving as drum major of Band Company, playing as a member of the Brass Quintet, and preparing to commission in the U.S. Army.

For the first time in history, Virginia Military Institute cadets have received active-duty direct commissions to the USCG by way of the Auxiliary University Programs, and will take their oath of office and receive their first salute at the Joint Commissioning Ceremony in May.

When Erik Gottmann ’25, a cadet at Virginia Military Institute boarded a flight to Austria for a ski trip with his family over winter furlough, he had no way of knowing he and his brothers would be an essential part of a Christmas miracle.

Col. Tom Timmes ’92, professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Institute and Corps Sgt. Maj. Tom Sowers, were recognized recently by Jim Schaus, Southern Conference league commissioner for being named members of the All-Southern Conference Faculty and Staff Team for AY22-23.

Carter Hugate ’24, a civil engineering major from Chesterfield, Virginia, is the second cadet to qualify for and successfully complete the Army Airborne School in Fort Benning, Georgia.

Maj. Shannon Quevedo, assistant professor in the chemistry department at Virginia Military Institute and whose specialty is analytical chemistry and detection of small molecules using organic phases, is working on research with two cadets to create handheld methods for testing water.