LEXINGTON, Va., July 7, 2022—Gov. Glenn Youngkin has appointed John Adams ’96, C. Ernest Edgar IV ’87, Thomas E. Gottwald ’83, and Meaghan Mobbs to four-year terms on the VMI Board of Visitors.

Adams, of Midlothian, Virginia, is a partner with McGuireWoods where he represents corporations, boards, and executives facing significant legal and reputational risk in criminal, regulatory, civil and congressional proceedings. After earning his degree in economics and business at VMI, he served as a surface warfare officer in the Navy, deploying to the Middle East and Central and South America, until 2000. He then attended the University of Virginia School of Law. Adams previously served as the secretary of the VMI Club of Richmond and spent ten years on the board of the VMI Foundation.  

Edgar lives in Tampa, Florida, and serves as general counsel for Atkins North America, an engineering, design, and project management company. A third-generation VMI graduate, Edgar earned his degree in civil engineering before serving as an Army engineer officer in Germany and in the Persian Gulf War, and later as an activated reservist serving after the Sept. 11 attacks. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law and is a member of the bar in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Florida. Edgar previously served on the board of VMI Research Laboratories, Inc., and as the 1987 Class Agent. 

From Richmond, Virginia, Gottwald is chairman and CEO of the NewMarket Corporation, which is the parent company of Afton Chemical and Ethyl Corporations. After earning his VMI degree in chemistry, he earned his master’s degree in business administration from the Harvard School of Business. He previously served as a member of the board of governors of the VMI Keydet Club, and is on the VMI Jackson-Hope Board of Overseers. He is also involved in civic activities throughout the Richmond area, including Virginia Home for Boys and the Children’s Museum of Richmond.

Mobbs is the president of the Romulus T. Weatherman Foundation and vice president for client strategies for LINK Public Affairs. She lives in Vienna, Virginia, and is a graduate of West Point. She is an Afghanistan veteran and former Army captain. She earned a master’s degree in forensic psychology from George Washington University and holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from Columbia University where her work focused on the psychosocial impact of an all-volunteer military and the role of transition stress in the lives of military veterans. She’s advised numerous nonprofits and has worked with other veteran-focused organizations.

Leaving the board are Conrad Hall ’65, Richard Hines V ’66, E. Sean Lanier ’94, and the Honorable Joe Reeder.

“We are very excited to have these individuals joining the board,” said Tom Watjen ’76, president of the VMI Board of Visitors, of the new members. “Each brings to the board unique experiences and backgrounds, which along with our existing members, gives me great confidence that we are well positioned to support the needs of the Institute as it moves forward.”

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