Honorary Degrees

Todd A. Stottlemyer '85, P '16, P '21

Todd Andrew Stottlemyer, you are a leader of uncommon vision. You have served so many in this Commonwealth: as William & 玛丽 Rector, as a W&M Foundation Trustee, a business executive and a champion for your communities. In your own words, you "think big, act big" — and boldly. Your commitments to excellence, service and belonging make you a model for generations of our graduates.

You credit William & 玛丽 with instilling the skills essential to your career: thinking critically, writing well and leading. An offensive lineman for the Tribe, you attended William & 玛丽 on an athletic scholarship. You studied government and earned Phi Beta Kappa laurels. Your freshman roommate and fellow William & 玛丽 Rector Michael K. Powell '85, D.P.S. '02 once said, "I have never known a more other-centered leader — always quick to accept the call of duty to make the lives of people and institutions like our university better."

After graduating from William & 玛丽, you earned your law degree from Georgetown University. You parlayed an internship at BDM International Inc. into a full-time position, launching an illustrious career in the technology sector. A visionary professional, you proceeded to guide technology organizations through rapid transformation. In 2018, you took the helm as CEO of Acentra Health. You lead a passionate team that pioneers health solutions for over 140 million people.

You have brought the same dedication and entrepreneurial spirit to leadership roles at your alma mater. In 2011, you were appointed to the university's Board of Visitors. You were elected rector in 2013. You were re-elected in 2015 and served another three years as rector — unprecedented in modern Board history.

Your tenure saw the development of a creative new funding model in the William & 玛丽 Promise, strengthening the university's financial foundation through a decade of change. You oversaw the launch of the For the Bold campaign, the university's largest comprehensive campaign to date. Under your leadership, William & 玛丽 hired the university's 28th president, Katherine A. Rowe.

You have invested generously in the Alma Mater of the Nation. You currently serve as a Trustee of the William & 玛丽 Foundation, in addition to your service on the Global Research Institute Board. You and your wife, Elaine T. Stottlemyer P '16, P '21, honor your athletic career by supporting Tribe football. You established the Stottlemyer-Coyne Football Scholarship. You have generously invested in the Powell Leadership Scholarship and the Global Research Institute, among other funds. You supported the completion of two graceful campus landmarks for the 21st century: the Reveley Garden and Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved. In 2024, the William & 玛丽 Alumni Association awarded you its highest award: the Alumni Medallion.

Virginia Business Magazine and the Washington Business Journal recognize you as among the Commonwealth's most influential leaders. In June 2023, No Kid Hungry recognized your longstanding effort to end childhood hunger. You have held leadership roles with organizations such as the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, the Virginia Business Higher Education Council, the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce and the Northern Virginia Technology Council.

Todd Andrew Stottlemyer, you exemplify the spirit of servant leadership. Your alma mater honors your commitment to strengthening our communities by leading change with grace and insight. By the virtue of the power vested in me by the Board of Visitors and the Ancient Royal Charter of The College of William & 玛丽 in Virginia, I hereby confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Public Service, Honoris Causa.

Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary to the Smithsonian Institute

Lonnie Griffith Bunch III, you have transformed both our capital’s landscape and our understanding of this nation’s identity and history. You set out to create “a place that would make America better,” a source of civic power, bringing people together across differences. In realizing James Baldwin’s famous words “history is literally present in all that we do,” you have redefined the role of museums in this republic.

Raised in Belleville, New Jersey, you discovered from your parents and grandparents the value of education. You learned not only from the history books your grandfather read to you but also by listening in on the adult conversations in your backyard. In those discussions, you have recalled, “there was always a moment of optimism.” That sense of promise inspired your “belief that all things are possible” and conviction to confront wrongs.

After completing studies at American University, you launched a renowned career, with appointments at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles, the National Air & Space Museum and the National Museum of American History. In 2001, you became president of the Chicago Historical Society. You have served on the Committee for the Preservation of the White House, with bipartisan appointments from Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

You were named founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2005. You began with only one staff member, no funding and no home for your museum. A 2019 Harvard Business Review case study wrote, you “made a way out of no way.” Your fundraising efforts yielded more than $250 million. In 2016, the 400,000-square-foot museum opened to international acclaim. Speaking at the dedication ceremony, then-President Obama said, “It is an act of patriotism to understand where we’ve been. And this museum tells the story of so many patriots.”

Today, the museum is a model for how truth can overcome partisan divisions. It houses a collection of 40,000 objects. It is distinguished as the first “green building” on the National Mall and ranks among the Smithsonian’s most visited sites.

In 2019, you became the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian. You have said, “I want to reach new audiences, shape education and have the Smithsonian become more of a forum for ideas.” Through discovery and expansive storytelling, you position museums as catalysts for community engagement and civic growth.

Your achievements have been widely recognized throughout the country and world. Your contributions to American culture and history have been celebrated with the Freedom Medal from the Roosevelt Institute, the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University’s Hutchins Center and the National Equal Justice Award from the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund. In 2020, you received the Dan David Prize from Tel Aviv University, the world’s largest history prize. Just one year later, you received France’s highest award, The Legion of Honor.

Lonnie Griffith Bunch, your patriotism in sharing the stories of our country’s history and people is inspiring. The Alma Mater of the Nation proudly honors you in our Year of the Arts. By the virtue of the power vested in me by the Board of Visitors and the Ancient Royal Charter of The College of William & 玛丽 in Virginia, I hereby confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa.

Jeffrey B. Trammell '73, former Rector of the W&M Board of Visitors

Jeffrey Bevis Trammell, you are distinguished by courageous leadership in public affairs. An alumnus and former Rector of William & 玛丽, you exemplify the very best of this university.

You recall growing up in a small town in Florida that your family had two passions: basketball and politics. Both would play a role in bringing you to William & 玛丽 in 1969 as a transfer student.

You knew you had found your academic home when you visited the university and discovered a close-knit community of engaged faculty and students. “That,” you would later say, “is one of the differentiators about William & 玛丽 … It allows its alumni to have that sense of ‘I’m supposed to do something with this. I’m not just going to sit on the sidelines.’”

You received a basketball scholarship at William & 玛丽 and rose to become team captain. In 1972, you were named all-conference. You studied history and served as president of the university’s chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.

After graduation, you played basketball internationally and earned your law degree before launching an illustrious career in public affairs. For years you worked on Capitol Hill, including as counsel to the chair of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment. You became senior managing director of public affairs for Hill & Knowlton and then founded Trammell and Company, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm. You have dedicated your working life to bettering opportunities for your fellow citizens.

Your expertise has been widely sought by Fortune 500 companies, political campaigns and boards. From 2000 to the present you have advised six presidential campaigns. You have served on the boards of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Human Rights Campaign and the LGBTQ Victims Remembrance Project for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

So too, Alma Mater is fortunate to benefit from your insight. You were appointed to William & 玛丽’s Board of Visitors in 2005 and reappointed in 2009. In 2011, you were elected rector, becoming the country’s first openly gay board chair at a major university. Your tenure sharpened William & 玛丽’s focus on our mission: to provide preeminent learning experiences while maintaining a public university’s commitment to affordability.

In 2022, you were instrumental in creating the Archive of American LGBTQ Political and Legal History at William & 玛丽. Established in memory of historian John Boswell ’69, the archive is a first in the United States and affirms this university’s commitment to telling a fuller account of U.S. history. The archive collects hundreds of pages of original, declassified materials critical to the movement for civil equality.

Jeffrey Bevis Trammell, never content to sit on the sidelines, you have played an active role in strengthening our democracy for future generations. For your leadership and service, Alma Mater proudly honors you now and for all times coming. By the virtue of the power vested in me by the Board of Visitors and the Ancient Royal Charter of The College of William & 玛丽 in Virginia, I hereby confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Public Service, Honoris Causa.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, you have dedicated your life to promoting the ideals and interests of the United States of America. You forge collaborative solutions to the complex challenges facing our world and champion future generations of leaders.

Following an illustrious 35-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service, you answered the call to public service once again in 2021, when President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. nominated you as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and the Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana introduced your nomination hearing, saying,“[your] career would be an inspiration to any child thinking that his or her trajectory could be unlimited.”

With strong bipartisan support, you were confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 23, 2021, and sworn in on February 24, 2021. You serve as a member of the White House Cabinet. Your immense expertise as a career diplomat has renewed America’s global leadership at a pivotal moment at home and abroad.

You have become known around the world as the people’s ambassador for your compassion for humanity and your commitment to developing genuine, robust relationships. You have focused on climate and water-related issues to promote resilience throughout our world’s oceans and waterways. You advance inclusivity on a global scale through multilateral diplomacy in undeveloped nations. A leader who lifts as you climb, you prioritize assisting those seeking careers in diplomacy as a cornerstone of your work.

Prior to becoming U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, you held an ambassadorship to Liberia from 2008-2012, and postings in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria and Jamaica. In Washington, you served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of African Affairs and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.

You retired from the State Department in 2017 and led the Africa Practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategic commercial diplomacy firm chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. You were the inaugural Distinguished Resident Fellow in African Studies at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University from fall 2017 to spring 2019.

Growing up, you were the first from your family to graduate from high school. You earned your bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University before attending the University of Wisconsin to pursue graduate study in political science. You completed your master’s in 1975, then continued scholarly work toward a doctorate. You were awarded a fellowship to conduct field research in Liberia — an experience that was formative to your ambassadorship.

Your lifetime of public service to the global community has exemplified excellence, and your accomplishments have been recognized worldwide. You were the 2017 recipient of the University of Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey Public Leadership Award, the 2015 recipient of the Bishop John T. Walter Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award and the 2000 recipient of the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs. In 2016, the Linda Thomas-Greenfield Preparatory School was named in your honor.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, your story and your impact inspire faith in the ideals of humanitarianism and diplomacy. The Alma Mater of the Nation is proud to honor your fierce dedication and distinguished service. By virtue of the power vested in me by the Board of Visitors and the Ancient Royal Charter of The College of William and 玛丽 in Virginia, I hereby confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Public Service, Honoris Causa.

Barbara "Bobbie" Berkeley Ukrop '61, P '85, Philanthropist and alumni leader

Barbara Berkeley Ukrop, from the day you became a student at William & 玛丽, you have exemplified a life of distinguished leadership and resolute service. Through your generosity of time and spirit, you have greatly strengthened this university and the Commonwealth.

You have cultivated prosperity and well-being in Richmond and beyond. Your volunteer initiatives span housing, historic preservation, social services and children’s issues. You have shared generously your leadership and energy chairing such organizations as the United Way of Greater Richmond, Leadership Metro Richmond and the St. James’s Children’s Center and as a board member of the Historic Richmond Foundation, the Commonwealth Council of the Girl Scouts of America and the Richmond Better Housing Coalition.

With humility and grace, you forge key connections among community leaders and stimulate critical initiatives. As chair of the Annabella R. Jenkins Foundation Board, you were instrumental in helping launch the Greater Richmond Regional crisis hotline number. The result: expanded access to community-based services,particularly for underserved populations.

Your ardent support of Richmond’s historical and cultural legacy has strengthened our understanding of our nation’s democracy. You have served on the board of The Valentine museum, which collects, preserves and interprets Richmond’s past. You served as president of the Downtown Presents board and the Richmond International Music Festival.

While advancing the common good throughout Virginia, you have also mentored the next generation here at your alma mater. You have embraced countless leadership opportunities at the university, graciously lending your wisdom and service for 60 years. You served on the William & 玛丽 Board of Visitors for two terms, the William & 玛丽 Foundation Board, your Reunion Committees, the For the Bold campaign committee, as a member of the Presidential Search Committee in 2004-2005 and as the national chair of the William & 玛丽 Annual Fund. You generously supported programs across the university, including both men’s and women’s athletics, Swem Library, the W&M Alumni Association, the Raymond A. Mason School of Business and the School of Education.

You established the Jim and Bobbie Ukrop Innovation & Design Studio with your husband, Jim. In this vital space, both young and young-at-heart students and executives come together to learn and practice the skills and mindset needed to identify and solve today’s big problems and to explore what is possible tomorrow. Through your resources, ideas and encouragement, you have catalyzed learning. A space for critical collaboration and innovation, the I.D. Studio will provide lasting benefits for William & 玛丽 students and all the communities they serve for decades to come.

Your formidable dedication to leadership and public service is recognized throughout the Commonwealth. In recognition of your long and positive impact on the broader Richmond community, you were named one of the 10 Outstanding Women of Greater Richmond by the YWCA in 1986. You received the Junior League of Richmond’s Barbara Ransome Andrews Award in 1990 and the Richmond First Club Good Government Award in 1993. William & 玛丽 awarded you the prestigious Alumni Medallion in 1987 and named you Homecoming Grand Marshal in 1994.

Barbara Berkeley Ukrop, your alma mater is proud to honor your innovative and faithful service. By virtue of the authority vested in me by the Board of Visitors and the Ancient Royal Charter of The College of William and 玛丽 in Virginia, I hereby confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honoris Causa.