Sandra Davis to receive university's highest honor
Sandra Davis, of Blacksburg, will receive the William H. Ruffner Medal, Virginia Tech’s highest honor.
Presented each year at University Commencement, the Ruffner Medal recognizes individuals who have performed notable and distinguished service to Virginia Tech.
Davis owns BCR Property Management, which specializes in student housing in Blacksburg and Radford.
Her involvement in and generous philanthropic support of Virginia Tech dates back well over a decade. Along with her husband William C. “Jack” Davis, she is a member of the President’s Circle within the Ut Prosim Society of donors. In recognition of her extraordinary generosity in support of the arts, she is a namesake of the Street and Davis Performance Hall within the Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech.
Following the death of her husband, Patrick D. Cupp, Sandra Davis established a track scholarship in his memory in 2001. She has remained a generous supporter of athletics ever since, including the football and basketball teams in her giving.
For many years, Sandra Davis has been a leading voice among the university’s most generous female philanthropists. She helped develop plans for an annual conference for women that was launched in 2004, and serves on the boards of the Virginia Tech Foundation and the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund. As vice president of the Virginia Tech Athletic Fund, Davis is in line to become the first woman to serve as president of that organization.
Sandra Davis has also been involved in the university through its 4-H programs. From 2005-2009, she served on the board of the W.E. Skelton 4-H Educational Conference Center at Smith Mountain Lake.
Along with her generosity to the arts, to athletics, and to 4-H, Sandra Davis has supported numerous other areas of the university, including the Center for Civil War Studies, the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion and Horticulture Garden, the Corps of Cadets, the Pamplin College of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.
Her involvement extends far beyond the Virginia Tech community. Sandra Davis was a member of the Radford University Board of Trustees and chairs the Blacksburg Partnership. In 2003, she was recognized as Citizen of the Year by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. Sandra Davis has been a member of the New River Valley Friends of the Roanoke Symphony, and was a founding member of the Taubman Museum Board of Directors.
In 2007, her service and commitment to Virginia Tech was recognized with lifetime, honorary membership in the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, a distinction fewer than 12 people have received.
Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.
