Virginia Delegate Jim Shuler and Virginia Tech Associate Vice President Emerita for Personal and Administrative Services E. Ann Spencer are the university's 2010 Alumni Distinguished Service Award winners.

The annual awards recognize outstanding service to the Virginia Tech Alumni Association and the university as a whole.

While serving as an associate vice president, Spencer – who now lives in Jackson Hole, Wyo.--reorganized personnel services around customer-service modules, introduced an employee wellness program, and was responsible for the installation of the university’s first comprehensive human-resource system. Following her retirement, she worked as an independent consultant for higher education and its supporting associations. She continues to serve on the board of the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers, for which she is information coordinator and chair of the communications committee.

Maintaining a strong commitment to Virginia Tech, Spencer is past president of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association. She is also a member of the Pamplin College of Business Advisory Council, the Women in Leadership and Philanthropy Council, and the Ut Prosim Society of donors. Spencer also serves as president of the Greater Yellowstone Region Alumni Club.

She has served on the Virginia Tech Foundation Board, on the MBA Alumni Advisory Board, in various advisor roles to Zeta Tau Alpha sorority, and on the Panhellenic Council. Spencer received the Outstanding Young Alumna Award in 1984, and in 1997 became the eighth recipient and first woman to receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Pamplin.

She earned her bachelor’s in accounting from Virginia Tech in 1976 and earned an M.B.A. from the university in 1984.

Shuler is a native of Rockingham County and a member of the Virginia General Assembly, representing the 12th District. A doctor of veterinary medicine, he was the founder and operator of Blacksburg’s Companion Animal Clinic, and is now retired from his practice.

A noted veterinarian, community leader and businessman, Shuler has been a strong advocate for agriculture, the profession of veterinary medicine, and the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

He has been a member, advocate and leader for many professional veterinary organizations, including the American Animal Hospital Association and the American Veterinary Medical Association. Shuler served on the Virginia Veterinary Medical Association Board of Directors and as president of the Southwest Virginia Veterinary Association.

He has worked with numerous business and professional organizations, including serving as a member of the board for both the National Bank of Blacksburg and the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. Shuler was inducted into the veterinary college’s John Dalton Society, and was on the original executive board of the Citizens Committee for the Veterinary College that helped bring the college into existence.

He earned a bachelor’s in animal science from Virginia Tech in 1966 and a doctorate of veterinary medicine from the University of Georgia in 1970.

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