Support Agencies

 The VMI Alumni Association, Inc.

Founded in 1842 on the day following the graduation of VMI’s first graduating class, the VMI Alumni Association includes as members all VMI alumni who left the Institute under honorable circumstances. The current roster numbers more than 21,000 alumni in all 50 states and many parts of the world.

The purpose of the Alumni Association is “to organize the alumni in one general body, so as the better to keep alive the memories of Institute life, and by their united efforts the more efficiently to aid in the promotion of the welfare of the Institute, and the successful prosecution of its education purposes in the future.”

Among its programs, the Alumni Association assists the VMI Admissions Office by encouraging young men and women to apply for admission to the Institute and assists in providing job placement services to alumni. Moody Hall is operated to provide accommodations for alumni when returning to the Institute and for social occasions.

The VMI Alumni Review is published quarterly to inform the alumni of the state and progress of the Institute and to provide an archival record of the success of her alumni. A mobile app is a more contemporary way for alumni to network and share directory information.

The VMI Foundation, Inc., the VMI Development Board, Inc., and the VMI Keydet Club, Inc., are the fund-raising arms of the VMI Alumni Association.

Officers are elected by the Board of Directors of the VMI Alumni Association.

Those for 2015-2016 are:

VMI Alumni Review

The VMI Development Board

The VMI Development Board was established in the spring of 1978 and incorporated in 1987 under the auspices of the VMI Alumni Association to implement a comprehensive development program and to coordinate the Institute’s various fund raising activities. The composition of the Board of Directors is as follows: The President of the Board of Visitors, the Superintendent of VMI, the President of the VMI Alumni Association, the President of the VMI Foundation, the President of the VMI Keydet Club, and the Executive Director of the Development Board.

The VMI Keydet Club

Organized in 1934, the purposes of the Keydet Club are to support, strengthen, and develop the intercollegiate athletic program at VMI. These purposes are advanced by soliciting and receiving monetary gifts to the Keydet Club Scholarship Fund, which helps to finance grants-in-aid for the Institute’s Division I athletes, and the Athletic Operations Fund. In return for their gifts, members of the Keydet Club are invited to special events and receive other benefits associated with VMI athletics. Awards to cadets and prospective cadets are made by the coaches on the basis of athletic talent and scholarship aid availability.

The Keydet Club also assists the Institute with fundraising for athletic facilities and other capital needs.

More information about the VMI Keydet Club is available on the World Wide Web at www.vmikeydetclub.com.

The 2016-2017 Officers are:

Keydet Club Executive Staff:

The VMI Foundation, Inc.

Founded in 1936, the VMI Foundation raises and manages the private financial resources which are necessary to ensure that VMI remains a first-rate academic institution and retains its extraordinary place in the landscape of American higher education. To do so, the Foundation combines vigorous fund-raising, careful stewardship, and prudent management and continually engages all elements of VMI Family. The VMI Foundation also provides the funds necessary for the VMI Alumni Association to continue its work on behalf of the Institute and VMI’s steadfastly loyal alumni. The combined development efforts of the VMI Foundation, VMI Keydet Club, and the VMI Development Board annually generate tens of millions of dollars in financial support of the Institute and its Corps of Cadets.

Officers and Primary Staff for 2016-2017 are:

The VMI Foundation maintains offices in Neikirk Hall at 304 Letcher Avenue. The Foundation’s mailing address is: P.O. Box 932, Lexington, Virginia 24450. The telephone number is: 540-464-7287. Please visit the VMI Foundation’s website: www.vmifoundation.org.

The following are but a few of the many programs and activities supported through the funds raised and managed by the VMI Foundation, Inc.

VMI Parents Council

The VMI Parents Council was formed in 1957 to provide information and assistance to the parents of cadets attending VMI. Members of the Parents Council are selected from parents of cadets in the upper three classes.

The purposes of the Parents Council are to develop closer ties between parents and VMI; to help parents serve as ambassadors for VMI; and to assist the Institute in providing for the welfare and development of cadets.

The Council is to be a sounding board to help cadets and their families gain the most from VMI. If the Council can help a parent understand VMI and provide a ready source of information to all cadets and parents, then it has met its challenge.

The Parents Council meets formally twice a year at VMI. The fall meeting is held on Parents Weekend. Council representatives regularly attend VMI events to answer questions and act as hosts and hostesses.

VMI Research Laboratories

VMI Research Laboratories, Inc. was established in 1963 by General George Shell, Superintendent. The mission of VMIRL is to facilitate the pursuit of research by faculty members at VMI through the administration of grants and contracts and sponsorship of research activities. The VMIRL Board of Directors oversees the activities of the labs and meets on an annual basis to review the yearly activities. Day-to-day administration of VMIRL is conducted by the Officers of the Corporation.

Since its inception, VMIRL has administered more than 260 grants and contracts totaling nearly $10,000,000. Faculty researchers at VMI have obtained financial support for their projects from federal sources such as NSF, NIH, NEH, Agricultural Research Service of the USDA, DoD, and the Army Research Institute, as well as from state resources, e.g., VDOT, Va. Department of Environmental Quality, Center for Innovative Technology, Va. Department of Health, Va. Department of Information Technology, and Va. Department of Technology Planning, and from private corporations such as Babcock and Wilcox, Jeffress Memorial Trust, Emhart Glass, Research Corp. of America, Ford Motor Corporation, and the Harrington Corporation.

Additionally, conferences such as Environment Virginia, COVITS, Virginia Transportation Conference, and Energy Virginia have been made possible in part through VMIRL sponsorship. Additionally, VMIRL administers the Stanley Wetmore Fund which provides monetary support for cadet research. VMIRL also sponsors two awards. The Maury and Hinman awards each recognize outstanding achievement in the area of faculty and cadet research efforts at the Institute.