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2008 Ethics Bowl Dinner held at the Washington Golf & Country Club in Arlington, Virginia
In Honor of Preston C. Caruthers
Founder and Trustee of the Caruthers Foundation, Inc. Chairman of Carfam II Associates, L.P., First elected to the VFIC Board of Trustees 1971 Served as Chairman of the VFIC Board of Trustees 1978-80 Elected to Honorary-Life status in 1996.
Pres Caruthers (center) and his family prior to the Dinner in his honor
Pres Caruthers (2nd from left) and his grandchildren
Proceeds from the Ethics Bowl dinner will provide Preston C. Caruthers Scholarships for students from Northern Virginia attending VFIC Colleges and Universities.
The 2008 Wachovia Ethics Bowl dinner was held in honor of Preston C. Caruthers, VFIC Honorary-Life Trustee and former Chairman of the Board. Pres has been a steadfast supporter and champion of Virginia's educational institutions.
With the gifts made to the Ethics Bowl dinner, reception and table sponsorships, the VFIC will distribute scholarships to students from Northern Virginia attending each of the VFIC Colleges and Universities. - each campus will designate one student as a "Preston C. Caruthers Scholarship" recipient. Surrounded by his family Mr. Caruthers shared his memories of his early life that lead to his deep commitment to education for all. Leaving high school as a 17 year old to join the navy his teachers asked that he send back papers to them so that they could graduate him with his class. After his commitment to the navy was completed he went to college on the G.I. Bill and knows that without the help he received his education would not have been possible.
Preston (Pres) Caruthers was born in a small town near Tulsa, OK, where he and his family felt first-hand the effects of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. He dropped out of high school to enlist in the Navy during WWII, serving with distinction, broadening his horizons, and earning the GED through military correspondence courses. After the War he was drawn to the Washington, DC, area. In 1946, he and his brother-in-law, George Snell, began a construction company building single-family dwellings and, over time, they moved into commercial real estate focusing on Northern Virginia. The current focus of Pres’ remarkable talent, energy and business savvy is Belmont Bay, a major development on the banks of the Occoquan River. He and his wife, Jeanne, have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. As to hobbies, he enjoys woodcarving 7 to 14 foot figurines and “he would have more fun building a golf course than playing with a bunch of guys his age.”
His deep and abiding passion, though, is his keen sense of the value of education. Pres has proven time and again that he is willing to do “whatever it takes” to advance education and to increase access and opportunity for all citizens to partake of what he calls America’s most precious asset and resource. He is a past chairman of the Arlington County School Board, has served on the Boards of George Mason University, the Virginia State Board of Education and, most notably tonight, The Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. Pres was elected to the VFIC’s Board of Trustees in 1971, and soon came to reflect the heart and soul of the organization. He served as Chairman of the Board from 1978 to 1980 and continued as a Trustee through 1996, when he was elected to the special post of Honorary Life Trustee.
Students respond to the dinner case
DINNER SPONSORS for the 2008 Wachovia Ethics Bowl
Dinner Sponsor English Construction
Reception Sponsor The JGB Companies
Table Sponsors Guest Services, Inc. Harris Information Technology Services JPMorgan Private Bank Lee Technologies Mercer Human Resource Consulting/Marsh Northrop Grumman Sallie Mae Southfield Capital
Questions? Contact Jenni Booker, Director of Programs and Communication
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Over the years, Pres quietly and effectively involved himself
in Northern Virginia's business, civic and political realms. A leader in the
region, he has served on the boards of First Virginia Bank, Guest Services,
The Nature Conservancy, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arlington Hospital
Foundation and Shenandoah Life Insurance Company. In 2002 he was given an
Ellis Island Medal of Honor and in 2007, he was selected as the Arlington
Community Foundation’s Spirit of Community Award recipient.
