Two VCUarts graduates are being honored by VCU Alumni for their outstanding accomplishments and service to the university. Joseph Lowenthal Jr. (BFA ’55) and Franklin R. Wallace Jr. (BFA ’87; MPA ’08/GPA) will be recognized at the biennial Alumni Volunteer Service Awards, held at Richmond’s Delta Hotel on Friday, Oct. 19.
Eugene H. and Rosalia C. Hunt Alumni Pride Award: Joseph Lowenthal Jr. (BFA ’55)
Joe Lowenthal’s passion for his alma mater, Richmond Professional Institute, and VCU, the university RPI became when it merged with the Medical College of Virginia, is great enough to create enduring monuments.
In 2007, he joined the RPI Alumni Council of VCU Alumni and promptly began helping envision “Tableith,” a spiral sculpture now located between Ginter House and Scott House on VCU’s Monroe Park Campus. Lowenthal helped research and compile the information on each of Tableith’s 51 discs (one for each year of RPI’s history), among other tasks.
After Tableith was completed, Lowenthal devoted his volunteer hours to an RPI History Wall project. In 2013, as head of the committee developing the project, he began a four-year labor of love overseeing the conceptual, fundraising and construction phases of the exhibit, located in the University Student Commons. Dedicated in April 2017, the history wall focuses on the people and places of VCU’s RPI heritage and a timeline of significant events in the institution’s history.
“As long as I am able, I will continue to do my part,” he says.
VCU Alumni Service Award: Franklin R. Wallace Jr. (BFA ’87; MPA ’08/GPA)
The depth and breadth of Franklin Wallace Jr.’s service to VCU is rivaled only by his service to the community.
His long list of achievements includes co-founding a nationally recognized nonprofit small business incubator and training facility; serving as director of Project Tutor, an academic partnership between VCU and Richmond’s 13th District Juvenile Court for court-referred juvenile offenders; and helping VCU AmeriCorps develop and gain recognition.
Wallace’s service to VCU’s alumni community has had a far-reaching impact as well. He was the first two-term president of the VCU Alumni African-American Alumni Council. In that capacity, he helped increase the organization’s membership to record heights and led the successful development of annual reunions, professional development activities and mentoring programs. He also joined the organization as a Life member and today is a part of the VCU Alumni Life Member Society.
He encourages alumni to stay involved and help steer this growing university toward a bright future. “The most accessible and rewarding way for most alumni to show their Ram pride is to find a way to participate in and impact the university’s mission,” Wallace says.
Read more about Lowenthal, Wallace and the Alumni Volunteer Service Awards from VCU Alumni.
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