On May 13, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger was honored by the New Century Technology Council with its first Compass Award for visionary thinking and leadership.

Virginia Del. Joe May, R-33rd, Leesburg, a technology entrepreneur and Virginia Tech alumnus, joined the Roanoke business-leadership community to confer the award.

The technology council recognized Steger as a "visionary thinker on both the state and national level. He has been appointed by four governors to serve on various commissions and work groups. Dr. Steger is currently board chairman of the Virginia Space Consortium and is chairman of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology."

The council focused on Steger's vision and accomplishments related to regional technology initiatives, which is exemplified by his goal of making Virginia Tech one of the nation's top 30 research universities. He has been a promoter and proponent of a wide range of technology initiatives: Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, an addition to the university's programs; Knowledge Works, a structured program to foster technology transfer and support early stage companies; Capital Access Forum, which attracts funding resources to the region; and the Commonwealth of Virginia Information Technology Conference (COVITS 2003).

Steger served as dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at the university beginning in 1981. In 2000, he was inaugurated as president of Virginia Tech.

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities, and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top-30 research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg, and other campus centers in northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 170 academic degree programs.

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