By Amelia Heymann

At Wednesday’s event, held in the Stuart C. Siegel Center, the numbers told the story. Among those reaching milestones in 2024, 1,330 were cited for completing five years of service, and more than 550 others reached the decade mark. Three individuals celebrated their 50th year with VCU – and then there was Kenneth Blaylock.

A 1958 graduate of the Medical College of Virginia, Blaylock, M.D., joined what is now VCU in 1964 as the first full-time faculty recruit in dermatology. Blaylock announced his retirement in June as a professor and clinician after a 60-year career.

“The greatest thing about Dr. Blaylock is not just the care [he provided] but the fact that he continued to teach others how to provide that care,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., who himself was celebrating his 15-year milestone at the university.

Blaylock was not alone among this service honorees this year who had touched countless lives. Valerie Coleman, who was marking 40 years with VCU, initially joined the labor and delivery unit and also worked with lactation services and community outreach. She said half a dozen people came up to her during this week’s event, saying they remembered her help as they learned to breastfeed their babies.

“I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to be in a role where you can make a difference every day,” Coleman said.

Roland Pittman, Ph.D., a professor with the School of Medicine’s Department of Physiology and Biophysics, was celebrating 50 years at VCU. He said he likes to keep in touch with former students and, with some, can do so in a truly next-generation way: They are now practitioners, and he is one of their patients.

“So they’ve taken good care of me after they’ve gone on to their profession,” Pittman said.

Rao emphasized how care and dedication are common throughout the faculty and staff at VCU, and that the university owes its success to them.

“Every year, VCU gets better at what it does because we improve this institution every single year,” Rao told Wednesday’s audience. “And that happens again because of you. I’m so grateful to all of you.”

The celebration also included special recognition of several VCU employees:

President’s Award of Excellence

* Cori Hill, early intervention professional development specialist at the Partnership for People with Disabilities

President’s Outstanding Achievement Award

* Anita Harrison, executive director for research strategy with Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center

* Chris Liekweg, senior administrator in finance and administration with the Department of Internal Medicine

Dorris Douglas Budd Award

* Ashley Weaver, with the Children’s Hospital of Richmond Therapy Center in Bon Air

Danny Woodward President’s Service Excellence Award

* Jennifer Ascoli, M9E Gumenick Suites with VCU Health

* Lee Ann Skinner, nurse with pediatric hematology/oncology