Averett Introduces New Board of Trustee Members

June 3, 2010

Averett University's Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the addition of three new board members to its ranks. Joining the university's governing body for the next four years are the Honorable Rossie D. Alston Jr., Mr. Irving M. Blank and Dr. Jack B. Spainhour Jr.

Alston, a Manassas resident, has served on the Virginia Court of Appeals since 2009. Prior to being unanimously elected to the Court of Appeals, he served as a judge for the Prince William Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court from 1998 until January 2001 when Governor James Gilmore appointed him as a judge of the Circuit Court of Prince William County. With this appointment Alston became the first African-American to sit as judge in Prince William's Circuit Court. Alston, class of 1979, recently spoke at the university's spring Commencement and is a former member of Averett's Board of Trustees and was named the university's outstanding alumnus in 2000. Judge Alston is also an adjunct professor at George Mason University and a distinguished adjunct professor at the George Mason University Law School. He has also served many civic organizations including the American Heart Association and the Virginia United Methodist Church Foundation.

Blank, a Richmond resident, is a managing partner for ParisBlank, LLP. He has been a trial lawyer since 1967. He was a captain in the U.S. Army Reserves (USAR) serving with JAGC (Judge Advocate General's Corps), from 1968-1982. Blank served on a number of boards and committees including twice serving on the Executive Committee for the Richmond Bar Association; the Virginia State Bar Council and Executive Committee; National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council Executive Committee (twice); Commonwealth of Virginia, Virginia-Israel Commission; Central Virginia Legal Aid, Inc.; Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Richmond Jewish Federation; and Board of Directors of the Cal Ripkin, Sr. Foundation.

Spainhour is a physician and president of Internal Medicine Associates. A Danville resident, he previously served on the administrative board of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church; is past president of Danville-Pittsylvania Academy of Medicine; secretary of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History and house chairman of the Danville Golf Club.