Two students honored as 2011 Anderson Scholars

Two William & Mary students - - law student Kevin Barrett '14, who is also a master's degree candidate in the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy, and Rebecca Gildea '12, an undergraduate student at the Mason School of Business - - were honored as TowneBank's 2011 Alvin P. Anderson Scholars at a recent reception at the bank's Monticello Avenue office in Williamsburg. Each received a $5,000 scholarship and an inscribed crystal vase.  The first two Anderson Scholars were selected in 2010.  The program honors the contributions of the late Alvin P. Anderson, a 1970 graduate of the College of William & Mary and 1972 graduate of the Law School, who was a managing partner at Kaufman & Canoles.

In her remarks, TowneBank Regional President Anne Conner noted the challenge of choosing Barrett and Gildea from a group of such highly accomplished William & Mary candidates.  In the end, she said,  the selection was based on those  students who "most closely reflected Alvin's qualities," which included his characteristic wit, wisdom, intellect, and sense of humor. Anderson's wife, Betsy, noted her delight at the recipients' selection and said that the two "embodied so many of the characteristics that Alvin had."

Alvin P. Anderson practiced law at Kaufman & Canoles and was also a member of the firm's Executive Committee until shortly before his death in 2008.  His civic contributions during his 36-year legal career were numerous.  He served on TowneBank's Hampton Roads, Peninsula, and Williamsburg boards, and was a director of the Riverside Healthcare Association and a director of Hampton Roads Academy. He also was the commissioner in chancery and the commissioner of accounts for the circuit courts of the City of Williamsburg and James City County. Recipient of the William & Mary Alumni Medallion in 1998 in recognition of his professional achievements and his outstanding commitment to his alma mater, he also served as a member of the College's Board of Visitors, as a trustee of the Law School Foundation, and as president of the Alumni Association.

Barrett earned his undergraduate degree in criminology and legal studies from the University of Florida. He is a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and during summer 2011 was stationed at the Pentagon's Office of the Staff Judge Advocate General for the Commandant of the Marine Corps. He is a charter board member and co-chair of the Graduate International Service Organization, vice president of the Law School's chapter of the Phi Alpha Delta International Legal Fraternity, a senate representative to the College's Student Assembly, and the Black Law Student Association's international service chair.

Gildea has held summer internships in the Financial Services Office of Ernst & Young Advisory in New York City and with Ferrari Asia Pacific in Shaghai.  She serves as an Admissions Office tour guide, an officer of Kappa Kappa Gamma, and the vice president for development for the Panhellenic Council.