More than 600 members of the society celebrated its 20th annual gathering on April 28 and 29 by mingling with friends, celebrating their accomplishments, and recognizing the 72 new and advancing members of the society.

Friday night began with a reception at The Inn at Virginia Tech. The Latham Ballroom was transformed into a tropical paradise, with food stations offering cuisine from the Serengeti, the Amazon, Sumatra, and other parts of the world.

On Saturday, each college hosted an open house and offered tours and presentations about its students, faculty, and research. Donors had the chance to meet some of Virginia Tech’s finest student athletes at the Athletic Director's Honors Breakfast, and President's Circle members lunched with students from the Virginia Tech University Honors Program. There was also a chance to play golf at the new Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech and to attend a matinee performance of "Romeo and Juliet."

The weekend was capped off by a black-tie reception and dinner on Saturday night, when members celebrated the many accomplishments of the society and Virginia Tech over the past two decades. The program made it clear that the spirit of Ut Prosim is still alive and well at the university.

Closing the evening, honors student Gregory Sagstetter -- a junior who is double-majoring in philosophy and political science and who is a member of USA Today's All-USA Academic Second Team, the treasurer of the Philosophy Club, and a volunteer firefighter -- told attendees how the Honors Program has helped make his accomplishments possible and how the university community of students, faculty, and friends has taught him the true meaning of Virginia Tech's motto.

Saturday night also saw the induction of eight new members into the President's Circle. The new members are Mr. and Mrs. Eugene V. Fife, Mr. and Mrs. Norris E. Mitchell, Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Quillen, June O. Shott, and W. S. (Pete) White.

Amy Boyce is publications editor for the Office of University Development.

With a gift of $18,000 from the Camp Younts Foundation, the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences was able to conduct research on wild black bears brought into captivity during the winter. The Virginia Tech Center for Bear Research uses adult female black bears captured as "problem bears" (bears that damage bee hives, corn crops, etc.) to learn about bear reproductive physiology and cub growth and development. In addition, the bear research team has made discoveries about bone metabolism and hormonal changes in bears during hibernation that could yield valuable insights into osteoporosis and depression in humans. The gift from the Camp Younts Foundation enables the center to care for the bears, measure the cubs' growth, and follow their development. The researchers use sophisticated and expensive equipment that does not fit into yearly budgets, so private funding makes all the difference.

As Lt. Col. Scott Sturgill '85 prepared for his May 2006 wedding to Doris Carder, one important person was missing: his older brother, Arthur, an Air Force officer who passed away in 1996. For the past 10 years, Scott has contributed to the Arthur E. Sturgill Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund, which provides a scholarship to one Air Force ROTC student each year. The scholarship started out as an annual scholarship program, with yearly contributions going directly to the scholarship recipients, but it is Scott's goal to endow the fund so that it will provide scholarships in his brother's honor in perpetuity. To this end, he and Doris encouraged their wedding guests to consider making donations to the scholarship fund in lieu of wedding gifts; to date, their family and friends have contributed more than $7,000. Their collective gift represents a big step toward an endowment that will make an impact on many cadets and ensure that Arthur's memory lives on.

Bob Gilmore '64 has been collecting art since childhood, when he used to ask his parents for paintings instead of toys. He recently gave the university a collection of paintings and limited edition prints worth $16,000, the first of several gifts he hopes to make. The art will be displayed in the university's galleries, in buildings around campus, and in traveling exhibits.

Gilmore donated his art to the university because he wants to share it with a larger audience. "I want others to enjoy these things, not because I gave them but for the beauty of them," he explains. Gilmore chose these pieces not because they are his least favorite -- to the contrary, he was distressed to say goodbye to some of them -- but because he thought they were important pieces, many of them by artists he has known personally. Gilmore hopes his collection will inspire new artists and gallery visitors to see the world in a different way.