The following article originally appeared in the winter 2024 issue of the William & Mary Alumni Magazine. – Ed.
The highest and most prestigious award given by the Alumni Association, the Alumni Medallion recognizes outstanding alumni in three distinct categories: dedication to and support for William & Mary, exemplary accomplishments in their professional lives and leadership in civic engagements in their communities, states or nations.
The 2024 Alumni Medallions were bestowed at a ceremony during Charter Day Weekend. A recording of the ceremony will be available on the W&M Alumni Magazine website by March 1.
The award reflects the honor that recipients bring to the university and its alumni through their actions and contributions.
Pamela ‘Pam’ Jordan Penny ’77
Instilled with a commitment to give back to her community from an early age, Pam has consistently answered the call of alma mater to the betterment of the W&M family. Just two years after graduation, Pam began a more than four-decade-long record of generosity to William & Mary through service and philanthropic investment. Pam’s volunteer roles, including serving previously on the Raymond A. Mason School of Business Accounting Programs board and now as a trustee of the William & Mary Foundation, have made an impact across the university community. On the Foundation board, she is chair of the Academic Initiatives Subcommittee of the Development Strategy Committee and shares her expertise on the Audit and Trusteeship Committees.
Pam helped to establish and is a charter member of the Society of 1918, a giving society committed to growing the engagement, leadership and philanthropy of W&M women. She drafted the organization’s bylaws and served on the Executive, Membership and Steering Committees and was chair of the Membership Committee for five years — a period which saw the society grow to more than 500 members.
Together with her husband, James D. “Jim” Penny J.D. ’83, Pam has generously supported W&M Law School — which named her an honorary alumna in 2016 — including providing funds for the school’s modern atrium space, known as Penny Commons, and for the Penny Professorship of Law. They also established the Penny Professorship, Accounting Scholarship and the Business Analytics Scholarship at the Mason School and contributed to numerous building campaigns across campus. In recognition of her ongoing support, Pam is a member of the James Blair Society, the Wren Society and the Boyle Legacy Society.
Pam had a distinguished 40-year career in finance, auditing and accounting. She graduated from William & Mary with a Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting and started her career in a field that was, at the time, heavily dominated by men. She initially worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she was the only woman in their Norfolk office. After two years, she continued her auditing career at KPMG in Norfolk. It was there she met her husband, Jim, who entered W&M Law School the following year.
After a move to Houston, Pam rose to the position of audit partner at KPMG. She then made the career transition from public accounting to private industry at Securities and Exchange Commission-listed companies, first joining American General Corp. and serving as senior vice president and controller. She later joined HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. and served as executive vice president and chief accounting officer during a series of complicated acquisitions and a highly successful merger with Tokio Marine. She retired in 2016. Throughout her career, she cherished her role as a mentor, forging strong connections with and providing guidance to other rising stars.
A deeply engaged community servant, Pam has been active in many nonprofit service organizations, providing philanthropic support as well as volunteer leadership.
While in Houston, she was president and treasurer of an organization that provided resources and opportunities for at-risk children. She continues to support that cause in the greater Williamsburg community as former treasurer and current board chair of Child Development Resources (CDR), a nonprofit that provides services to young children and their families and training and technical assistance for the professionals who serve them. She has helped raise funds and provided significant financial support for CDR’s new operating facility.
Inspired by her passion for preserving and sharing history, which she shares with her husband, Pam is also a member of the board of the Jamestown Rediscovery Foundation, which supports Historic Jamestowne, and has been philanthropically active with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Pam is one of W&M’s finest — someone who has had a tremendous career, has given back to her community in countless ways and has been a stalwart supporter of W&M in her work, wealth and wisdom. I can think of no finer example of someone deserving to receive the Alumni Medallion than Pam.
Janet Rollins Atwater ’84, P ’17, P ’20, former Society of 1918 chair
Todd A. Stottlemyer ’85
As an involved alumnus for more than three decades, including as a trustee of the William & Mary Foundation and former rector of William & Mary’s Board of Visitors, Todd Stottlemyer uplifts others and advances excellence at the Alma Mater of the Nation. Since graduation, he has been deeply engaged as a servant leader, investing in transformational programs across the university.
In 2011, he was appointed to W&M’s Board of Visitors and was elected for multiple terms as rector of the board from 2013-2018. He was known for encouraging all to “Think big, act big and be bold.” Under his leadership, the university enacted the W&M Promise, a tuition guarantee; launched the For the Bold campaign, the university’s largest and most successful comprehensive campaign to date; and hired William & Mary’s first woman president, Katherine A. Rowe.
In honor of Todd’s time playing W&M Football, he and his wife, Elaine T. Stottlemyer P ’16, P ’21, have provided critical funding for the team. They have supported the Powell Leadership Scholarship, the Global Research Institute Fund and the Stottlemyer-Coyne Football Scholarship, which they established, among other funds. Their support aided in the completion of both the Reveley Garden and Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved. In recognition of his giving, he is a member of the James Blair Society, Griffin Society, Boyle Legacy Society, Green & Gold Society and others.
William & Mary is a family tradition for Todd — he and Elaine have four children, two of whom are also W&M alumni: Caroline N. Stottlemyer ’16 and Matthew “Matt” B. Stottlemyer ’21.
Todd credits his classes at William & Mary for teaching him to think critically and write well. He cites his experience as an offensive lineman for the Tribe as making him the leader he is today. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in government and secured a position at BDM International Inc., now part of Northrop Grumman Corp., thanks in part to an internship made possible through W&M connections.
A leader in the rapidly changing technology sector throughout his career, Todd has served as CEO for several technology companies as well as the Inova Health System’s Center for Personalized Health and the National Federation of Independent Business. He currently serves as CEO of Acentra Health, a global health technology products and solutions company, where he and his team have led a significant transformation effort.
He previously served on several boards related to economic development in the Washington, D.C., region and on the boards for multiple technology and other companies. Todd has been recognized on the regional and national level for his professional achievements, including being named one of the 100 most influential business leaders in the greater Washington region by the Washington Business Journal and as one of the 50 most influential Virginians by Virginia Business magazine.
In June 2023, Todd was recognized by national nonprofit No Kid Hungry as a Champion in the fight to end childhood hunger for his almost 10 years of advocacy work for the organization. He continues his efforts to end childhood hunger in the United States and around the world through engaging others and galvanizing support for this critical cause.
He also serves on the board of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts; is vice chair of GO Virginia, a state economic development board; is a trustee of the Wesley Theological Seminary; and serves on the board of the Northern Virginia Technology Council. He has held a considerable number of leadership roles at organizations promoting education, health care, the economy and more.
Todd is a leader of quiet excellence. His humility is a great source of his compassion, which sits at the core of his leadership. He is the paradigmatic example of the servant-leader that William & Mary exults in its students. I have never known a more other-centered leader — always quick to accept the call of duty to make the lives of people and institutions like our university better. To put it succinctly, Todd Stottlemyer is best in class when measured by the criteria for the Alumni Medallion.
Michael K. Powell ’85, D.P.S. ’02, former W&M rector