John & Mary Jean Brown awarded VCCS Chancellor’s Award

John and Mary Jean Brown of Blacksburg have received the Virginia Community College System’s Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy. They were nominated for the award by New River Community College (NRCC).

More than two dozen individuals, families, and businesses from around Virginia were awarded the 2022 Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy. The honors were presented at the 16th annual luncheon ceremony in Richmond on Thursday, April 21, 2022.

The annual event, hosted by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE), honors leading philanthropists from each of Virginia’s 23 community colleges as well as the statewide foundation. Recipients are nominated for their outstanding commitment to the growth and development of Virginia’s Community Colleges and their respective foundations.

“John’s service on the NRCC Educational Foundation Board for the last five years has been invaluable to the college and the community,” said Angie Covey, NRCC Educational Foundation Executive Director. “We at NRCC are fortunate to have John and Mary Jean as longtime, loyal advocates of student success.”

The Browns have six endowed scholarships at NRCC, and those scholarships continue to meet the educational needs of deserving students year after year. Their first endowment was in honor of NRCC’s first college president, Dr. Robert Sullins. In addition to endowed scholarships, they have made many contributions to NRCC’s Access to Community College Education (ACCE) program and student success fund. Their support of the of ACCE program helps to provide high school graduates in the New River Valley with a debt-free path to higher education. John has been a member of the NRCC Educational Foundation Board since 2016. Both John and Mary Jean have been faithful supporters of NRCC for many years.

This year’s class of distinguished philanthropy leaders has collectively contributed $10 million dollars to Virginia’s Community Colleges.

Among those on-hand for the luncheon were Chancellor Glenn DuBois, State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, former Virginia Secretary of Education and professor of education policy at George Mason University Anne Holton, and VFCCE past chair Dr. Stewart Roberson. Dr. Bill Hazel, Jr., former secretary of Health and Human Resources, was the event’s keynote speaker.