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| Articles of Incorporation
Articles of Incorporation
of
Virginia Commonwealth University
School of Engineering Foundation
A Virginia Nonstock Corporation
1. Name. The name of the corporation is VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH
UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING FOUNDATION (the "Foundation").
2. Purposes. The Foundation is organized exclusively for
educational, scientific and charitable purposes, to provide
financial and other support to the School of Engineering
of Virginia Commonwealth University. Subject to the limitations
set forth below, the Foundation may conduct any or all lawful
affairs, not required to be stated specifically in these
Articles, for which corporations may be incorporated under
the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act.
3. Activities and Powers. (a) The Foundation shall not
be operated for profit. It may engage only in activities
that may be carried on by an organization exempt from federal
income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue
Code or the corresponding provision of any future federal
tax law (the "Code") and by a corporation to which
contributions are deductible under Sections 170(c), 2055
and 2522 of the Code. To the extent consistent with Section
501(c)(3) of the Code, the Foundation may exercise any and
all powers conferred upon nonstock corporations by Sections
13.1-236 and –829 of the Virginia Nonstock Corporation
Act.
(b) No substantial part of the activities of the Foundation
shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting,
to influence legislation (except as otherwise permitted
by Section 501(h) of the Code); and the Foundation shall
not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing
or distributing of statements), any political campaign on
behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public
office.
(c) No part of the net earnings of the Foundation shall
inure to the benefit of any trustee or officer of the Foundation
or any person having a personal or private interest in the
activities of the Foundation, except that the Foundation
may pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and
may make payments or distributions in furtherance of the
purposes set forth in Article 2.
4. Members. The Foundation shall have no members. All voting
power, including without limitations power to vote on amending
these Articles of Incorporation, shall be vested in the
Board of Trustees.
5. Trustees. (a) The number of Trustees constituting the
Board of Trustees shall be not less than fifteen (15) and
not more than twenty-five (25) and, in the absence of a
bylaw fixing the number of Trustees, shall be twenty-five
(25). The Board of Trustees shall be composed of the following
classes of Trustees: (a) Elected Trustees, (b) Ex-officio
Trustees, and (c) Emeritus Trustees. All Elected and Ex-officio
Trustees shall be included in the number of Trustees set
forth above; Emeritus Trustees, who occupy an honorary position,
shall not be included in such number. The Board of Trustees,
within the foregoing limitations, shall have the power to
fix its own number. The classes of Trustees shall be as
follows.
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i. Elected Trustees. Elected Trustees shall be elected
by the Board of Trustees. One elected Trustee must be nominated
for election by the Board of Visitors of Virginia Commonwealth
University. Elected Trustees shall be divided into three
classes. The initial term of the Elected Trustees constituting
the first class shall be one year ending at the annual meeting
of the Board in 1996; the initial term of the Elected Trustees
constituting the second class shall be two years, ending
at the annual meeting of the Board in 1997: and the initial
term of Elected Trustees constituting the third class, as
well as the subsequent terms of Elected Trustees in all
classes, shall be three years. If the number of Elected
Trustees is changed, the increase of decrease shall be apportioned
among the classes so as to eventually make all classes as
nearly equal in number as possible. Those Elected Trustees
designated in subparagraph (c) below shall also be known
as Founding Trustees.
ii. Ex-officio Trustees. Ex-officio Trustees with vote
shall be the President of Virginia Commonwealth University
and the Dean of its School of Engineering. The Secretary
and Treasurer will be ex-officio without vote.
iii. Emeritus Trustees. Emeritus Trustees shall be those
Elected Trustees who have served three (3) consecutive three-year
terms. Emeritus Trustees shall have all the privileges of
an Elected Trustee except the right to vote.
(b) The Board of Trustees shall fill all vacancies occurring
in the membership of the Board arising from an Elected Trustee’s
resignation, death or otherwise. During the time that any
vacancy remains unfilled the remaining members of the Board
of Trustees shall be deemed to constitute the full Board
and shall be empowered to act as such.
(c) The following individuals comprise the Founding Trustees:
| Mr. William
W. Berry
Dominion Resources, Inc.
1051 East Cary Street, Suite 1201
Richmond, Virginia 23219-4029 |
Mr. Stanley F. Pauley
E. R. Carpenter Corporation
P.O. Box 27205
Richmond, Virginia 23261 |
| Mr. J. Carter Fox
Chesapeake Corporation 5407
P.O. Box 2350
Richmond, Virginia 23219-2350 |
Mrs Anne G. Rhodes
Matoaka Road
Richmond, Virginia 23226 |
| Mr. Robert M. Freeman
Signet Bank Corporation
P.O. Box 25970
Richmond Virginia 23260 |
Mr. E. Claiborne Robins
P.O. Box 7437
Richmond, Virginia 23221-0437 |
| Mr. William H. Goodwin,
Jr.
CCA Industries, Inc.
901 East Clay Street
Richmond, Virginia 23210 |
Mr. Richard L. Sharp
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
9950 Mayland Drive
Richmond, Virginia 23233 |
| Mr. Bruce C. Gottwald,
Jr.
Ethyl Corporation
330 South Fourth Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219 |
Mr. Kirk E. Spitzer
Alfa-Laval Termal, Inc.
5400 International Trade Drive
Richmond, Virginia 23231 |
| Mr. Richard G. Holder
3701 Dunleith Court
Richmond, Virginia 23113 |
Mr. Hugh Stallard
Bell Atlantic of Virginia
600 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219 |
| Mr. E. Morgan Massey
P.O. Box 674
Richmond, Virginia 23206
|
Mr. Richard G. Tilghman
Crestar Bank
919 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219 |
| Mr. John L. McElroy,
Jr.
Wheat First Securities
901 East Byrd Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219 |
Mr. Hays T. Watkins
CSX Corporation
P.O. Box 85629
Richmond, Virginia 23285 |
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1. Registered Office and Agent. The registered office of
the Foundation shall be Riverfront Plaza, 951 East Byrd
Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219-4074 in the City of Richmond.
The registered agent shall be J. William Gray, Jr., who
is a resident of Virginia and a member of the Virginia State
Bar and whose office is the Foundation’s registered
office.
2. Dissolution. Upon the dissolution of the Foundation
and the winding up of its affairs, the assets of the Foundation
shall be distributed exclusively to Virginia Commonwealth
University or, if its is not described in Sections 170(c)(2)
and 501(c)(3) of the Code when distributions are to made
to it, to one or more entities organized and operated exclusively
for charitable, scientific, or educational purposes and
then so described.
3. Indemnification. (a) In this Article: "applicant"
means the person seeking indemnification pursuant to this
Article. "expenses" includes counsel fees. "liability"
means the obligation to pay a judgment, settlement, penalty,
fine, including any excise tax assessed with respect to
an employee benefit paln or reasonable expenses incurred
with respect to a proceeding. "party" includes
an individual who was, is or is threatened to be made a
named defendant or respondent in a proceeding. "proceeding’
means any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit,
or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative,
or investigative and whether formal or informal.
(b) In any proceeding brought by or in the right of the
Foundation, no Trustee or officer of the Foundation shall
be liable to the Foundation for monetary damages with respect
to any transaction, occurrence or course of conduct, whether
prior to or subsequent to the effective date of this Article,
except for liability resulting from such person’s
having engaged in willful misconduct or a knowing violation
of the criminal law or any federal or state securities laws.
(c) The Foundation shall indemnify (I) any person who was
or is a party to an proceeding, including a proceeding as
in the right of the Foundation, by reason of the fact that
he is or was a Trustee or officer of the Foundation or (ii)
any Trustee or officer who is or was serving at the request
of the Foundation as a director, trustee, partner or officer
of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust,
employee benefit or other enterprise, against any liability
incurred by him in connection with such proceeding unless
he engaged in willful misconduct or a knowing violation
of the criminal law. A person is considered to be serving
an employee benefit plan at the Foundation’s request
if his duties to the Foundation also impose duties, or otherwise
involve services by him, to plan or to participants in or
beneficiaries of the plan. The Board of Trustees is hereby
empowered, by a majority vote of disinterested Trustees,
to enter into contract to indemnify any Trustee or officer
in respect of any proceedings arising from any act or omission,
whether occurring before or after execution of such contract.
(d) The provisions of this Article shall be applicable
to all proceedings commenced after the adoption hereof,
arising from any act or omission, whether occurring before
or after such adoption. No amendment or repeal of this Article
shall have any effect on these rights provided under this
Article with respect to any act or omission occurring prior
to such amendment or repeal. The Foundation shall promptly
take all such actions, and make all such determinations,
as shall be necessary or appropriate to comply with its
obligation to make any indemnity under this Article and
shall promptly pay or reimburse all reasonable expenses,
including attorneys’ fees, incurred by any such Trustee
or officer in connection with such actions and determinations
or proceedings of any kind arising therefrom.
(e) The termination of any proceeding by judgment, order,
settlement, conviction, or upon a please of nolo contendere
or its equivalent, shall not of itself create a presumption
that the applicant did not meet the standard of conduct
described in Section (b) or (c) of this Article.
(f) Any indemnification under section (c) of this Article
(unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the Foundation
only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination
that indemnification to the applicant is proper in the circumstances
because he has met the applicable standard of conduct set
forth in section (c). The determination shall be made:
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By the Board of Trustees by a majority vote of a quorum
consisting of Trustees not at the time parties to the proceeding:
If a quorum cannot be obtained under subsection (i) of
this section, by majority vote of a committee duly designated
by the Board of Trustees (in which designation Trustees
who are parties may participate), such committee consisting
solely of two or more Trustees not at the time parties to
the proceeding:
By special legal counsel:
(A) Selected by the Board of Trustees or its committee
in the manner prescribed in subsection (i) or (ii) of this
section, or the same manner as the determination that indemnification
is appropriate, except that if the determination is made
by special legal counsel, such evaluation as to reasonableness
of expenses shall be made by those entitled under subsection
(iii) of this section (f) to select counsel.
(g) (i) The Foundation shall pay for or reimburse the reasonable
expenses incurred by any applicant who is a party to a proceeding
in advance of final disposition of the proceeding in advance
of final disposition of the proceeding or the making of
any determination under section (f) if the applicant furnishes
the Foundation:
(A) A written statement of his good faith belief that he
has met the standard of conduct described in section (c);
and
(B) A written undertaking, executed personally or on his
behalf, to repay the advance if it is ultimately determined
that he did not meet such standard of conduct.
(ii) The undertaking required by paragraph (B) of subsection
(a) of this section shall be an unlimited general obligation
of the applicant but need not be secured and maybe accepted
without reference to financial ability to make repayment.
(iii) Authorizations of payments under this section shall
be made by the persons specified in section (f).
(h) The Board of Trustees is hereby empowered, by majority
vote of the quorum consisting of disinterested Trustees,
to cause the Foundation to indemnify or contract to indemnify
any person not specified (c) of this Article who was, is
or may become a party to any proceeding, by reason of the
fact that he is or was an employee or agent of the Foundation,
or is or was serving at the request of the Foundation as
director, trustee, officer, employee, or agent of another
corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee
benefit plan or other enterprise, to the same extent as
if such person were specified as one to whom indemnification
is granted under section (c). The provisions of sections
(c) through (g) of this Article shall be applicable to any
indemnification provided pursuant to this section (h).
(i) The Foundation may purchase and maintain insurance
to indemnify it against the whole or any portion of the
liability assumed by it in accordance with this Article
and may also procure insurance, in such amounts as the Board
of Trustees may determine, on behalf of any person who is
or was a Trustee, officer, employee or agent of the Foundation,
or is or was serving at the request of the Foundation as
a Trustee, officer, employee or agent of another corporation,
partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan
or other enterprise, against any liability asserted against
or incurred by him in any such capacity or arising from
his status as such, whether or not the Foundation would
have power to indemnify him against such liability under
the provisions of this Article.
(j) Every reference herein to directors, trustees, officers,
employees or agents shall include former directors, trustees,
officers, employees and agents and their respective heirs,
executors and administrators. The indemnification hereby
provided and provided hereafter pursuant to the power conferred
by this Article on the Board of Trustees shall not be exclusive
of any other rights to which any person may be entitled,
including any right under policies of insurance that may
be purchased and maintained by the Foundation or others,
with respect to claims, issues or matters in relation to
which the Foundation would not have the power to indemnify
such person under the provisions of this Article. Such rights
shall not prevent or restrict the power of the Foundation
to make or provide for any further indemnity, pursuant to
one or more indemnification agreements, bylaws, or other
arrangements (including, without limitation, creation of
trust funds or security interests funded by letters of credit
or other means) approved by the Board of Trustees (whether
or not any of the Trustees of the Foundation shall be a
party to or beneficiary of any such agreements, bylaws or
arrangements); provided however, that any provision of such
agreements, bylaws or other arrangements shall not be effective
if and to the extent that is determined to be contrary to
this Article or applicable laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
(k) Each provision of this Article shall be severable,
and an adverse determination as to any such provision shall
in no way affect the validity of any provision.
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Signed by J. William Gray, Jr. on May 10, 1995