Bridgewater College has announced that James H. Walsh of Richmond, Va., has been elected chair of the college’s board of trustees, replacing outgoing chair Nathan H. Miller, of Bridgewater, whose term concluded with the 2015 annual meeting on November 6.
“Jim Walsh brings a unique and diverse set of skills to the chairmanship of the board and to Bridgewater College,” said David W. Bushman, president of Bridgewater College. “The judgment and acumen that have been hallmarks of his legal career will be invaluable in helping us strengthen Bridgewater’s position as a leading institution of higher learning.”
Walsh, a 1968 graduate of Bridgewater College, has served on the Bridgewater College board of trustees since 1991. He is a partner in the nationally prominent law firm of McGuireWoods, LLP, and he is the former chairman of the firm’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation Department. He received his J.D. in 1975 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and inducted into the Order of the Coif, an honor reserved for the top 10 percent of the graduating class.
Walsh is a member of the American Bar Association, the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Bar Association and the Richmond Bar Association. He is a past chairman of the antitrust section of the Virginia State Bar and a past chairman of the criminal law section of the Virginia Bar Association. His career as a litigator and legal counselor has been recognized by his inclusion in a number of prestigious publications recognizing achievement in the legal profession, including “Who’s Who in American Law,” “The Best Lawyers in America,” “Super Lawyers,” “Best of the United States” and Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite.” He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court; the Virginia Supreme Court; the Third, Fourth and Sixth U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal; and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia. During a career spanning more than 40 years, he has litigated cases in dozens of state and federal courts across the country.
While at Bridgewater, Walsh was a three-year letterman in football, serving as a tri-captain of the 1967 team and earning first team, all-conference honors as a safety.
“I am deeply honored by the opportunity to serve as chair of the Bridgewater College board of trustees. During my time on the board, I have served under three great chairmen, Wallace Hatcher, Jim Keeler and Nathan Miller, and I can do no better than to follow their examples of leadership, dedication and service. I am excited by the prospect of being involved in the execution of the college’s visionary strategic plan, which is designed to build on the solid academic and financial foundation Bridgewater College enjoys,” said Walsh.
Prior to his election as chair, Walsh served as secretary of the board, chaired the standing committees on public relations and buildings and grounds and a special committee on board governance, and served on two strategic-planning committees and two presidential search committees. He has been a member of the board’s executive committee since 1995.
Outgoing chair Nathan H. Miller, a 1965 graduate of the College, has been a member of the board since 1986. He has served as chairman of the Bridgewater College board of trustees since November 2009. Said Bushman, “Everyone at the college is grateful for the dedicated and caring leadership provided by Chairman Miller over the past six years. I am particularly thankful for our partnership and his guidance over the first two years of my presidency.”
Miller, a managing partner in the law firm of Miller, Earle & Shanks, PLLC, in Harrisonburg, Va., received his J.D. from the University of Richmond T. C. Williams School of Law. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia and American Bar Associations, the Harrisonburg / Rockingham Bar Association and the Federal Energy Bar Association. He was named a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Virginia Supreme Court, the District of Columbia and the Fourth U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1972-1975 and the Virginia Senate from 1975-1983.
In addition to serving on the College’s board of trustees, Miller chaired the Bridgewater College capital fundraising campaign “Every Student, One Commitment.” He is a past president of the Bridgewater College Alumni Association and received the College’s Young Alumnus Award in 1981.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to more than 1,800 undergraduate students.
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