JOHN HUNNICUTT
BUILDING A COMPETITIVE FACULTY
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John Hunnicutt (ES ’68); his wife, Anne; and his daughter, Julie (MEd ’04).
Julie earned her master’s degree from the Curry School of Education.
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GIFTS TO THE ENGINEERING SCHOOL
uring the course of a career that took him to the four corners of the globe, John Hunnicutt (ES ’68)
came to appreciate the breadth of the engineering education he received at U.Va. As vice president for
administration at DIMON Inc., a major international tobacco leaf merchant, John found himself working quite
often with people from different cultures and with different perspectives. He estimates he spent 60 to 70 percent
of his time traveling outside the United States.
“The Engineering School has always offered a more well-rounded, business-oriented education than other places,”
he says. “The analytical skills I gained helped me develop a range of possible solutions to a business challenge. The
exposure to fields like economics and history helped me choose the one that worked best in a specific culture.”
When John decided to make a large gift to the School, he decided to direct his contribution to addressing
one of the key challenges it faces: attracting top-notch faculty. Engineering schools around the country are
confronting a generational turnover in faculty. As a result, there’s a premium on the high-quality young faculty
that Dean Craig Benson plans to hire. The situation is exacerbated at U.Va. because the Engineering School is