Dennis V. Maguire ’80 is the president and principal of Maguire Company, Inc., a mechanical contractor located in Newton, Massachusetts, for 100 years. He has been actively engaged with the company following his completion of his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from VMI. He is a proud member of the Class of 1980.
Maguire served as a district representative, ward alderman, and citywide representative (at-large) for the City of Newton, population 90,000, for six years. He served in a leadership position as chairman of public facilities, a committee reviewing all programs and expenditures on city-owned land, buildings, and roads within the city, with a budget of $275 million.
Maguire has served industry groups as a member of the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce on its board of directors and the Associated Builders and Contractors of Massachusetts board of directors, serving as chairman in 2012-13. He has been active in numerous statewide and national political races in Massachusetts, in addition to numerous civic and charitable organizations.
Maguire is active at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts, as a member of its Business Advisory Board since 2012 and a trustee of the College from 2017 to the present. Dean College, which was founded in 1865, offers associate and bachelor’s degrees in a variety of disciplines.
Maguire has been active in the New England Chapter of the VMI Alumni Association for the last 30 years and recently served as vice president for the chapter. During his tenure, he worked closely with Pat Griffin ’80, past president and regional director, in establishing increased visibility of the VMI brand, networking events, and rat send-offs.
Dennis resides in Newton with his wife, Vivienne, an educator. Dennis and Vivienne are the parents of Hannah (College of the Holy Cross 2019), a New York City resident since 2020.
Patrick J. “Pat” Griffin ’80 graduated from VMI and entered the Navy, where he served on active duty as a surface line officer until 1983. When Griffin left active duty, he entered the Naval Reserve and later retired from the Naval Reserve as a commander.
He began his career with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in May 1987 at the OSHA office in Waltham, Massachusetts, as a compliance officer.
In January 2000, Griffin was selected as the first compliance assistance specialist in New England. In this position, he was responsible for outreach, training, technical assistance, partnerships, and alliances.
In April 2006, Griffin was selected as the area director for the Providence, Rhode Island, OSHA Area Office, where he oversaw all safety and health for the state of Rhode Island. Griffin retired from OSHA in June 2018 after 31 years with the agency.
Griffin currently works in the construction industry as a safety and health consultant.
In addition to his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from VMI, Griffin also holds a degree in labor relations from Antioch University.
Griffin served as the New England Chapter president from 1990-96 and again from 2006-15. He was elected to the VMI Alumni Association Board of Directors in 2015 as the Northeast regional director. He chaired the Outreach Committee while on the board of directors. Upon completing his term in 2021, he was appointed a special appointee to the VMI Alumni Association Board of Directors to continue his work on the Networking Committee.
Griffin also serves as a member of the VMI Parents Council and on the board of the VMI Research Laboratories.
Griffin has two sons, Michael Griffin ’17 and John Griffin ’21.
James E. “Jim” Henry Jr. ’68 has expertise in consulting, marketing, strategy, and general management, which spans the industries of consulting, government, and health care.
Through his firm JEH Consulting, he assisted federal government business executives and the businesses that support and serve the public sector with services including business strategy, business development, relationship development and maintenance, and creating a marketing strategy. He served for a short time as the chief operating officer of Leapfrog Solutions, a small woman-owned advertising agency, and led a major effort to win a large federal contract.
Henry’s past work experience includes serving as a senior manager for business development and federal practices at Deloitte Consulting and Sapient Corporation, where he organized and led business development organizations for federal practices. He utilized his expertise in serving federal government clients to develop relationships with systems integrators and businesses in addressing the needs of federal agencies and departments.
Earlier in his career, Henry worked for IBM in sales, marketing, and general management. He spent over 20 years in management and led a cross-industry commercial sales unit in Illinois. Henry also managed a briefing center staff responsible for supporting the sales of large system processors at IBM’s largest plant site. He served as a product marketing manager, responsible for marketing strategy, product introduction, and sales for a new high-availability, fault-tolerant product introduced in 1986.
Also, Henry managed sales teams responsible for supporting the U.S. Postal Service and the federal health/medical segments, with both teams growing annual revenues by over 300%. He led a major reorganization of IBM’s national federal sales force and later spearheaded the transformational implementation of IBM’s customer relationship management processes across the federal sales organization.
Henry earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from VMI and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Virginia.
He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is a Vietnam veteran, awarded the Bronze Star.
Henry has served the VMI Alumni Association in various capacities at the chapter level and served as a regional director in Hampton Roads, Virginia. He has volunteered on multiple Alumni Association committees from 2011-present and served on the VMI Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2017-present. He has been an active supporter of “Old Corps” activities for the Williamsburg Chapter and has been deeply involved with alumni chapters wherever he has lived.
Anthony J. “Jamie” MacDonald ’83 serves as the director, Strategic Initiatives Group, for the deputy chief of staff for intelligence, G-2, on the U.S. Army staff. In this role, he is a strategist and adviser to the Army’s senior intelligence officer. MacDonald assumed this role after retiring from the Army as a colonel with more than 30 years of active service.
His service profile includes nearly 40 years of leadership and staff experience specializing in directing multidiscipline intelligence operations, and developing strategies, and coordinating joint and interagency partnerships and coalitions. He has commanded from the platoon to the group level and is an authority on combined, joint, and interagency operations.
Commissioned as a second lieutenant of Infantry in 1983, Jamie transitioned into the Military Intelligence Corps in 1987. His military assignments include service with Airborne, Armored Cavalry, Military Intelligence, Recruiting, and Special Operations commands. MacDonald also served with the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Army and Joint Staffs. His overseas assignments include Germany, Afghanistan, and Iraq. In addition to earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from VMI in 1983, he earned a Master of Science degree in administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Science degree in strategic studies from the U.S. Army War College. Active in VMI alumni affairs, Jamie is a former president of the Potomac River Chapter and is now serving as a regional director (Region XIV – Metro D.C.).
In his free time, he enjoys fitness, studying American and military history, and the real estate market. Jamie is married to Jennifer. They have three wonderful children: Liam, a Congressional staffer on Capitol Hill; Molly, an elementary school special education teacher; and Grace, a registered nurse.
William C. Collier ’06 graduated from VMI with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. He was then commissioned in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant of transportation. Collier spent his platoon leader, executive officer, and initial command and staff time at Fort Eustis, Virginia, in the 7th Sustainment Brigade. Collier was then assigned to the 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas, and served as the assistant division transportation officer. From February 2012 – March 2013, Collier commanded Delta Forward Support Company, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division. Following command, Collier was assigned as a contingency contracting officer in the 926th Contingency Contracting Battalion, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. Collier held this position until November 2014. He then joined the U.S. Army Reserve, 915th Contracting Battalion, 658th Contracting Team in Ohio and was medically retired in March 2018.
Collier then went to work for Omya, Inc. in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the logistics operations manager for North America. Omya is a leading chemical distributor with an emphasis on calcium carbonate (ground limestone). His duties included managing all the operational activities of motor carrier and intermodal transportation, warehousing, terminal, and transfer operations, providing efficient and effective logistics operations services in support of current business, as well as future business development. Additionally, he was responsible for implementing and overseeing all company shipping activities. Collier oversaw controlling motor carrier and related operations, which has an expense exceeding $30 million annually and overall logistics expense exceeding $90 million annually.
In February 2020, Collier accepted a position to be the vice president of the supply chain for RelaDyne, a leading fuel and lubricant distribution and specialty services company in the United States. He managed and oversaw all activities involved in the identification, acquisition, production, and distribution of the company’s products and services. He was also responsible for developing best practices and processes to align with the overall company goals and objectives while ensuring company systems requirements were maintained. Through constant communication and data review, the supply chain team was able to reduce the company’s nationwide inventory by more than $26 million in 96 days to meet ever-changing business demands due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Collier then became a contract manager for American Rheinmetall Munition, Inc., in February 2021. ARM is headquartered in Stafford, Virginia, and produces small to medium caliber munitions. Collier provides on-site advice and direction to ARM business/client units, the U.S. government, and ARM project management teams regarding the status of ARM contracts. Collier initiates, tracks, and monitors contract changes, deliverables, correspondence, and risks and maintains associated documentation. He also fosters the management of all company contracts in accordance with company policies and procedures, applicable laws, and customer requirements.
His military education includes the Transportation Officer Basic Course, the Combined Logistics Captains Career Course, the Army Acquisition Fundamentals Course, and the Basic Contracting Course.
His civilian education includes his Bachelor of Arts in history from VMI and a Master of Science degree in management with a concentration in contract management and procurement from the University of Maryland University College.
Collier’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (one oak leaf cluster), the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal (three oak leaf clusters), the National Defense Service Ribbon, Iraqi Campaign Service Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, and the Meritorious Unit Citation. Mr. Collier is Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act Contracting Level II certified and the International Society of Logistics, Demonstrated Master Logistician certified. He is also a proud graduate of Woodberry Forest School and an Eagle Scout. His professional organization memberships include USA Lacrosse, Sons of the American Revolution, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, AUSA, the National Eagle Scout Association, and Military Officers Association of America.
Collier serves as class agent for the Class of 2006 and is part of a legacy VMI family, along with his father, William C. “Bill” Collier ’72, and brother, U.S. Army Maj. John C. Collier ’09.
Collier currently lives in Stafford, Virginia, with his wife, the former Karen O’Donnell; their son, William (8 years); their daughter, Ann Caroline (4 years); and their 2-year-old German Shepherd, Lucy.
Abigail L. Dawson ’14 has seven years of clinical research experience with six years in pharmacovigilance. She has managed global studies in all phases (Phase I-IV) throughout their lifecycle across various therapeutic areas such as oncology, neurology, rare disease, hepatology, hematology, and autoimmune disease. Her community outreach includes 12 seasons of coaching local middle and/or high school-aged volleyball teams in school and club environments in Virginia, North Carolina, and New York. Dawson graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology in May 2014. During her time at VMI, Dawson’s extracurricular activities included cadre, Rat Challenge cadre, volleyball team CIC, Leadership Book Club, and working in the QMD. After VMI, she participated in local Alumni Association chapter events in Northern Virginia and Charlottesville and served as Region VI director between 2019-21. Dawson currently resides in Fayetteville, New York, and is the Region III director.
Guy F. Conte ’75 is a seasoned executive leader with 40 years of progressively increased sales, marketing, and field sales operations management, as well as profit and loss responsibility in the consumer products goods industry (Procter & Gamble, Frito-Lay, The Coca-Cola Co., Otis Spunkmeyer, Tate’s Bake Shop, and the U.S. Army).
He is an experienced leader with $250 million in direct sales responsibility who has led successful teams driving alignment of vision and objectives through messaging of purpose priorities. Conte has significant functional experience in building successful sales volume growth from $12 million to $75 million in annual revenue in his most recent position at Tate’s Bake Shop.
Conte comprehends market insight, product innovation, cross-functional communication, field sales operational efficiency, and customer service. He has led the successful turnaround of troubled organizational situations at Frito-Lay, The Coca-Cola Co., Otis Spunkmeyer & Tate’s Bake Shop.
He is experienced with startups, private equity, and merger and acquisition implementation, along with overseas expertise through work with import/export distributors for France, China, Japan, Korea, and Mexico.
Conte is a leader, motivator, and team builder who believes that people are the foundation of any successful operations. People development must come first, then run processes—not the other way around.
Over the past 40-plus years, Guy has developed the reputation as a consummate “fixer”—someone who is intently focused on markedly improving the overall company’s results.
Conte was born in the Bronx, New York. Like his father and son, he is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute. Conte was class president of the VMI Class of 1975 and a member of the wrestling team. He is married and a father of two.
Conte is a former chapter president of the Arizona Chapter and helped to reinvigorate that chapter.
James G. “Jim” Joustra Jr. ’76 is an American businessman and retired military officer. He is the founder and president of Verkenner, LLC, a company that facilitates the adoption of new technology, primarily in the U.S. health care market. Jim served as director of mergers and acquisitions for Walgreens Boots Alliance, handling mergers and acquisitions responsibilities for approximately $30 billion in acquired, merged, and divested companies, leading their integration or separation with Walgreens and achieving over $2 billion in realized savings synergies and strategic objectives. He was a key leader within the strategy and mergers and acquisitions team at Walgreens, which was the key unit that drove company value from approximately $30 to $87/share during the period 2008-15. Joustra has managed startups and, most noteworthy, significant growth for Walgreen’s mail order pharmacy business from inception to well over $1 billion in sales. He served as an operations manager for Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals USA and Bristol Myers Squibb.
Lt. Col. Joustra is a retired United States Army Corps of Engineers officer with successful roles in combat, civil works, and special program engineer units. He served for 14 years as a special program military engineer in a SECDEF-directed unit and in prior assignments as a military engineer, civil engineer, S-3/liaison officer, company commander, executive officer, and platoon leader. His unit assignments included the 8th Engineer Battalion/1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Army Engineer School, and the 1st Engineer Battalion/1st Infantry Division, National Training Center, USAED Huntsville.
Joustra is a life member of the Military Officers Association of America and The Association of the United States Army. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from VMI, a Master of Business Administration degree from Niagara University and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command & General Staff College and numerous other civil and military schools. He serves as a board member of the VMI Alumni Association and has been an active participant in Central Florida Chapter events. In addition, he is a board member of LocatorX and has served a number of other philanthropic organizations.
Grant T. Harris ’06 is a diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility practitioner with over 10 years of experience in facilitation, training, organizational development, and change management experience within K-12 and higher education, global corporations, and small nonprofits. He is a skilled facilitator and communicator who focuses on the intent and impact of DEIA principles and practices in the workplace.
Harris facilitates small and large organizational transitions and is responsible for strategic planning, implementation, and maintenance of short to long-range DEIA goals and objectives. He has chaired and led several diversity committees at multiple institutions with governance oversight in integrating DEIA knowledge, skills, and abilities into the current and future workforce.
He is currently an engagement and inclusion consultant at The Wheelhouse Group in Fairfax, Virginia, where he creates opportunities that lead to careers in high-growth, high-demand sectors of the U.S. economy for people with disabilities, women, veterans, youth, and other underrepresented communities.
In addition, he is a member of the VMI Alumni Association Board of Directors, serving as director at large for training and diversity. He is a past chair of that organization’s diversity and inclusion subcommittee.
Harris is also a past chair of the Equity Ad Hoc Committee at Lord Fairfax Community College and has also served as an admissions outreach specialist at the Academies of Loudoun, where he helped the school exceed its goals for enrollment of females and students of color.
Harris has taught special education at Sterling Middle School in Sterling, Virginia, and served as its Schools to Watch Committee co-chair.
He is a member of the Workforce Development Committee for the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber in Winchester, Virginia.
Harris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from VMI, a Master of Business Administration degree in organizational psychology and development from the American Intercontinental University, and a post-master’s certificate in educational leadership and administration from George Washington University.
Harris participates actively in Northern Virginia Chapter events and has been responsible for helping plan, coordinate, and execute recent rat send-off events.
Charles H. “Chuck” Story Jr. ’91 is a native of Lynchburg, Virginia, and has 30 years of experience in banking, finance, and the security and network infrastructure industries. He has been active with the Lynchburg Chapter for more than 30 years, ever since his rat send-off. He has been involved with other chapters as well since graduation, attending many events and supporting as a volunteer for various rat send-off events and other support as needed. He currently serves as co-class agent for his class.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies from VMI.
Story and his wife, Vicky, live in Forest, Virginia, and his youngest son, John Ian Evans, is a member of the Class of 2025.
Kenneth R. “Ken” Hirlinger Jr. ’85 is a director, business developer, and program manager with 36 years of experience running large weapon system and information technology programs and network operations at the highest levels of performance. He is a demonstrated communications acquisitions leader of the Air Force’s largest communication and information program, valued at $4.6 billion. He is a proven program manager of a wide variety of programs, including nuclear hardening, missile flight test, air vehicle integration, and cyber operations.
Hirlinger is presently the director of program performance and pursuits for CACI, a defense contractor. He has led capture on deals worth $870 million and served as manager for a $430 million crypto modernization program.
Before CACI, Hirlinger served in several leadership positions, including senior director of homeland security capture, for General Dynamics IT, and he also worked for Presidio Corporation as director of business management.
Hirlinger served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, concluding his career as chief of the network engineering and sustainment branch at Langley Air Force Base, Hampton, Virginia. In 2004 he served as director of information operations in the Office of Military Cooperation, Afghanistan. His other military assignments include serving as chief of network modernization at the Pentagon and serving as an instructor in Air Force ROTC at VMI, among many others.
Hirlinger earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from VMI, where he was a distinguished Air Force graduate and a Master of Science degree in systems management from the Air Force Institute of Technology. In addition, he attended the Air Force’s Squadron Officer School and the Air Command and Staff College.
Hirlinger is AFCEA Virginia regional vice president for the Tidewater, Hampton Roads, Quantico, and Central Virginia chapters. On the AFCEA chapter level, he has served as secretary, vice president, president, and conference coordinator. In regard to VMI alumni, he has been a consistent participant in local alumni activities in the Hampton Roads region and does his best to keep all local alumni informed of upcoming events.
He has served as a swim coach for 30 years and enjoys a variety of athletic activities, including swimming, ultimate Frisbee, flag football, soccer, basketball, racquetball, and tae kwon do.
Ken’s daughter, Anne, is a Class of 2021 alumna and is currently serving in the Air Force undergoing training to become a combat systems officer.
William R. Shannon ’10 is a dive medical officer in the U.S. Navy and is currently stationed in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He previously completed a transitional year internship at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Portsmouth, Virginia, where he also served as program class treasurer.
Before entering medical school and joining the Navy, Shannon served for five years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantry officer, deploying twice.
During his cadetship, Shannon was a member of the Honor Court, a battalion commander, and participated in the Institute Honors program. He is a distinguished graduate of VMI who earned a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics and a minor in modern languages and cultures (Arabic). He was also a Distinguished Naval Graduate.
He completed the post-baccalaureate pre-medical program at the University of Virginia and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree in 2019 from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. His published research pertains primarily to the treatment of orthopedic injuries among service members.
Since graduation, he has done his best to maintain a high level of involvement with his local VMI alumni chapter and maintain close connections with brother rats.