John B. Werner Papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Randolph-Macon College
McGraw-Page Library
Randolph Macon College
P.O. Box 5005
305 Henry Street
Ashland, VA 23005
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Laurie Preston
Phone: (804) 752-4718
Phone: (804) 752-3203
Fax: (804) 752-7345

Summary

Extent:
1.9 Linear Feet 1 box
Abstract:
Papers and newspapers collected and held by John B. Werner from 1950 to 1993.
Language:
English .

Background

Scope and content:

The Collection consists of various documents and correspondence relating to the Board of Trustees collected and held by John B. Werner from approximately 1950 to 1993. This collection includes miscellaneous documents like correspondence over the destruction of the Old Gym, Trustees Bylaws, Ad-hoc reports, and board meeting minutes. It also includes subjects like the controversial President Luther White, III and his discharge; discourse over the Virginia Covenant; the search for a new president and election of C. Ladell Payne; reveter clauses for R-MA and R-MWC; raising funds for the college; discussing the quality of the college and boosting its attendance; and Werner's retiring from being Chairman of the board.

Biographical / historical:

John B. Werner was a beloved R-MC alum and Board of Trustees member. He was born in 1931 in northwestern PA but eventually moved with his family to Alexandria, VA, where he graduated from George Washington High School. In 1949, he enrolled at Randolph-Macon College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Delta Theta. After graduating from R-MC in 1953, Werner enrolled in UVA's foreign affairs graduate program. In 1955, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve; here, he served on two minesweepers in the Atlantic Mine Force until he was discharged from active duty in 1959. When he was fully discharged in 1970, Werner was awarded with the rank of Lieutenant.

Werner began his non-military career in 1959 when he joined First Merchants Bank in Richmond as a management trainee. He attended the Stonier Graduate School of Banking until his graduation in 1965. During his banking career, Werner was a member of the Association of Reserve City Bankers and the Robert Morris Associates, the latter of which he served as President of Virginias-Carolinas Chapter from the years 1977 to 1978. After retiring from banking, Werner became the executive director of the Robert G. Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation until 2007.

John Werner was an active alum of Randolph-Macon College. He first served on the Board of Trustees from 1974 to 1994, then again from 2000 to 2003. In acknowledgement and appreciation of his service, the college awarded Werner an honoary doctorate degree. On September 8, 2012, R-MC dedicated a new addition to its library, McGraw-Page, to him, naming it the "John B. Werner Pavilion," though it is often shortened to "Werner Pavilion." In the dedication ceremony, Werner was described as "the figurative and literal center of a college...the most stalwart advocates of academic excellence at Randolph-Macon" by Board of Trustees Chairman Alan Rashkind. Beyond the pavilion dedicated to and named after him, Werner's immortalized in awards and fellowships. The John B. Werner Fellowship in the Liberal Arts is awarded to an accomplished pre-tenure faculty member; the Werner Phi Beta Kappa Fund supports and expands the programs of R-MC's chapter; and the Mary Bailey Werner Library Fund, established by Werner, is named after his mother.

John B. Werner passed away in Richmond on August 24, 2020, at eighty-nine years old.

(Information found in John B. Werner's official obituary in the Richmond-Times Dispatch and various pages on R-MC's official website).

Processing information:

The pieces of the collection are sorted in regular folders based on the subject and the year of its creation.