Buchanan to receive the George �鶹��Ƶ Medal

ckearney — Mon, 12 May 2025 18:40:16 +0000

Buchanan to receive the George �鶹��Ƶ Medal ckearney Mon, 05/12/2025 - 14:40

Third-generation builder/developer Robert E. “Bob” Buchanan will receive the George �鶹��Ƶ Medal, �鶹��Ƶ’s highest honorary award, at the 2025 Spring Commencement on Thursday, May 15, at EagleBank Arena.

Robert E. “Bob” Buchanan. Photo provided

Those who receive the George �鶹��Ƶ Medal are characterized by a record of service to their community, state, or nation consistent with the level and quality of George �鶹��Ƶ’s public service in his own time.

Buchanan founded Buchanan Partners’ predecessor company almost 50 years ago and launched Buchanan Partners in 1998. Under his guidance, the Bethesda, Maryland-based company has become one of the leading full-service real estate firms in the Greater Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. His company has become a trusted business partner for investors worldwide.

In 2009, Buchanan founded the 2030 Group, an association of Washington area business leaders focused on regional long-term decision-making. Later, his Roadmap Project brought together leaders from across the Washington, D.C., metro area, including �鶹��Ƶ, to discuss economy diversification and to create a plan for sustainable economic growth.

Buchanan and his wife, Sharon, have been active supporters of George �鶹��Ƶ for years. Bob served on the Board of Trustees of the �鶹��Ƶ Foundation, was a member of the National Leadership Council, and served on the advisory boards of the Schar School of Policy and Government, the School of Art, and Science and Technology Campus. Sharon is also a member of the National Leadership Council and served on the Arts at �鶹��Ƶ Board and the School of Art Advisory Council. In 2018, they established the Bob and Sharon Buchanan Fund for Marketing �鶹��Ƶ to support the university’s promotional efforts across various media.

For several years, the Washington Business Journal included Buchanan in its “Power 100” list of the region’s most influential business leaders. He was selected as the 2017 Regional Leader Honoree by Leadership Fairfax Northern Virginia Leadership Awards. Buchanan received the Urban Land Institute’s Lifetime Achievement award in 2018. In 2022, he received the Williams Trophy Award from the Washington Airports Taskforce. In 2024, the Community Foundation of Montgomery County named Buchanan Philanthropist of the Year.

Spring 2025 Commencement Information

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Tech entrepreneur Kimmy Duong to receive the �鶹��Ƶ Medal

ckearney — Tue, 16 May 2023 19:55:52 +0000

Tech entrepreneur Kimmy Duong to receive the �鶹��Ƶ Medal ckearney Tue, 05/16/2023 - 15:55

Kimmy Duong, an accomplished tech entrepreneur, philanthropist, and a refugee who has overcome countless obstacles to achieve success in life, will receive the �鶹��Ƶ Medal, �鶹��Ƶ’s highest honorary award, at the 2023 Spring Commencement on Thursday, May 18, at EagleBank Arena.

Kimmy Duong. Photo provided

Born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1945, Duong earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Law from the University of Saigon in 1966. She started her career working for the Ministry of Social Welfare before joining IBM in 1968, where she worked until she escaped from the communist government in 1975. She came to the United States with just $30 in her pocket.

Despite the challenges she faced as a refugee, Duong's belief in education, hard work, and family guided her. While still in a refugee camp, she secured employment with IBM through a representative at the camp. She moved to Northern Virginia and continued her work with IBM while raising seven nephews and nieces and pursuing multiple side jobs to make ends meet.

In 1994, Duong joined Pragmatics, where she currently serves as vice chairwoman and CFO. Over the past 30 years, she has overseen finance, legal, facilities management, and human resources departments, playing an instrumental role in the significant growth of the company.

In addition to her professional success, Duong has been active in philanthropy for over a decade. In 2011, she and her husband, Long Nguyen, donated $5 million to �鶹��Ƶ for what is now known as the Long and Kimmy Nguyen Building, and in 2015, she established the Kimmy Duong Foundation (KDF). The KDF supports a range of health, education, and welfare initiatives in the United States and Vietnam, and has established multiple scholarship programs with endowments of more than $4 million that administered by local universities.

Duong's commitment to philanthropy is evident through the KDF's scholarship program centered in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The program has awarded 218 scholarships to date and plans to award 150 more in 2023. During the pandemic, the KDF started a program to support families dealing with economic hardship, which has benefited 160 families since 2020.

Through her philanthropic work, Duong aims to give back to the United States and Vietnam and to spread a message of service and gratitude to everyone she impacts. She believes that the investment of the United States in a refugee like her has been rewarded with a lasting legacy of good works, and she hopes to inspire others to pay it forward.

At a scholarship breakfast on campus this spring, Duong shared her story.

“Education is the cornerstone of life,” Duong told those in attendance, saying many in her generation worked multiple jobs to send their children to college. “Now, we are giving back.”

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Buchanan to receive the George �鶹��Ƶ Medal

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Tech entrepreneur Kimmy Duong to receive the �鶹��Ƶ Medal

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