2025 SESSION

ENROLLED

HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 859

Commending Dr. Charles W. Sydnor, Jr.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 21, 2025

WHEREAS, Dr. Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., has ably served as senior staff historian of the Virginia Holocaust Museum and was previously its president and executive director from 2013 to 2017; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Sydnor previously served at Hampden-Sydney College as assistant to the president in 1980, and came to Richmond in January 1982 to serve as a speechwriter for Governor Charles S. Robb; and

WHEREAS, from the Governor's Office, Dr. Sydnor returned to Emory & Henry University as its president, becoming only the second alumnus to serve as president of his alma mater in the 20th century; and

WHEREAS, in 1992, Dr. Sydnor became president and chief executive officer of Commonwealth Public Broadcasting Corporation in Richmond, where he remained until his first retirement in May 2006; and

WHEREAS, in 2005, Dr. Sydnor was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Sydnor served for 10 years as a trustee of the Library of Virginia and was chairman of the board in 2005–2006; and

WHEREAS, in July 2006, Dr. Sydnor held joint teaching appointments as a visiting professor at both Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College, then returned to Emory & Henry University, retiring a second time in May 2013; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Sydnor's experiences in community service have been equally extensive; he served on the Boards of Trustees of the Virginia Historical Society, the George C. Marshall Foundation, the Center for Digital History at the University of Virginia, and the Library of Virginia Foundation; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Sydnor hopes to see the Virginia Holocaust Museum position itself in a distinctive niche as one of the country's premier research institutions, where scholars and students may research the documents and histories of the Holocaust as experienced by its perpetrators, its victims, and its bystanders; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Dr. Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., a dedicated historian and community leader who guided the Virginia Holocaust Museum and several other organizations for many years, hereby be commended on the occasion of his retirement; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Dr. Charles W. Sydnor, Jr., and his family as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for his legacy of service to the Commonwealth.