The late Ken Bondurant of Radford and Cassaday and Company of McLean, led by president and CEO Stephan Cassaday, have been recognized by the Radford University Foundation at the annual Partners in Excellence Banquet.
The Lifetime Achievement Award, created by the RU Foundation to recognize and honor extraordinary long-term service to the university, was accepted by Bondurant’s wife, Carolee, his parents, Lillian and Hix, and his brother, Bill.
Ken Bondurant (right), a native of Radford and a graduate of Emory & Henry College, was a long-time advocate for RU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. He founded the RU Arts Society, which he led from its inception in 1990 until 2004. Under his leadership, the Arts Society’s fundraising initiatives resulted in more than $5 million in support of cultural arts at the university.
As a partner in his family’s real estate business, Bondurant demonstrated a genius for envisioning and executing new uses for old buildings, a talent that helped prevent downtown Radford from hollowing out like many towns and cities of its size. In 1997, he and his family donated the Norwood Center to the university, providing much needed art and educational space as well as a community center for cultural, civic and social events.
Bondurant served as a member of the RU Foundation Board of Directors from September 1982 until June 2004. He and his family created an endowed scholarship for artistically gifted students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and he contributed to the establishment and development of other educational programs sponsored by the Foundation. Bondurant passed away in June.
Stephan Cassaday (right), a 1976 graduate of RU, accepted the 2004 Partners in Excellence Award on behalf of Cassaday and Company. Cassaday lives in Great Falls with his wife, Mary, and sons Chad, Kyle and Chris.
The Partners in Excellence Award recognizes a particular business, corporation, foundation or organization that has made a significant impact on RU’s programs, faculty and students.
Cassaday and Company, an independent financial planning and investment firm, was founded in 1993 and currently manages in excess of $550 million of investments for individuals, businesses and other entities. Of the company’s 14 employees, recently half of them were RU graduates. Cassaday and Company hosted “Money Talk” on WBZS in Washington, D.C. for five years and has been featured in national newspapers and magazines. Cassaday is a sought-after speaker at corporate gatherings, and the company has long been recognized as a generous donor to numerous social service, cultural arts, educational and sports initiatives.
Cassaday has served as vice rector of RU’s Board of Visitors and was on the leadership team for the university’s first Capital Campaign, which exceeded its goal. He is the founding chair of the RU Business Industry Council, which, under his leadership, has grown to a 100-member organization that serves in a leadership capacity for the university on governmental relations, external curriculum review, internship and career development, networking and fundraising.
A proponent of RU’s Career Development Center, Cassaday has assisted with the annual Protocol Dinner, an opportunity for students to practice business etiquette, and the Business Industry Council Scholarship for internships, and he has served as a mentor to interns.
Cassaday, who received the RU Alumni Association’s 1999 Outstanding Service Award, has invested significant personal resources in scholarships and programs across campus. He funded the Kelly Cassaday Memorial Scholarship in memory of his daughter and encourages other RU alumni to support the Foundation. In another sort of legacy, his son Chad is a sophomore at RU.
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