Stewart Gamage, a 1972 summa cum laude graduate of William & Mary and a devoted supporter of her alma mater, passed away on March 19 in Richmond. She was 74.
According to William Walker, a retired associate vice president at William & Mary and a former colleague as well as a close friend, “Stewart was a student, an intercollegiate athlete, distinguished alumna, board member, vice rector and vice president. Seldom has anyone fulfilled more roles at William & Mary.”
After graduation, Gamage embarked on a public service career. She worked for Virginia governors Chuck Robb and Gerald Baliles, House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and at the White House, under President Bill Clinton, she served as associate deputy of intergovernmental affairs.
In 1985, Gamage was appointed to the William & Mary Board of Visitors, which elected her to the post of vice rector. Subsequently, she served for more then a decade as vice president for public affairs at William & Mary, She played a major role in securing the building of the federal Jefferson Laboratory. The electron collider has become an economic engine for Newport News and a boon to W&M students and faculty.
The contributions of Gamage toward expanding William & Mary’s reach and increasing its reputation as the alma mater of the nation are too many to list. Enough to say, she was instrumental — together with Mitchell Reiss, at that time vice provost for international affairs — in creating W&M’s Washington Center. The center arranges classes and internships for students and in 2023 brought emerging African leaders to campus to learn democratic practices.
I asked Timothy Sullivan, who for 14 years served as one of the most respected presidents of William & Mary, what would he consider as Gamage’s most important contribution to the administration of William & Mary?
“Stewart Gamage occupied vital leadership positions at the College,” Sullivan said. “She was a woman for all seasons. Her contributions transcended her assigned responsibilities. She tried always to make William & Mary better and to remember its core values. She was truly one of a kind.”
Sullivan added: “Stewart exemplified the benefits of William & Mary education. She would not have been the person she was without the special education that shaped her.”
Sullivan’s assessment of Gamage was confirmed by Walker, who worked closely with her at William & Mary.
“Stewart had a rare combination of empathy and energy,” Walker said in an interview with the Gazette. “This enabled her to accomplish some remarkable things. Her warm heart helped her to see the needs of others, and her relentless energy supplied the determination to meet those needs. You don’t often see that combination in public servants, and that’s what made Stewart special.”
Walker recalled that after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Stewart asked him to help the citizens of that country to cope with the lack of electric power. Vladimir Putin’s bombing has deprived many Ukrainians of electricity.
“As usual, Stewart came up with an idea,” Walker said. “To purchase and deliver solar-powered lamps, to ‘Light Up Ukraine.’”
Walker composed an appeal and Stewart raised more than $250,000 to acquire the invaluable solar lamps and sent them in support of Ukrainian freedom fighters.
One of Gamage last acts of charitable work was to join a convoy of 30 medical vehicles, one packed with solar lamps, and drive them to the port of Baltimore for shipment to Kiev.
Gamage’s efforts to support Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression appeared in a Virginia Gazette column in March 2023. The Gazette report was transmitted by Oksana Makarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington, to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Frank Shatz is a Williamsburg resident. He is the author of “Reports from a Distant Place,” the compilation of his selected columns. The book is available at the Bruton Parish Shop and Amazon.com.
