2025 Five-Star Distinguished Alumni Awards These alumni exemplify leadership, service and professional excellence and will be honored during Five-Star Festival, Oct. 3–5, 2025.

Office of Alumni Engagement
September 24, 2025

Washington and Lee University is proud to announce this year’s Five-Star Distinguished Alumni Award winners. These alumni exemplify leadership, service and professional excellence and will be honored during Five-Star Festival, Oct. 3–5, 2025.

George “Ashley” Allen, Ph.D. ’65, P’90, ’92

Ashley Allen graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. As a student, he was active in campus life, serving as a dorm counselor and participating in several honor societies and organizations, including the 13 Club (junior honor society), Sigma Society, Omicron Delta Kappa and the Mongolian Minks (honor social organization). He was president of the Kappa Alpha fraternity, played football and was captain of the baseball team.

Allen earned his doctorate in chemistry from Cornell University in 1969 and began a distinguished career at Milliken & Company, a global leader in textiles, specialty chemicals and floor coverings. Starting as a research chemist, he quickly rose through the ranks, serving as president of several divisions and later as chief operating officer. In 2005, he became the first non-family member to serve as president and chief executive officer of Milliken, a role he held until his retirement in 2008. Under his leadership, the company expanded its global presence and became a recognized leader in sustainable innovation. In recognition of his contributions, Milliken named its primary chemical manufacturing facility in Blacksburg, South Carolina, the Allen Plant.

Allen has remained deeply connected to W&L through volunteer service. He served the Reunion Class Committee for his 25th, 35th, 40th and 50th reunions, acting as both a committee member and co-chair. His legacy at W&L continues through his children, Sarah Allen Novak ’90 and Winthrop C. Allen ’92.

Joseph “Woody” Rutter ’65

Joseph “Woody” Rutter graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and political science. As a student, he was a member of the varsity baseball team, Sigma Nu fraternity, the Minks Society, College Republicans and the 13 Club (junior honor society). In 1967, he earned his master’s degree in Romance languages and comparative literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also taught French to undergraduates.

Rutter went on to a distinguished career in education and nonprofit leadership. He spent 31 years at Salisbury School, where he taught French and Spanish and held senior administrative roles, including director of admissions, director of development and assistant headmaster. He later served as headmaster of Beaufort Academy in Beaufort, South Carolina.

He has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to civic engagement and educational advancement through extensive board and volunteer service. A past chairman of the Historic Beaufort Foundation, where he now serves as its treasurer. He is chairman of Thumbs Up, Inc., which provides after-school tutoring for children from at-risk families, and co-president of the Public Library Foundation of Beaufort County, which supports seven branches. Rutter has also remained actively involved with Salisbury School as a trustee and with ASSIST Scholars, where he is the longest-serving board member. His work with ASSIST has included international interviewing efforts in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe for more than three decades. For his pioneering efforts in Lithuania following the country’s independence, he was recognized by the Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) and awarded a silver medallion by President Valdas Adamkus. Rutter is also known for his service as a longtime Rotary International’s Paul Harris Fellow.

In addition to his professional and community leadership, Rutter has remained deeply connected to W&L. He has served as a W&L Fund class agent for more than 15 years, a member of his 45th and 50th Reunion Class Committee and a member of the Chapter Volunteers.

Dr. Robert T. “Chip” Schooley ’70, P’96

Robert T. “Chip” Schooley graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, earning cum laude. His decision to pursue a research career was sparked by his work as a Robert E. Lee Research Scholar under James Keith Shillington, a chemistry professor at W&L. As a student, he was a class officer, a contributor to the Ring-tum Phi and a member of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Delta, Omicron Delta Kappa and the 13 Club. He also competed in wrestling and lacrosse.

Schooley earned his medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1974 and completed fellowships in infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. A pioneering figure in HIV/AIDS research in the early 1980s, he later led the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Colorado and chaired the National Institutes of Health’s AIDS Clinical Trials Group from 1995 to 2002, expanding it into a global research network.

Since 2005, Schooley has served on the faculty of the University of California San Diego, where he is a distinguished professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health. In 2016, he successfully treated a patient with a multidrug-resistant infection using bacteriophage therapy, which led to the creation of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics, the first phage therapy center in the United States, where he serves as founding co-director. UC San Diego awarded him the Revelle Medal in 2024 for his contributions.

Schooley is a prolific scholar with more than 60,000 citations and an h-index of 101. His most cited works include foundational studies on antiretroviral therapy, HIV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes and phage therapy. He also leads the The University Eduardo Mondlane/UCSD Health-Professional Education Partnership Initiative in Mozambique, building capacity in infectious disease training.

He is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Royal Society of Medicine and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians and the American Society for Microbiology.

Schooley has remained engaged with W&L through service on the Science Advisory Board and on his 45th and 50th Reunion Class Committee. His legacy at the university continues through his daughter, Kimberley Schooley Hickman ’96.

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