W&L Announces 2026 Distinguished Alumni Award Winners This year's honorees will be recognized during Alumni Weekend from April 30-May 3.

Office of Alumni Engagement
April 9, 2026

Washington and Lee University is proud to announce this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award winners. We will celebrate the recipients during Alumni Weekend, April 30-May 3, 2026.

Dr. Harold R. Howe Jr. ’76, P’05, P’07 

Dr. Harold R. Howe Jr. earned his Bachelor of Science in natural science, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Washington and Lee University in 1976, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma. He went on to earn his Doctor of Medicine from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in 1980, where he received the Surgery Merit Award, given to the most outstanding graduating student in surgery, and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society. He completed residencies in general surgery at Wake Forest University/North Carolina Baptist Hospital and in cardiothoracic and vascular surgery at Carolinas Medical Center. 

Howe spent 30 years as a cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he served as chair of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery and as medical director of the Cancer Center, where he created and directed a multidisciplinary thoracic oncology clinic. He also served on the board of the General Thoracic Surgical Club and was a member and board member of the Mecklenburg County Medical Society. 

A committed alumnus, Howe has served as co-chair of his Reunion Class Committee. He and his wife, Katherine, have been married for 48 years and reside in Charlotte. They have three children, including two W&L graduates — Trey Howe ’05 and Khaki Howe ’07 — and six grandchildren. Outside of medicine, Howe’s favorite pastime is not golf or croquet, but traveling to visit his children and grandchildren, alongside his love of a good World War II book.

Michael “Jayson” Lipsey ’01 

Jayson Lipsey earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration and accounting from Washington and Lee University in 2001, where he was a member of the football team, Phi Gamma Delta, Generals Christian Fellowship, the Interfraternity Council and Southern Comfort, and was named to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. In 2008, he earned his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, where he received the William Michael Shermet Award and the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence and was elected to the Raven Society. 

Lipsey currently serves as chief executive officer and director of Compass Communities, an owner and operator of Canadian residential land lease communities. As CEO, he oversees all aspects of the business, with a focus on driving long-term value for stakeholders through disciplined investment, operational excellence and strategic growth. 

Prior to joining Compass, Lipsey was chief executive officer of Parkway Property Investments, an owner and operator of office and industrial properties. 

Earlier in his career, Lipsey served as chief operating officer and chief investment officer of Strive Communities, a manufactured housing platform. In this role, he was responsible for all investment and operating functions, including acquisitions, dispositions, field operations, home sales, marketing and capital expenditures. 

Before Strive, Lipsey was chief operating officer of Parkway Properties Inc., a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). There, he led asset management, leasing and property management across the company’s owned portfolio, partnerships and third-party relationships. 

Over the course of his career, Lipsey has been directly involved in several billion dollars of real estate transactions, including seven strategic mergers and acquisitions. 

Outside of his professional commitments, Lipsey serves on the UVA Darden School of Business Alumni Association Board of Directors and lives in Denver with his wife, Catie ’01, and three children. He enjoys rock climbing, cycling and skiing with his family. He is especially proud that his oldest child, Audrey, will attend Washington and Lee as a member of the Class of 2030. 

Judge J. Michael Luttig ’76, P’14 

Judge J. Michael Luttig earned his Bachelor of Arts from Washington and Lee University in 1976, where he was named to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities, served on the Student Executive Committee and was president of Omicron Delta Kappa and the recipient of the Frank J. Gilliam Award.  

Luttig began his legal career clerking for then-Judge Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and later served as law clerk and special assistant to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court. He was assistant counsel to President Ronald Reagan and assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel and counselor to the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1990-1991. In 1991, President George H. W. Bush appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, where he served with distinction for 15 years. 

Following his judicial career, Luttig served as executive vice president and general counsel of The Boeing Company and as counselor and senior adviser to Boeing’s CEO and board of directors from 2006 to 2020. He served as counselor and special adviser to The Coca-Cola Company and its board of directors from 2021-2024.  

Luttig testified before the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, where he provided constitutional analysis that drew broad public attention to questions of democratic governance and the rule of law.  

Luttig’s civic and institutional commitments have been far-ranging. He serves or has served on the boards of the National Constitution Center, the Society for the Rule of Law, Franklin-Templeton Mutual Funds, the Aspen Institute and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello. He is currently a senior fellow of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation.  

He was co-chair of the American Bar Association Task Force on American Democracy and a distinguished fellow of the University of Virginia School of Law’s Karsh Institute of Democracy. 

Luttig and his wife, Elizabeth, have a daughter, Morgan Luttig, who graduated from W&L in 2014, and a son, John, who graduated from Stanford in 2017. 

Crystal Simpson McElwain ’01 

Crystal Simpson McElwain earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration and accounting, summa cum laude, from Washington and Lee University in 2001, where she also double majored in broadcast journalism. At W&L, she served as president of the Student Activities Board, where she nurtured her love of live music by bringing bands to campus and building lasting friendships with fellow students. She also participated in Kathekon, Mock Convention (as part of the Georgia delegation), Fancy Dress Committee, Generals Christian Fellowship and the L.I.F.E. Health Council.  

Upon graduating, Simpson McElwain joined the natural resources group at Lehman Brothers, launching a career at the forefront of energy investment banking. She later served as a managing director and co-head of the natural resources equity capital markets group at Barclays before joining Evercore, where she is currently a senior managing director leading its energy equity capital markets franchise. 

Over nearly 25 years, Simpson McElwain has built a reputation as one of the most trusted advisers in the energy sector, with deep expertise spanning the energy and materials space, including oil and gas, energy infrastructure, sustainable energy and clean technology, power, critical minerals, mining and chemicals. She has led more than 600 book-run energy equity offerings raising more than $200 billion for energy companies across initial public offerings, follow-ons, equity-linked offerings, PIPEs and pre-IPO capital, advising clients including Antero, Crescent Energy, Diamondback Energy, Enterprise Products, Energy Transfer, EVgo, Flowco, Lithium Americas, QuantumScape, Shell Midstream, Standard Lithium, Targa, Viper and Williams, among many others.  

Simpson McElwain has remained active with W&L, serving as co-chair of her 20th reunion and serving on every Reunion Class Committee since graduation. She enjoys mentoring W&L students who are considering careers in finance or energy. She is also treasurer of Cabin John Brookmont Children’s Program, her daughters’ former preschool. 

Simpson McElwain met her husband, Michael McElwain, at a holiday party and soon after invited him to the W&L Alumni Fancy Dress Ball in New York City, allowing him to also develop a deep appreciation for W&L. McElwain is an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, located outside Washington, D.C. Simpson McElwain now resides in Bethesda, Maryland, with her husband and two daughters, Catherine and Lilly. She cherishes time spent with her husband, children and family and still enjoys live music, traveling and time on the river in the Northern Neck of Virginia. 

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