Ken Elzinga told the three dozen friends, faculty and alumni who had gathered to hear him speak that he initially expected to stay at the University of Virginia only briefly.
“When my wife and I drove into Charlottesville in the summer of 1967, she burst into tears. And they were not tears of joy,” he said.
Anxious and far from home, Elzinga assured his wife this move wasn’t permanent, maybe three years.
More than 50 years later, Elzinga was honored Friday for his longevity at the University and his iconic status among students past and present. University officials hung his portrait in the Graduate Student Lounge of the Shannon Library.
Elzinga’s framed image is part of the President’s Portrait Series, an effort from UVA President Jim Ryan to recognize community members who have made significant contributions to the University. “They include those who have sparked change, those who have inspired others, and those who have made a mark on this place,” Ryan said at the Friday ceremony.
UVA President Jim Ryan, left, admires the new portrait with Elzinga. The University commissioned the photograph as part of Ryan’s President’s Portrait Series. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)
“When you think about what makes UVA special, you often think of one value that has endured since (UVA founder Thomas) Jefferson built the Academical Village,” Ryan continued. “And that is the relationships that UVA faculty build with their students. Perhaps no one in UVA’s history has taught and mentored more students than Ken Elzinga.”
One of his former students, Nancy Andrews, attended the ceremony to attest to how Elzinga values relationships with undergraduates. He talked her out of going to law school and encouraged her to follow her passion for photography. Andrews became a photographer for the Washington Post, won the White House Photographer of the Year Award, and has 70 photos in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art.
