BOARD MEMBER WINS BEACH COUNCIL SEAT

Ron A. Villanueva, a member of Old Dominion University's Board of Visitors and a 1992 alumnus, became the first Filipino American to win office in South Hampton Roads with a decisive victory in the Virginia Beach City Council election Tuesday, May 7.

Villanueva won one of the region's most wide-open and contested races by earning an at-large seat with 17,329 votes. He will be joined on the council by Peter W. Schmidt who received 17,077 votes. The next closest competitor received 12,942 votes. In all, five new members will join council's six returning members to set the course for the city of Virginia Beach.

Villanueva is executive vice president of a marine industrial firm. He earned his bachelor's in political science from Old Dominion, where he was a founder of the Filipino American Student Association and Delta Chi Fraternity. He was 28 years old when he was appointed to the Board of Visitors in 1998.