Securing the future & leaving a legacy: Capt. Hal Hardaway's planned gift
James Hallowell “Hal” Hardaway ’71, a retired U.S. Navy Captain who served for 30 years, recently committed a significant planned gift to VIMS. Hardaway says a lifelong interest in marine science and history is what inspires him to support the Institute. In fact, Hardaway had once considered attending VIMS himself.
“I grew up in inland Virginia—Nottoway County—but became fascinated by the ocean during summer vacations to Virginia Beach,” says Hardaway. “People from inland areas perhaps appreciate the ocean even more than folks who grew up with it.”
Following graduation from William & Mary, Hardaway attended Navy Officer Candidate School (OCS) and intended to spend three years in the Navy, with the thought that afterward he might apply to the William & Mary School of Marine Science at VIMS. However, he found remarkable success in the armed forces, and those three years turned into a 30-year naval career.
Hardaway served as a Communications Intelligence Officer and spent three years as Inspector General of the Naval Security Group Command under the Chief of Naval Operations. He has lived in six different countries, participated in multiple wars, sailed across the world’s oceans and seas, and became a certified scuba diver in the Philippines in 1972. “After that,” says Hardaway, “I was hooked.”
Following a storied naval career, Hardaway retired in 2002, but was recruited back into the intelligence community due to the ongoing response to September 11th, 2001. Beyond his commitment to serve, he was personally impacted by the tragedies on 9/11. Hardaway survived that day only because he was traveling; his office at the Pentagon was destroyed and he lost shipmates, colleagues, and friends. Hardaway fully retired in 2009.
In 2018, VIMS partnered with the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation on sailing a replica of Godspeed—one of the three ships that founded the settlement of Jamestown. Hardaway visited the ship on her stop in Alexandria and became immediate friends with Dr. Richard Snyder, Director of the VIMS Eastern Shore Laboratory (ESL), and Susan Maples, VIMS Director of Development. Hardaway was thrilled to reconnect with VIMS, and further connections quickly developed.
With so much of the Earth’s surface covered by water, supporting VIMS is “kind of a no-brainer,” according to Hardaway. “I’m interested in history, and oceans and waterways used to be the highways of the world, and in many ways still they still are. Plus, the health of the oceans and shorelines are critical to all of us. Of course, I also love the bounty of seafood. VIMS works on all these issues, to the benefit of everyone.”
When VIMS needed funds to equip our flagship research vessel, the R/V Virginia, with the latest science technology, Hardaway stepped up as one of the essential “Outfitter” donors, for which he is honored with a named bunk. He has also hosted VIMS at various events in Alexandria and through his speaker series at Copper Fox Distillery in Williamsburg.
As someone with an eternal curiosity about the world, Hardaway’s planned gift similarly helps ensure that VIMS will be able to continue our critical work into the future. “I found out late in life, all the stuff I take for granted,” says Hardaway. “Now, as I’ve become maybe a little wiser, I don’t take it for granted anymore. You have to be thankful and appreciate this kind of stuff. That’s why I do what I can to support VIMS, both financially and publicly.”