rho alpha chapter HOUSE CORPORATION, Inc.
TIM BOWLING
PRESIDENT
Tim joined Rho Alpha as part of the Beta Kappa pledge class in the fall of 1994. During his time at Virginia Tech, he was active in the fraternity and was the recording secretary during his Junior year. Tim graduated in the summer of 1999 with an BS in Accounting and joined a local CPA firm in Chicago, IL. Tim currently resides in the suburbs of Chicago and continues to work as a partner with the same public accounting firm he joined many years ago. Tim is married to Karen, his college sweetheart, and is blessed with a beautiful daughter Megan (a senior at East Carolina University studying speech pathology). In his spare time, Tim enjoys golf, traveling, shotgunning, and working on his 1971 Corvette.
ETHAN CROCKETT
VICE PRESIDENT
Ethan graduated Virginia Tech in 2008, was in the Gamma Zeta pledge class, and served as Chapter Historian as an undergraduate. He currently lives in Richmond, VA with his wife Elise. He is a local manager at Bartlett Tree Experts.
peter petras
vice PRESIDENT/treasurer
Peter graduated Virginia Tech in 2014, and was a member of the Gamma Sigma pledge class. Peter served as Chapter President as an undergraduate. He currently lives in Richmond, VA with his wife Blair and their young family, and works as a Realtor and real estate investor.
JOHN TABB
FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE
John graduated from Virginia Tech in 2004 and lives in Charleston, SC with his wife Jessica and their young family. He was in the Beta Chi pledge class, and served as Chapter President. He is the Chief Operating Officer of Questis, a software company focusing on financial wellness in the workplace.
BOARD OF CHAPTER ADVISORS
(VACANT)
chairman
pete mcdevitt
scholarship ADVISOR
Pete graduated from Virginia Tech in 1990 and lives in Lexington Park, MD with his wife Laura and the last of their almost-grown children. He is a member of the Alpha Sigma pledge class, and served as Chapter Recording Secretary. Pete is a program manager at Naval Air Systems Command.
howard canada
TREASURER/FINANCE ADVISOR
Howard Canada pledged Phi Gamma Delta with the Epsilon Pledge Class in 1973 and graduated in 1976. He served as House Corporation Treasurer for eight years during the late 1970s and early 1980s, supporting the chapter through a period of significant growth. Howard is retired from the Virginia Department of Transportation, where he worked as the District Safety Manager for the Hampton Roads region. He resides in Smithfield, Virginia.
JEFF MCMAHAN
CABINET/LEADERSHIP ADVISOR
Jeff McMahan brings more than two decades of legal, business, and entrepreneurial experience to the Rho Alpha Board of Chapter Advisors. A 2003 graduate of Virginia Tech with degrees in finance and accounting, Jeff went on to earn his law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law. He is a business and M&A attorney and founder of Midtown GC, a boutique law firm serving growth‑stage companies. Jeff also teaches as an adjunct business professor at the University of Richmond and owns a real estate and investment company. He lives in Midlothian, Virginia, and looks forward to supporting the chapter’s operational development and mentoring undergraduate leaders.
BOBBY PANTALL
GRADUATE RELATIONS/NEWSLETTER ADVISOR
Bobby Pantall graduated from Virginia Tech in 1997 with a degree in Management Science and Information Technology and returned in 2019 to complete his master’s degree. He works as a Senior Technical Architect at Perficient, leading software delivery teams in the financial sector. An avid outdoorsman, Bobby enjoys hiking, skiing, and biking. He and his wife, Jennifer, live in Ashburn, Virginia, where they are raising two children—one of whom recently finished his first year at Virginia Tech—alongside two energetic dogs.
bob ramsey
Foundations of courage (formerly PLEDGE EDUCATION) ADVISOR
Bob Ramsey began his involvement with Phi Gamma Delta in 1977 as a founding father of the Phi Deuteron Chapter at the University of Maryland. A legacy member—his father graduated from the Georgia Tech chapter in 1955—Bob served as Colony Historian and helped secure the chapter’s charter before graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He went on to serve 27 years as a weapons acquisition officer in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Colonel. Bob continued his education throughout his career, earning an MBA, JD, and a master’s degree in National Security Resource Strategy. After federal service, he spent twelve years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense working on acquisition policy and legislation. Bob and his wife, Anne—also a founding member of her ZTA chapter at UNC—now operate a small family vineyard and winery, Caihailian, named after their three children. He has reengaged with the Fraternity through service on several BCAs.
(VACANT)
growth system (formerly RECRUITMENT) ADVISOR
richard eskelund
philanthropy/service ADVISOR
Richard Eskelund attended Virginia Tech from 1976 to 1982, pledging the Rho Pledge Class in 1977. As an undergraduate, he served as Chapter Historian and Pledge Chairman multiple times. After graduating with a degree in Computer Science, Richard began his career in programming before moving into the emerging field of computer networking. Over the next 25 years, he worked as a network design engineer supporting U.S. federal agencies with Nortel, Avaya, and Extreme Networks. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Richard served as BCA Chairman and partnered with International Headquarters to establish the Rho Alpha Scholarship Fund. Today, he is retired and lives in Pennsylvania near his three grandchildren, while maintaining season tickets for Hokie football and basketball and a home in Christiansburg.
MATT MACLAUGHLIN
built-to-lead & STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE ADVISOR
Matt MacLaughlin pledged Phi Gamma Delta during his junior year at Virginia Tech, joining the Fraternity late in his undergraduate career but quickly becoming an active and engaged brother. He graduated in 1997 with a BA in English Language and Literature and remained involved with the chapter as a Graduate Brother while completing his MA in English in 1999. Matt went on to teach high school English for seven years in Prince George County and Midlothian, during which he also served as an adjunct writing professor at several community colleges.
After leaving teaching, Matt began working for the Department of the Army as a Logistics Specialist, educating Soldiers and Civilians on the evolving structure of the operational force. He later earned an MS in Instructional Design Technology from East Carolina University. Today, Matt serves as the Chief of the Mobility and Innovations Division at Fort Eustis, overseeing the development, vetting, and deployment of mobile applications and mobile AI integration for the Army.
Matt has remained active within Phi Gamma Delta, including service as the Graduate Academic Chair for VCU’s Mu Pi Chapter during its chartering and first year. He met his wife through FIJI, and both of his brothers are Rho Alpha graduates. Matt has two sons—one currently a sophomore studying Industrial Design at Virginia Tech and another entering his junior year at Midlothian High School.
PURPLE LEGIONNAIRE - DANA HESSE
Dana graduated Virginia Tech in 1986, and recently retired to Blacksburg after working 38 years for the US Naval Sea Systems Command. He has served PGD in many volunteer roles through the years, including a stint on the Archonate (board of directors) in 2020-2021. He is a proud member of the fightin’ Alpha Gamma pledge class, is a proud graduate-affiliated member of the Chi Eta chapter at Western Kentucky University, and was elected to be the PL for the Rho Alpha chapter in the fall of 2021.
SECTION LEADER - Francis Thompson
Francis is the Capital One Arts Manager for JLL, where he oversees corporate art collection management and employee engagement programming. With more than twenty years of experience in arts management, he leads a team of fine‑art professionals and focuses on integrating creative culture into the workplace through exhibitions, programming, and strategic partnerships.
His work includes managing a corporate art collection of more than 8,300 pieces and developing an exhibition program featuring regional, national, and international artists across North America. Francis maintains a broad network of specialists in appraisal, conservation, curation, art law, branding, and fine‑art insurance, supporting multiple corporate accounts across JLL. He remains active in the national and global art community, including long‑standing involvement with Mountain Lake Workshop and director Ray Kass, collaborating with notable artists such as Merce Cunningham, Jackie Matisse Monnier, Jiro Okura, and Stephen Addiss.
Francis pledged Phi Gamma Delta as a member of the Beta Sigma Pledge Class at Rho Alpha, joining the Fraternity through the influence of his brothers, Matt MacLaughlin and Sean MacLaughlin. He served as Purple Legionnaire for VCU’s Mu Pi Chapter from 2013 to 2018 and became Section Leader in 2018 for a region that includes the University of Richmond, VCU, Hampden‑Sydney, and Virginia Tech. He received the Haynes Award in 2026 and serves on the Section Leader Executive Committee (SLEC), completing his 2024–2026 term and currently serving 2026–2028. He won the Haynes Award for Best Section Leader at the 2026 Phoenix Ekklesia.
Francis holds an MFA in Arts Administration and a BA in Studio Art from Virginia Tech. He is a member of the Association of Professional Art Advisors and lives in Richmond, Virginia.