The CRC received an antenna to link Virginia Tech to the world via satellite, and the Extension division developed a series of 26 downlink sites throughout the state.
Lavery joined the faculty at Virginia Tech in 1966 as director of administration for the Extension division before being tapped as vice president for finance in 1968.
Among them, the National Conference of Christians and Jews presented him with the Brotherhood Award, the governor of Virginia appointed him to serve on the Commission on Virginia’s Transportation in the 21st Century, United States President Ronald Reagan named him chair of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) where he served for three years and was later succeeded by Wales H. Madden Jr, and the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury appointed him to the National Savings Bond Committee, where he chaired the Higher Education Industry Campaign.
[1] Desperate for additional farmland for the support of teaching, research, and extension programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Virginia Tech acquired Kentland Farm on December 31, 1986.
Virginia Tech secretly traded about 250 acres of research orchards adjacent to a commercial area that would soon become Christiansburg's main shopping district to a group of developers for the historic 1,785-acre Kentland property.
Frank Beamer was hired to replace Bill Dooley as head football coach, but with negative publicity continuing to swirl within and around the university, he announced his resignation on October 16, 1987, effective December 31, 1987, to prevent polarization of the campus.
[3] After stepping down as president on December 31, 1987, Lavery continued to serve the university, first as honorary chancellor, then as the William B. Preston Professor of International Affairs.