Warwick resident named outstanding alumnus by Virginia Tech

Warwick - Dr. Winston Samuels, a resident of Warwick and a 1983 graduate of Virginia Tech, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been named Virginia Tech Outstanding Alumnus for 2007-2008 by the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences. Samuels will be honored by the university at an awards banquet on April 18 at The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center in Blacksburg, Va. “There is no one more deserving than Winston for this high honor,” said Department Chair Dr. Kenny Webb. “He is part of the Virginia Tech community. We are all proud of his accomplishments.” Samuels, Ph.D., founder, president and CEO of Maxx Performance Inc., noted: “I deem this as a high honor and am humbled. What better way to be recognized by an institution of higher learning and by one that has such a great history and tradition.” Maxx Performance Inc. is a company that sells technology-driven, ingredient-based solutions which are driven by the sophisticated and demanding requirements of today’s food, pharmaceutical, nutritional and agricultural processing environment. Samuels has been involved in new product introductions at several Fortune 100 companies as well as having managed existing businesses. He and his family are most known for the success and growth of ice hockey in Warwick where he strongly urges participants to use hockey as an enabler to access College. He challenges players to read in order to become part of a global learning effort and tells them that regardless of how skilled they are in ice hockey without solid grades they will not gain admission into a top notch university. He resides in Warwick with his wife Marilyn, also a graduate of Virginia Tech, and their sons Courtney, a 2007 graduate of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin School of Business, and Joel, a senior at Warwick Valley High School.