David Tillar ’95: Why I VMI

“The VMI network is what you make it.” That’s what David Tillar ’95 has to say about the strength of the bond among VMI alumni and the vital importance of keeping ties strong to sustain members of the VMI family.

For Tillar, a civil engineer with deep family ties to Virginia, including kinship with an alum who fought at the Battle of New Market, sustaining that network has meant forming a new VMI alumni chapter in his adopted hometown of Gulf Breeze, Florida. He’s the Pensacola Chapter president and its founding member.

And just as the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, the formation of the new chapter had equally humble beginnings. Tillar had recently moved to Florida when he saw a man with a VMI baseball cap in Walmart, and after the two had struck up a conversation, Tillar invited the alumnus to lunch. “Well, that [lunch] turned into 15 people, and I ended up with an alumni chapter at the end of the lunch,” Tillar recounted.

Today, the chapter has 95 members, with ages ranging from 90s to 20s. “We’ve got a good broad group of alumni here in Florida, and it’s good to kind of come together,” he commented. “We try to do it every quarter, try to do a lunch every now and then.”

For Tillar, the commonality of the VMI experience is that it enables alumni born decades apart to bond as if the years didn’t matter. “Despite all the changes what VMI has gone through, it’s the same stories,” Tillar noted. “It’s the same book or chapter of the book—the cover of the book is a little different, but it’s the same stories. … And I enjoy that. I relish the memories and the stories and the trials and tribulations that a young cadet has because what VMI prepares you for doesn’t change. … VMI prepares you in a way you don’t really appreciate.”

As the years have passed, Tillar has appreciated the value of his VMI experience more and more, and he’s quite thankful he chose the Institute. Some older relatives, including Rick Brothers ’68, M.D., had attended VMI, and Tillar had long heard the family stories. Around the same time, Tillar’s first cousin, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, was killed in Operation Desert Storm. That loss furthered Tillar’s decision to choose the Institute. “[VMI] was a tough school to go to,” said Tillar. “And I really wanted that challenge to prove to my family and myself what I could do. … The option of being a citizen-soldier really appealed to me at VMI.”

Tillar earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering, but it didn’t come easily. His high school was geared more toward liberal arts, but with help from Col. Grigg Mullen ’76, Ph.D., then-professor of civil engineering, Tillar was able to persevere. “[Mullen] at the time kind of took me under his wing my 1st Class year, and I really enjoyed his tutelage on getting through the civil engineering program,” Tillar commented.

Tillar’s early career involved consultant work for FEMA, where, he joked, “Everywhere I went was a disaster.” On a more serious note, Tillar related the fix-it skills he’d learned at VMI were highly valued in the engineering profession, along with a very broad engineering skill set.

“VMI prepares you for a very diverse civil engineering career,” he noted. “They don’t focus you all on one area, so you’re able to do lots of different things from the engineering side. So, I can build bridges. But I can also do land development or wastewater engineering.”

Right away, Tillar plugged into the VMI network, attending Richmond Chapter events while he was still living in Virginia. “I really enjoyed listening to the older generation,” said Tillar.

Tillar has tried to replicate that camaraderie in Pensacola. “What we try to bring here in this network is, ‘Let’s look out for each other. Let’s make this one of the best alumni networks we have in the country.’ And I think that’s what we have.”