On October 10, at its seventh annual awards ceremonies in Leesburg, The Loudoun Laurels Foundation and Stewardship Trust named Joseph L. Boling and Dr. John H. Cook as Laureates for 2014.

Cook, a Naval Academy graduate and highly decorated submarine captain became a doctor in mid career, moved to Loudoun, and became a driving force in the development of world class medical care and medical care facilities in Loudoun County.

Boling, a decorated Vietnam veteran, is perhaps best known in Middleburg for his transformative work as President of Middleburg Bank, as Chairman of Middleburg Financial Corporation, for his work with the Windy Hill Foundation, Loudoun's medical community, the Boy Scouts, and Rotary International.

Boling's friends and colleagues at Middleburg Bank further honored him by announcing, on the night of his induction, the establishment of a Loudoun Laurels Stewardship Trust scholarship in his name.

The Laurels Foundation currently awards two scholarships annually, each paying up to $10,000 per year in tuition and fees for students pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The new Middleburg Bank/Joe Boling scholarship will make possible a like award to a student in the liberal arts. Boling was a history major.

Founded in 2008 by a committee convened by Inova Loudoun Hospital and its Foundation, the Loudoun Laurels now comprise a an independent non-profit honorary foundation, a scholarship-granting trust, and a mentoring resource for the Loudoun County Public Schools.

Through a partnership with Leesburg's Thomas Balch Memorial Library and other friends and donors, recorded oral histories of the lives and works of the Foundation's Laureates become part of the permanent research collection on the history of Loudoun County held by the Library, and made available to the world on the web.

Through its college scholarship, speaking and mentorship programs the Foundation, its Stewardship Trust, its Laureates and supporters seek to support and inspire the next generation of stewards of the county, the country, and the future.