Janet Hill

It is with immense sadness we share the news of the passing of Mrs. Vivian Janet Hill on August 13, 2022, in Fairfax, Virginia, surrounded by her family. She was 74. Janet is survived by her husband of 51 years and love of her life, Calvin Hill of Great Falls, Virginia, son Grant, daughter-in-law Tamia and granddaughters Myla Grace and Lael Rose Hill of Windemere, Florida. Known for her quick-wit, intellect, and personable nature, Mrs. Hill made all whom she met better, more aware, educated, and stronger. She was extraordinarily kind and generous with her time. She was loved by so many, helped countless people, and never asked for anything in return. She just did things very quietly, and truly gave from her heart. She had a passion to create opportunities for women and minorities and was an extraordinary leader. Mrs. Hill’s impact went far beyond the organizations she served. In addition to her numerous professional accomplishments, Mrs. Hill was also a major philanthropist, contributing to and raising millions of dollars in donations and grants to innumerable organizations, many of them in academia and the arts. Mrs. Hill will also be remembered for her love for her family and friends, passion, pursuit of excellence, commitment to mentoring and investing in people, and opening doors. Anyone who has ever been in the presence of Mrs. Hill knows how incredibly special she was and how much she cared about her communities and championed the people she loved. Prior to her death, Mrs. Hill was a principal in Hill Family Advisors where she oversaw the family’s assets and investments. Additionally, she was a Board member for the Carlyle Group, Inc, Esquire Bank, Echo360, and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. Mrs. Hill served on multiple Boards from which she retired: Sprint, Inc., Tambrands, Inc., Security Capital Group, Inc., Dean Foods, Inc., The Wendy’s Company, Progressive Insurance, and served as a public member of the New York Cotton Exchange. In 2019, Mrs. Hill was inducted into the National Association of Corporate Directors’ Hall of Fame, and in 2020 she was inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame. She retired in 2010 as the co-owner of Alexander & Associates, Incorporated, a corporate consulting firm in Washington, D.C. after 30 years in management and ownership. She provided corporate planning, advice and analyses to directors, executives and managers in the areas of human resource planning, corporate responsibility, corporate communications, and government consultation. Additionally, Mrs. Hill was trustee emerita of Duke University where she served from 2006 – 2021. She was appointed by President Obama as a member of the Board of Trustees of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mrs. Hill also served on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics from 2007-2017. As a devoted alumna of Wellesley College, Mrs. Hill was a past Vice President of the Wellesley College Alumnae Association. She also served as Chair of the Women’s Campaign Fund, the only bipartisan national PAC, raising money for women running for federal, state and local offices. From 1978 until 1981, Mrs. Hill was the Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. She advised the Secretary on specific positions prior to policy decisions; formulated programs to improve and enhance soldier quality of life; prepared speeches for public presentation and testimony for Congressional hearings; served as a liaison to the office of the Secretary of Defense, the White House, the Congress and other government agencies; and prepared briefing and position papers on issues affecting soldiers, material readiness and operations and maintenance. Prior to her work for the Army, Mrs. Hill was a scientist with a private consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area. She was responsible for data analysis pertaining to ambient noise levels and shipping distributions; coordination and analysis of technical evaluations of noise levels in the perfection of sonar detection systems; design of ship movement models under contract to the U.S. Navy; the research and editing of environmental regional assessments in the Northeast Pacific and Northeast Atlantic for various Navy intelligence units; and the development of computer programs to evaluate data on Soviet submarine surveillance. From 1974 until 1977, Mrs. Hill taught high school, junior college and college mathematics. She conducted courses in algebra, trigonometry, calculus, linear algebra, topology and cross–disciplinary courses in mathematics and economics. She taught in Chicago, Illinois; New Orleans, Louisiana; Dallas, Texas, and Honolulu, Hawaii. Mrs. Hill was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to the late Malcolm A. McDonald and Vivian Gilbert McDonald. Mr. and Mrs. McDonald started a dental company, McDonald Dental Laboratory, that operated in the uptown section of New Orleans for 62 years. The business served dozens of dentists over that time span and provided services for hundreds of thousands of New Orleans residents. Mrs. Hill attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics in 1969. She attended the University of Chicago Graduate School and the Graduate School of Education and in 1972, received a Masters of Arts in Teaching Mathematics.