Louis L. Guy Jr. and Suzanne West Guy Family Engineering Scholarship

This fund was established by Frank Guy in memory of his parents, Louis L. Guy Jr. and Suzanne West Guy. Louis, an engineer, and Suzanne, a celebrated piano teacher, were married for 48 years and raised their three sons, James Thornton Guy, Louis Lee Guy III, and Francis West Guy, in Virginia. Frank moved to Charleston in 2014 and chose to establish an engineering scholarship at the College of Charleston to honor his father’s lifelone commitment to the field.

Louis L. Guy Jr. studied civil engineering at Virginia Tech and engineering administration at George Washington University. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 1959 and began his engineering career as an active duty Army officer at Fort Eustis. Louis spent 31 years as an engineering consultant, serving municipal clients with water and wastewater problems throughout Virginia. He returned to his hometown of Norfolk to serve as the city’s director of utilities and retired in 1999.

Louis was active in the engineering industry throughout his life. He was elected chair of the first Civil Engineering Alumni Advisory Board at Virginia Tech and served on advisory committees at four other universities and on education committees for five national engineering societies. Louis was a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and held office as treasurer of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), president of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, and board chairman for the Order of the Engineer. He was appointed to the Board of the National Institute of Building Sciences by President Ronald Reagan and received national honors from ASCE and NSPE. Locally, Louis served as president of the Norfolk Historical Society and was active in his church community. He dies at age 76 in 2014.

Suzanne West Guy earned a degree in piano performance at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, and began giving piano lessons from the Guy family home after her first some James was born. Throughout her 53 years of teaching piano, Suzanne’s influence extended far beyond the many young artists she meticulously trained. She taught piano pedagogy at Peabody Conservatory and George Mason University and led workshops, lectures, and master classes in 44 states. She earned a Master Teacher Certificate from the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and was honored as an MTNA Fellow in 2010.

In addition to her musical talents, Suzanne has a prolific writing career. She compiled and edited eight volumes of piano pieces in the series Expressive Etudes and was a columnist for Clavier Magazine (now Piano Magazine) from 1989 to 2007. Her first book, If…You Would Add Beauty to the World, was published in 2004 and is currently in its fourth printing. Suzanne enjoyed collaborating with other writers and co-authored many books that detail her innovative ideas about learning and perfecting repertoire. She co-authored and published two children’s books, The Music Box: The Story of Cristofori and The Orchestra, The Orchestra!, both of which recieved several awards and commendations. Her final book, Wit and Wisdom from the Piano Bench: 50 Witty and 50 Wise Ways to Inspire Aspiring Musicians, was published in 2018. Suzanne died at age 79 in December 2020. To learn more about Suzanne’s teaching career, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8dHjIny8J0.