Charles (Rice) McDowell, Jr. is a member of the Class of 1948 of Washington and Lee University.Charles Rice "Charley" McDowell Jr. (1926 – 2010) graduated from Washington and Lee in 1948 and from the Columbia University School of Journalism the following year. He then joined the staff of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where he would remain his entire career, retiring in 1998. He covered local news and was then assigned to the State Capitol, where he reported on the General Assembly and state politics. In 1954, McDowell began to write a syndicated column that appeared three or four times per week and would span the remainder of his career. McDowell was inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in 1988, and awarded the Fourth Estate Award by the National Press Club in 1996.