Conrad Mercer Hall is a lifelong resident of Norfolk, Virginia. In his early teens, his father bought a small farm on Billups Creek in Mathews County, and over more than 40 years his family spent many summers and weekends living in an old house surrounded by fields and woods.  He earned a BS degree from the Virginia Military Institute and served as an artillery officer in the United States Army, including duty with the 8th Army in the Peoples Republic of South Korea. He received a MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia and has an Honorary Doctoral Degree in Humane Letters from Old Dominion University. He retired as the CEO of Dominion Enterprises after a 40-year career in the media and information services industries.