2025 Virginia C-Suite Awards: Higher Education

MARCIA CONSTON

PRESIDENT, TIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGE, NORFOLK

Since 2020, Conston has led Virginia’s second largest community college, which encompasses four Hampton Roads campuses in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach, as well as online learning programs. For the 2023-24 academic year, more than 23,000 students enrolled at TCC, up from 17,000 in 2020, and according to early reports, the college this spring saw its highest rate of enrollment growth since 2012.

Before coming to Virginia, Conston was a vice president at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina, and she started her career at her alma mater, Mississippi’s Jackson State University. With an increasing focus on the state’s community college system as a training ground for skilled workers, TCC expanded its Portsmouth-based Skilled Trades Academy in 2024, providing more space for students to learn shipfitting, electrical and HVAC skills, among other in-demand career paths. Conston also has been instrumental in TCC’s winning of $3.7 million in grants to expand educational opportunities.

Conston serves on the board of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges’ accreditation body and chairs the Virginia Community College System’s strategic planning committee. In addition to earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Jackson State and Hood Theological Seminary, Conston holds a doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi. She also has been active in civic organizations such as Virginia Beach Vision, the Hampton Roads Workforce Council and the Virginia Arts Festival board.

A quote I live by: “Be the woman who fixes another woman’s crown without telling the world it was crooked.” — Amy Morin, psychotherapist and author.

BRET DANILOWICZ

PRESIDENT, RADFORD UNIVERSITY, RADFORD

In 2022, Danilowicz arrived at Radford, having served as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida Atlantic University and dean of Oklahoma State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. He’s made his mark in fundraising, pulling in a record $106 million for 2024’s Together campaign at Radford. He also oversaw the opening of the Artis Center for Adaptive Innovation and Creativity, the university’s largest capital construction project.

Danilowicz also has overseen an enrollment increase to more than 7,800 students in fall 2024, a one-year, 29% increase that marked the university’s second highest gain since 1975 and a turnaround after three years of declining enrollment. Much of this growth was achieved through Radford’s direct admission and tuition support initiatives, and Danilowicz also has streamlined transfers for students from eight Virginia community colleges. In 2024, Radford’s nursing school was upgraded to the College of Nursing, making Radford the only four-year public university in Virginia with a standalone nursing college. Danilowicz also has been involved in boosting economic development in the city of Radford, including adding a university economic development center, The Hub at Radford.

A graduate of Utica College of Syracuse University, England’s Open University and Georgia Southern University, Danilowicz also holds a doctorate in zoology from Duke University.

How I foster a positive culture: It starts with ensuring that every employee sees a future at the university — one where they can grow, contribute meaningfully and expand their impact over time. Equally important is cultivating a sense of pride in the organization, and supporting work-life balance is just as critical.

SCOTT D. MILLER

PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, VIRGINIA BEACH

Miller joined independent liberal-arts college Virginia Wesleyan as its president in 2015, after having served as president of West Virginia’s Bethany College, Wesley College in Delaware and Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee. With a total of 34 years leading higher education institutions, he’s among the nation’s most experienced university leaders.

According to Miller’s chief of staff, Kelly Cordova, Miller has raised more than $400 million for his four institutions, and at Virginia Wesleyan, he oversaw the creation of a 10-year campus master plan, a capital campaign strategy and an academic plan while growing the university’s endowment from $53 million in 2015 to $126 million in 2021. The school also has added a campus in Tokyo in partnership with a Japanese university and constructed the new Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art at VWU.

A Philadelphia native, Miller has degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College, the University of Dayton and Vanderbilt University, and received his doctorate from Union Institute & University. Miller, who worked as a journalist early in his career, also is known for penning op-eds on occasion for The Virginian-Pilot, HuffPost and other publications. Over the past two decades, he’s also been executive editor of “President to President” and “Presidential Perspectives,” online series of essays by college presidents that resulted in 22 books.

On responsibility to the university and the community: We have both a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute to the economic vitality and workforce development of the region. Through my leadership roles with Virginia Beach Vision and the Hampton Roads Chamber, we are able to deepen our institutional engagement and expand our impact.