Education 2023: TRACY FITZSIMMONS

SU’s president since 2008, Fitzsimmons is overseeing the renovation of a former National Guard armory on the private university’s main Winchester campus into the Hub for Innovators, Veterans and Entrepreneurs (HIVE). Scheduled to open in 2024, HIVE will support startups, offer career pathways for veterans and serve as home to SU’s technology programs. SU also has sites in Loudoun, Clarke and Fairfax counties.

Before being named SU’s first woman president, Fitzsimmons became its dean of arts and sciences in 2001. Fitzsimmons has an undergraduate degree in politics from Princeton University and a master’s degree in Latin American studies and a doctorate in political science from Stanford University. She is also a professor of political science at SU and previously was a tenured professor at the University of Redlands in California. 

Married to retired Inova Health System CEO J. Knox Singleton, Fitzsimmons is board secretary for the Loudoun Education Foundation and volunteers with the Virginia Women’s Network and 100 Women Strong of Loudoun County.

STREAMING SHOW I’VE ENJOYED: “Ted Lasso,” especially as the mother of teenage soccer players

FAVORITE SPORTS TEAM: No surprise, the Shenandoah Hornets! After them, definitely the Washington Spirit and the Washington Capitals.