Averett names next president, to be installed May 1

Averett University announced Friday it will install its next president May 1, after the sudden resignation of its previous president April 11, who cited his wife’s serious medical issue as his reason for stepping down.

Thomas H. Powell will be the Danville private university’s 16th president. He is the former president of Mount St. Mary’s University in Maryland, where he served from 2003 to 2015, and he was also president of Glenville State University in West Virginia from 1999 to 2003.

Powell succeeds David Joyce, who stepped down after three months on the job after his wife received a serious medical diagnosis. Venita Mitchell, Averett’s vice president for student engagement, is serving as interim president until Powell joins the university.

Powell comes to Averett at a challenging time. In January, longtime president Tiffany Franks retired after nearly 17 years at the school, amid reports of significant financial woes, and Joyce succeeded her.

In March, Averett filed a federal lawsuit against its former chief finance officer, Donald Aungst, and an investment firm the university hired, Arizona-based Global Strategic Investment Solutions. The lawsuit claims that Aungst and GSIS colluded to “surreptitiously” drain close to $20 million from the university’s endowment, allegations GSIS denied in a statement.

On Jan. 3, U.S. Bank Trust issued a notice that Averett was in default on more than $14.57 million in bonds issued in 2017 because its debt service coverage rating was too low, and it had not provided proof of insurance policies, although the university was not behind on bond payments. According to the lawsuit, GSIS and Aungst had recommended that the university open a margin loan account, which is not appropriate for a nonprofit university. Franks signed an application for the loan in April 2022, the complaint says.

To address its financial issues, Averett in November 2024 announced it would eliminate five undergraduate majors, a criminal justice master’s degree and the symphonic band program. It also has instituted staff furloughs, and according to a Danville Register & Bee article this week, Averett is putting its president’s home up for sale later this year, as well as hosting a benefit auction for household items there and at another recently sold property, the Conway House.

According to Averett’s announcement Friday, Powell was president of St. John’s Catholic Preparatory School in Frederick, Maryland, from 2015 to 2021, as well as interim president of Frederick Community College in 2021-22. Earlier in his career he was a faculty member at Montana State University-Billings and the University of Connecticut, and dean of Winthrop University’s College of Education and dean of MSU-Billings’ education and human services college.

He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in special education at MSU-Billings and a doctorate in special education at Vanderbilt University.

“Though this search and appointment came upon us quickly, I know that it has yielded an outstanding and experienced individual to lead Averett University into the future,” Daniel Carlton, chair of the Averett Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “Dr. Powell’s enthusiasm for this position, along with his well-known and established record as an outstanding leader in the field of higher education, made him the right choice for this university.”