Virginia Tech appoints COO from W&M
Virginia Tech announced Wednesday it has named Amy Stoakley Sebring, currently chief operating officer at William & Mary, as its executive vice president and COO, effective Nov. 1. “I am very pleased to welcome Amy to the university community and our leadership team,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “She brings a […]
Va. Tech extends president’s contract through 2027
Metallica won’t be playing “Exit Sandman” anytime soon — Virginia Tech President Tim Sands will stay on as the university’s president though the 2027 academic year. The university’s board of visitors voted unanimously to extend Sands’ contract during a quarterly meeting Tuesday, according to a news release. Sands is Tech’s 16th president and has served [[...]
Mary Baldwin University president to retire
Mary Baldwin University President Pamela R. Fox will retire from the school in June 2023 after two decades, the university announced Monday. Fox announced her retirement during the school’s state of the university address. Her tenure, as the ninth president, is the longest in Mary Baldwin’s history since it became a four-year college in 1923. […]
Va. Tech business school dean retires, interim named
Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business has named Roberta “Robin” S. Russell as its interim dean, effective July 1. Russell, who heads Pamplin’s Department of Business Information Technology, succeeds Robert Sumichrast, who has retired. Russell will serve while the college conducts an international search for a new dean. In May, Tech hosted in-person and virtual [&helli[...]
A new outlook
When Ajay Vinzé takes over as dean of George Mason University’s School of Business on July 1, he will carry with him a lifetime of experience in higher education. He also comes with a plan to help streamline how education is delivered and to reduce the cost of a college degree — a contentious topic […]
GMU appoints dean for health, human services college
George Mason University’s College of Health and Human Services has named epidemiologist Melissa J. Perry as its new dean. Perry has chaired The George Washington University’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health since 2011. She is expected to start her new position August 1 after completing a Fulbright fellowship in Albania, GMU said in a […]
The Royals of Regent
Although Lynchburg’s Liberty University has grabbed plenty of headlines in recent years, Virginia Beach-based Regent University can more than hold its own as a politically influential private Christian institution. Founded and still run by the 92-year-old televangelist and culture warrior M.G. “Pat” Robertson, Regent now has 11,000 students, 80% of whom are enrolled online. The […]
U.Va. School of Nursing names new dean
The University of Virginia has named Marianne Baernholdt as dean of its School of Nursing. She will start Aug. 1, U.Va. said in a news release Wednesday. Baernholdt comes to U.Va. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Nursing, where she has served as associate dean of global initiatives, interim dean […]
Virginia Tech breaks ground on $85M Hitt Hall
Virginia Tech leaders and donors broke ground Wednesday on the university’s $85 million, 100,000-square-foot Hitt Hall, which will house the Myers-Lawson School of Construction. The building, which has an expected completion of spring 2024, will feature general assignment classrooms and a 600-seat multivenue dining facility. The Myers-Lawson School is a collaboration between the College of [[...]
STEM-ming the tide
Mariah Simmons arrived at Virginia State University in 2016 with a dream of becoming the first computer scientist in her family. The week before school started, she enrolled in an on-campus mentorship program called Project Knowledge, which provided her a road map for navigating college. Simmons, now 23, heard stories from students who had been […]
Radford University chooses new president
Radford University’s eighth president will be Bret S. Danilowicz, who’s currently serving as the provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. Danilowicz, who starts his tenure at Radford on July 1, 2022, succeeds Brian O. Hemphill, who left in June to become president of Old Dominion University […]
VCU president to chair American Council on Education
Michael Rao, president of Virginia Commonwealth University, has been elected chair of the American Council on Education Board of Directors, the council announced Tuesday. Rao, VCU’s fifth president, has been at the helm of the university — and VCU Health System — since 2009. He was selected as ACE’s chair Tuesday during ACE’s business meeting […]