Return on investment
Christina Fleming embarked upon a career in marketing with the goal of getting an executive MBA degree, but other commitments kept getting in the way. She got married, had two children and moved up the corporate ladder for 26 years, rising to chief marketing officer at Blackboard Inc., a global education technology company that was […]
JMU fundraising campaign brings in $251M
James Madison University‘s second comprehensive fundraising campaign, Unleashed, raised more than $251 million, the Harrisonburg university announced Friday. The eight-year fundraising campaign, which exceeded its $200 million goal in March 2021, ended June 30. It began with an advanced gift phase in July 2014 before JMU announced it publicly in October 2018. Unleashed attracted 63,976 [&hel[...]
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 […]




















