$100M donor gift to launch U.Va. biotech institute
The University of Virginia will build a biotechnology institute funded with a $100 million donation from Charlottesville investor Paul Manning and his wife, Diane, the university announced Friday. Along with the Mannings’ gift, U.Va. will contribute $150 million, and the state has allocated $50 million in initial investmen[...]
Mary Washington hires admin/finance VP
The University of Mary Washington has hired Craig Erwin as vice president for administration and finance, effective Jan. 10. Erwin replaces Paul Messplay, who retires on Jan. 20. Erwin comes to UMW from Southwestern University, a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas, where he was vice president for finance and admin[...]
ODU hires associate VP for innovation, commercialization
Kevin Leslie will be Old Dominion University‘s first associate vice president for innovation and commercialization, the Norfolk-based university announced Friday. Leslie will improve ODU’s technology transfer operation to better identify, develop and market faculty, staff and student intellectual property and startup[...]
VCU names medical school dean
Dr. Arturo P. Saavedra will be the next dean of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and executive vice president for medical affairs at VCU Health, the university announced Monday. His appointment is effective April 15. Saavedra is currently chair of the University of Virginia’s dermatology department a[...]
New VCCS chancellor set to start April 1
The Virginia State Board for Community Colleges on Wednesday announced that it hired David Doré to lead the state’s 23 community colleges. Doré currently serves as president of campuses and executive vice chancellor for student experience and workforce development at Tucson, Arizona-based Pima Community College, where mo[...]
Getting down to business
In the late 1990s, Jennifer E. Clift was working as a secretary when her supervisor encouraged her to continue her education. She began taking business classes at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg. “I wasn’t in a settled place,” she says. “I was not a traditional student. I was working full time, pl[...]
ODU hires associate VP for corporate partnerships
Civic Leadership Institute President and CEO Sarah Jane Kirkland will become Old Dominion University‘s associate vice president for corporate partnerships on March 1, 2023, the Norfolk university announced Thursday. “Sarah Jane is well-known and highly respected in Hampton Roads, especially among business and industry le[...]
Youngkin budget outlines EVMS/ODU merger by 2024
In his proposed budget amendments released Thursday, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin lays out the framework and a timeline for the merger of Eastern Virginia Medical School and Old Dominion University, requiring it to take place by July 2024. Youngkin’s amendments to the 2022-24 state budget, which must be passed by the Gene[...]
Independent colleges council taps former state delegate as leader
Former Virginia Del. Christopher K. Peace will be the next president of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia Inc. (CICV) after the 2023 regular General Assembly session concludes. “[Chris] is far more than a lobbyist and attorney — he is a strategist with a great grasp of the issues. He carries a reputation as [&h[...]
GMU names EVP for finance and admin
George Mason University has promoted Deb Dickenson to executive vice president for finance and administration, the university announced Monday. Dickenson had been serving as interim senior vice president for administration and finance since June. In her new role, she will be responsible for universitywide leadership, strategic o[...]
Class conflicts
Makena Massarella, a 20-year-old junior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, is well on her way to becoming part of the solution to one of the most vexing problems facing Virginia and the nation: the shortage of teachers. She wants to be an elementary school teacher, the most in-demand position out of 10 critical shortag[...]
Va. Tech’s real estate program becomes department
Virginia Tech’s real estate program has earned approval from the State Council for Higher Education to become the Blackwood Department of Real Estate. Becoming a department housed under the Pamplin School of Business will offer the former program more resources, enhance its academic and experiential learning offerings and [...]