Engineering dean named Virginia Tech’s next provost

Julie Ross, the Paul and Dorothea Torgersen dean of Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering and special advisor to the president, has been named Tech’s next executive vice president and provost, the university announced Tuesday.

In October, Virginia Tech announced a search committee had recommended Ross for the position. She was featured Oct. 21 at a campus forum attended by more than 200 people.

“Julie is the right person to take on the academic leadership of Virginia Tech in 2026 and beyond,” Tim Sands, president of Virginia Tech, said in a news release. “She has excelled as dean of the College of Engineering, demonstrated insight and understanding of the university’s unique land-grant mission, and advanced our comprehensive vision for the future. I look forward to working with her to further elevate Virginia Tech as a leading public global research institution.”

The executive vice president and provost is the university’s second-highest official and serves as acting president in the president’s absence.

In the role, Ross will oversee academic colleges, the graduate school, libraries, health sciences and technology, student affairs, research and innovation, outreach and international affairs, undergraduate academic affairs, academic resource management, enrollment management, faculty affairs, technology-enhanced learning and online strategies. The provost also co-chairs the University Council Cabinet with the Faculty Senate president.

Ross will assume the role Jan. 10, 2026. She succeeds Cyril Clarke, who will return to the faculty.

Clarke became executive vice president and provost of Virginia Tech in January 2019, after serving in an interim capacity since November 2017. He joined Virginia Tech in 2013 as dean of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine.

Ross joined Virginia Tech in 2017 as the first female dean of the College of Engineering. Under her watch, enrollment grew by 28%, research expenditures by 22%, and engineering scholarships by 103%. She developed new academic programs in biomedical engineering, computer science and nuclear engineering. Additionally, she helped to launch the Institute for Advanced Computing, part of Virginia Tech’s Alexandria campus.

Ross holds a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a doctoral degree from Rice University, both in chemical engineering. Her research focuses on the role of fluid mechanics in infections involving the cardiovascular system. She is an elected fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

In 2023, Ross was named special advisor to President Sands. She led a committee to strengthen the university’s engagement in Greater Washington, D.C., and oversaw a search to hire the university’s senior vice president for advancement.

Prior to coming to Virginia Tech, Ross spent more than 20 years at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. There, she was its first female dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology.

“Julie Ross’s reputation as an exemplary scholar and university leader has prepared her well to take on the role of provost,” Justin Lemkul, president of the Faculty Senate who served on the search committee, said in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with her to address the challenges we will face in an ever-changing academic environment and to uphold academic freedom, advance shared governance and support the interests and needs of the faculty.”

David Knight, a professor of engineering education, will serve as interim dean of the College of Engineering. A global search for a new dean will begin in the coming weeks.