President

Virginia Tech, one of the nation’s leading public research universities, seeks a visionary and dynamic leader to serve as its next president. At a pivotal moment in its trajectory, Virginia Tech is poised to expand its national prominence, deepen its research impact, and further define the role of a modern land-grant university in addressing society’s most complex challenges. The university has enjoyed a sustained period of growth this century to develop into an institution not only indispensable to the Commonwealth of Virginia, but vital to the prosperity of the nation and capable of impacting the world through its work advancing knowledge, educating leaders, and serving society through its motto, Ut Prosim (“That I May Serve”).

In just the past decade, the university experienced a 30 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment, 200 percent increase in applications, 70 percent increase in extramural research expenditures, and 185 percent increase in the university’s endowment. Virginia Tech recently surpassed the goals of the largest fundraising campaign in university history, raising more than $2 billion. Virginia Tech has expanded its footprint and its impact across the Commonwealth with the opening of Academic Building One, an 11-story facility in Alexandria that is home to the Institute for Advanced Learning (IAC) and programs and partnerships that will advance research, education, and outreach as part of Virginia Tech’s emerging innovation network and serve as the nexus for a broad Washington, D.C. metropolitan strategy. The university has significantly advanced a robust and growing Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke through its partnership with Carilion Clinic to create the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and with the founding of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (FBRI). These initiatives resulted in Virginia Tech’s economic impact in Roanoke more than doubling from $214 million in 2017 to $475 million in 2025. Virginia Tech was also recently selected as a co-leader of a Department of Energy national lab in Newport News.

Founded in 1872 as a land grant university, Virginia Tech serves more than 38,000 students including 8,000 graduate and professional students across nine colleges and offers more than 280 undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs. It is the commonwealth’s largest and most comprehensive university, with an operating budget of $2.5 billion, an endowment of $2.4 billion, and a rapidly growing research enterprise of just over $700 million—placing it among the top 6 percent of universities in the nation. Widely recognized for its academic excellence, collaborative culture, commitment to service, exceptional student experience, and athletic distinction, Virginia Tech consistently ranks among the top-25 public universities in the nation. It is also distinguished as one of only three universities with an active Corps of Cadets with a mission to produce ethical leaders within a “civilian” lifestyle on campus.

Virginia Tech has built a national reputation for integrating teaching, research, and engagement in service to the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond. This legacy continues to shape key institutional priorities such as Virginia Tech Advantage, a university-wide commitment to ensure financial accessibility and student success, as well as Virginia Tech Global Distinction, an initiative to elevate the university’s national and international standing through scholarly excellence, faculty distinction, and high-impact research. Together, these efforts reflect a broader ambition: to expand opportunity while advancing discovery that improves the human condition.

The next president of Virginia Tech will capitalize on this momentum and the opportunities to lead this complex, multi-campus institution. The president will be expected to articulate and execute a bold vision that advances Virginia Tech’s position among the world’s leading public research universities. Key priorities include advancing academic and research excellence, championing the university’s land-grant mission, supporting competitive and principled athletics, expanding the impact of Virginia Tech on the commonwealth and beyond, and leading comprehensive fundraising efforts. Virginia Tech seeks a leader with experience, judgment, and credibility to inspire and guide a complex public institution with high aspirations and deliver results aligned with its mission.

Virginia Tech has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist with this important search. Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and CVs with cover letters should be sent in confidence below.

Greg Esposito and Julie Filizetti are leading this search with Kristen Andersen, Raul Bernal, Victoria Castillo, and Gabrielle Nayar.