The Roanoker - July/August 2017 - 71
From left page
(left to right):
Mary Miller of RAMP, Kay
Dunkley of the Roanoke
Higher Ed Center, and,
Pareena Lawrence of
based colleges and universities in the heart of Roanoke.
The Higher Ed Center has been the source of nearly
100,000 degrees, certificates and workforce training programs. It employs 310 people and its economic impact
has been estimated at $32 million. Wythe County native
Dunkley, who grew up on a farm, was the director of
the Virginia Tech component, one of its center's largest,
and was a graduate of both Tech and Radford University.
Almost immediately upon her arrival, the center announced a $5 million, 8,000-square-foot expansion of
the Claude Moore Education Complex, home of the
popular culinary arts school for Virginia Western.
Dunkley talks of developing "human capital in our
region" and says, without hesitation, "I have been preparing for this job all my life and I didn't even know it.
It's just fun." It also puts to use Dunkley's skills in "organizational structure, streamlining processes, working
with staff," she says. "I thrive on having different stakeholders" and there are plenty at the Education Center.
Dunkley's vision of the future includes "looking at
other institutions: what programs are currently needed"
and what can they provide? "We want to be hot and heavy
in the workforce non-credit arena." She also wants to
"ratchet up the foundation board and go after funding."
HOLLINS UNIVERSITY AND ROANOKE COLLEGE
Pareena Lawrence was introduced as Hollins University's
12th president in July, replacing the revered Nancy Gray,
who had held the president's chair since 2005. Gray's
mark was indelible, especially in areas like the university's
endowment, its support of single-sex education and the
strength of its nationally-ranked theater department.
Both Hollins and Roanoke are celebrating 175 years
of operation in 2017 and have had a year-long observation. Mike Maxey, who like Gray is the 11th president
of his school, remains the popular president of Roanoke College.
Liberal arts colleges like Hollins and Roanoke, says
Gray, are "preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist,
technology that's not yet there."
Gray guided Hollins through a sometimes difficult
period, especially when the economy went in the tank
in 2008. Hollins' endowment-at a time when Harvard
was losing $25 billion-lost only a small fraction of its
value (the best performance in Virginia). Gray was given
significant credit for the performance.
Lawrence says, "Enabling more students to have access to transformative educational opportunities, as I
have had, has been the core to my life choices. However, it wasn't until I was contemplating the presidency
of Hollins that it hit me that everything in my life,
each experience, was preparing me for this extraordinary opportunity."
Lawrence, 49, has been at Augustana College, a
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