Division Directors
Following is information on Virginia Tech's HR division directors that are embedded within the teams they support. Each senior management area at Virginia Tech has a dedicated HR representative to help employees, managers, and leaders in that area.
Lynn has more than 28 years of professional human resources experience.
She joined Virginia Tech in 2002, holding a series of increasingly senior roles for the Virginia Bioinformatics institute and then the Biocomplexity Institute, including director of talent management from 2011 to 2015. She then joined the Office of Research and Innovation as human resources project manager. In June 2020 she was named senior human resources manager.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech, Lynn served as a technical recruiter for six years at several corporations.
She received a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech and a master of business administration from Averett University. She earned Virginia Tech’s Diversity Ambassador Certificate 2016 and holds the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification and is a SHRM Certified Professional.
Sarah joined Virginia Tech in February 2023 as division director for the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
She previously worked at Virginia Tech from 2005 to 2014, serving in a range of HR roles, including faculty specialist and new employee orientation coordinator. Her final position was as human resources manager for the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, now the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.
She is an agile and compassionate HR professional with more than 20 years of hands‐on experience across all tactical and strategic functional areas of human resources including expertise in compliance, organizational design, and employee relations. She is committed to providing solutions to critical business needs by building strong strategic partnerships within all levels of an organization.
She most recently served as director of human resources for Precigen, Inc. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Kentucky.
Micah joined Virginia Tech in October 2022 as a seasoned human resources professional with significant experience working across multiple HR functions, including compensation, employee engagement, process improvement, talent development, talent management, and workforce planning.
Micah holds a bachelor’s in organizational management and psychology from East Tennessee State University and a master’s of public administration from Appalachian State University.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech, he served as director of human resources for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, deputy director of human resources at the Virginia Department of Health, and associate director of human resources at Appalachian State University.
Steve Filipiak has over 22 years of progressive, professional human resources experience.
He is accomplished in leading teams and supporting organizations in the areas of employee relations, performance management, recruitment, organizational design and development, compensation, and human resources management. Steve began his career as a corporate recruiter. He developed broader human resource skills as an employee relations and recruiting manager/business partner in the travel and energy industries prior to beginning his higher education career at MIT. There, Steve progressively developed in human resources leadership roles, including human resources manager of information systems and technology; human resources officer supporting the schools of science and engineering; and manager of human resources supporting campus construction and campus planning.
In 2017 Steve became Virginia Tech’s first human resources division director, supporting the Advancement Division. As senior division director, he currently leads operational and strategic human resources support for divisions reporting to the executive vice president and chief operating officer.
Maura joined Virginia Tech in February 2023 as division director for the Innovation Campus and D.C. Metro Area.
She will focus on HR processes, practices, and recruiting to support the continued development of the Innovation Campus. She will work with other HR directors, local HR practitioners, and leadership to build and reinforce an HR community of practice to support and help grow the university’s presence in the D.C. Metro Area.
Maura has more than 10 years of human resources experience in organizational development and operations, classification and compensation, talent acquisition, employee relations, and performance evaluation. She most recently served at George Mason University as director of advancement human resources. Previously she worked for the U.S. Department of State in Ottawa, Canada, and the Baltimore City Public Schools system. She began her career as a high school history teacher and volleyball coach in Yorktown, Virginia.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Mary Washington and a master of education degree in instructional technology from the University of Virginia. She also has earned her SHRM-SCP and completed her diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace certification through the University of South Florida.
Roslyn joined Virginia Tech in 2019 as division director for the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design, serving in that role until July 2022.
As she joins the College of Science in this newly created position, Roslyn will consult with the college’s faculty and staff across eight departments, one school, and two academies on workforce planning and staffing, performance management, professional development, employee relations, and all talent-related activities. The College of Science fulfills critical research, teaching, and service for the university and Roslyn will provide strategic human resources leadership to enhance these shared missions.
She has extensive experience in recruiting, staffing, and employee retention through earlier roles. She previously served as human resources manager for Federal-Mogul Powertrain, LLC in Blacksburg. In that role, she was responsible for human resources management of the plant, including employee and labor relations, talent management, and training.
Roslyn is a graduate of Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. She is an at-large board member of the Virginia chapter of CUPA-HR for 2022-23.
Sara has more than 25 years of HR and administrative leadership experience spanning the private sector and higher education. She joined Virginia Tech in 2006 as a senior recruiter in Advancement. She was appointed manager of the Dual Career Program in 2012, supporting the spouses and partners of newly hired faculty with their career transition to Roanoke and the New River Valley.
Sara has provided interim leadership to the Talent Acquisition team in the Division of HR and served as an interim HR manager for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She will continue to lead the Dual Career Program while also providing HR support to the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost. She has served on the Commission on Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Employee Benefits Committee and Work Life Liaisons.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech, Sara served as vice president of business development for Freedom First Federal Credit Union, staffing manager at BellSouth Communications Systems and vice president loan administration for Member One Federal Credit Union.
She received a bachelor’s degree in communications from Virginia Tech and a master of arts in liberal studies from Hollins University.
Since joining Virginia Tech in 2017, Jackie has held progressively larger HR leadership roles in the Pamplin College of Business, Division of HR, and CPIF. Jackie served as HR manager for the Division of Facilities from 2022 until June 2024, when she was appointed interim HR division director.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she served as an HR analyst at New River Community College, an administrative assistant and HR liaison at Radford University Athletics, and a customer service specialist and data specialist at Wesco Distribution.
Minh-An has more than 20 years of experience working in a variety of human resources capacities in both higher education and private sector organizations.
She joined Virginia Tech in 2017, serving on the Benefits team in the Division of Human Resources before transitioning to human resources manager for the Division of Campus Planning, Infrastructure, and Facilities.
In her role as HR division director for the Division of Information Technology, Minh-An serves as a strategic partner to leadership in key areas of recruiting, retention, and talent development as well as leading human resources operations for the division.
She received a bachelor’s in industrial engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and holds the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification.
Cheri joined Virginia Tech in January 2023 as senior HR manager for the Pamplin College of Business, serving in that role through November 2023.
In her role at Pamplin, she assisted with the onboarding of a new dean to the college, administered the logistics for a complete college organizational review, and launched a new faculty and staff engagement process for recognition.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she served as senior human resources manager at Ozmo Holdings, Inc. Earlier, she was the senior human resource manager at Lawrence Companies, Inc., where she assisted with building and administering an onsite medical clinic for all employees of the company and managed the benefit program for the self-insured company.
She also served as deputy director of human resources at the Taubman Museum of Art, where she built the human resource department.
Cheri earned a bachelor’s from the University of South Florida. She is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP) and a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She also holds a Not-For-Profit Certificate in Accounting from the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants.
Julie joined Virginia Tech in 2019 as a Human Resources Manager. She has over 15 years of HR experience spanning the private sector and higher education.
Julie began her career in management consulting with Accenture then transitioned to HR. Prior to Virginia Tech, she worked for Cornell University, where she served in various HR roles, concluding her time there as assistant director of HR for the SC Johnson College of Business. In that role, she served as a member of the inaugural HR team responsible for developing an organizational structure and operational framework for the newly formed college, which launched in 2016.
Julie transitions to the new College of Architecture, Arts, and Design (AAD) following her role serving teams within the executive vice president and chief operating officer enterprise. As the division director of human resources for AAD, Julie will serve as a strategic collaborator for college leadership in advancing their workforce priorities and supporting their teaching and research mission.
Julie received a bachelor’s of science in economics from John Carroll University and has earned the HRCI Professional in Human Resources certification.
April Wood
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
With more than 20 years of experience in human resources, April has served the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as an HR manager from 2011 to 2024, when she was appointed interim HR division director.
April joined Virginia Tech in 2008 as employee relations consultant in the Division of Human Resources. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she served as HR generalist for Warm Hearth Village in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Her strengths include cultivating leadership development and fostering a collaborative workplace culture. She holds a master’s degree in executive leadership from Liberty University and a bachelor’s in organizational management and leadership from Bluefield College. She has earned the designation of Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP). She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in life sciences agricultural education and recently received a graduate certificate from Virginia Tech in Problem Solving for Leading Change.
Patricia has more than 15 year of experience in people management and human resources.
Patricia joined Virginia Tech in April 2019 as Human Resources manager for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. Patricia was the first to serve in this role for the university. She was promoted to her current role in 2021.
She received a bachelor of science degree in business management from Southern Connecticut State University and has completed course work toward a master of business administration degree at Liberty University. She has also earned both the HRCI Professional in Human Resources certification and is a SHRM Certified Professional.
Prior to her arrival at Virginia Tech, she served as senior manager, people operations, for a small financial technology startup in Richmond, Virginia. Prior to that role, she served as vice president for human resources at various hospital systems within Hospital Corporation of America (HCA).
Patricia is a board member and contributor of the Virginia chapter of CUPA-HR and has spoken to several local groups regarding organizational culture and topical human resources subjects. She is dedicated to continuous learning as well as personal and professional growth. When she is not at work, you can find her traveling with her husband.