2023 Administrative and Professional Faculty Award Nominees

Zeke Barlow, senior director of communications and marketing colleges with Communications and Marketing, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2012.  

A nomination from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) communications and marketing team stated, “Since joining the university, Zeke has translated the academic discourse of CALS and Virginia Cooperative Extension into written and visual paraphrase that tells a riveting story of our impact. The visibility he has brought to Virginia Tech through his work is invaluable. Our college’s reputation as a trusted, next-door resource amplifies our student recruitment efforts. In terms of policymaking, our reputation as straightforward, data-driven thought leaders carries authoritative weight in civic engagement, helping to drive positive legislative action at local, national, and international levels. Zeke’s promotion of complex research in accessible ways has advanced the Virginia Tech brand from Blacksburg to Ecuador to Senegal, narrowing the perception gap between researchers and stakeholders and bringing the impact of our university’s many breakthroughs into the public consciousness. His recent promotion is only further evidence of the trust placed in him by his team, colleagues, and superiors."

Bryan Ducote, director of operations, Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics (BEAM), has worked at Virginia Tech since 2019.

Jennifer Wayne, professor and BEAM department head, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “As BEAM’s director of operations, Bryan plays a major role in the seamless operation of the entire department, from finance to staffing to facilities. When he joined BEAM in 2019, he had major hurdles to address. First, the department was still reeling from the merger of two distinct departments in 2014. He had to streamline operations to bring two different sets of approaches into one. He overhauled the financial operations of the department to make processes and arrangements transparent, consolidating and clarifying. In fall 2022, BEAM received gold stars on the compliance audit of its operations including purchasing, reconciliations, and IT.”

Ryan Flanary, technical recruiter, Human Resources, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2022.

Minh-An Pence, division director, human resources for Information Technology, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Ryan supports this division with a high sense of professionalism. For every recruitment we ask for his help on, he is thoughtful and diligent in his preparation for the search, and we see the fruits of his labor through the number of qualified candidates he adds to our applicant pool. Many of our IT leaders have praised him publicly for his efforts since they recognize the value he brings. Ryan truly goes ‘above and beyond’ for the university. The university has benefited greatly through the new employees we’ve been able to recruit and hire.”

Molly Hall, associate director, institutional effectiveness in Analytics and Institutional Effectiveness, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2015.

Bethany Bodo, assistant provost, institutional effectiveness, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Molly plays a fundamental role in Virginia Tech’s goal of continuous improvement by leading the university’s academic program review process and the assessment process for the Pathways for General Education program. Her work significantly contributes to the university’s ability to offer high‐quality programs. This work helps departments and programs think critically about their

operations and make improvements. Both areas require critical and creative thinking about ways to implement such processes.”

Bryan Hanson, graduate student ombudsperson, Graduate School, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2017.

Monika Gibson, Graduate School chief of staff, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Bryan uses creative, innovative, and proactive methods to reach people and help individuals and groups learn productive ways to communicate and manage conflicts that arise in the context of graduate education. His always positive and problem‐solving demeanor provides a calming presence and creates a collaborative environment that is comfortable and inviting to all. Many departments can attest to the positive difference Bryan has made in the last six years. He is a rare individual whom everyone holds in high regard.”

Tiffany Hess, program manager for the Cultural and Community Centers’ (CCC) Intercultural Engagement Center, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2021.

Stacey Wilkerson, chief of staff, Office for Inclusion and Diversity, wrote in a letter of endorsement. “Tiffany's work has brought positive attention to the university through her professionalism, expertise, and her willingness to go the extra mile in everything she does. She cares deeply for the work of the cultural and community centers, and it shows in her work performance. Each of the 200 programs require diligent fiscal support and planning to ensure there is ample budget and that all transactions and requests are in compliance with university and state guidelines. Last year, the CCCs engaged with nearly 9,000 faculty, staff, and students. This would not have been possible without Tiffany.”

Deena Hines, coordinator for Well-being, Residential Well-being, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2021.

Cassandra Pinaire, coordinator for case management, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Deena has connected with so many students living in District 1. She volunteered to assist with a wellness check by an academic advisor in the fall and received very positive feedback. When two residential well-being coordinators resigned at the end of the fall 2022 semester, she took it upon herself to assist their districts by providing guidance on a residential campus-wide Setting Goals initiative with their student leaders and other professional staff.”

Joseph Hoeflein, director, Facilities and Research Operations for Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI) Operations, has worked with Virginia Tech since 2018.

Clifton Felton, director, FLSI Operations, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “There is seemingly no project so big that it is outside the scope of Joe’s capabilities. He has enthusiastically tackled building a wildlife infectious-disease research facility, an insectary research lab, and office space renovation work. However, no project is too small either. Joe treats all of these projects with equal care and attention, and his dedication shows. Equally importantly, over the last few years Joe and his staff have helped prepare move-ins and workspace accommodations for several principal investigators with wet labs, which includes physical preparation for instruments, post-doctoral researchers, and students.”

Carol Hurley, associate director of faculty staff technology resources, User Engagement in Information Technology, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2006.

Joyce Landreth, deputy executive director, User Engagement, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Since 2006, Carol has led the Administrative Computing Refresh program (ACR), which facilitates equitable distribution of SCHEV-funded laptops and desktops to all senior administrative areas and colleges. Since 2016, she has adopted a strategy of continuous improvement to increase efficiency and impact, including a complete redesign of the ACR process to align more closely with Technology-enhanced Learning and Online Strategy’s Professional Development Network computer refresh process for faculty, creation of a more equitable approach to allocations, and development of a database to track deployments.”

John Jackson, director of web communications, Communications and Marketing, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2008. 

Susan Gill, director, new media, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Virginia Tech community would be much less informed without John and his team’s effort to publish and send articles, notices, and messages that are critical to keeping an institution of higher education running. John also engages in content strategy activities with his colleagues and trains university communicators to use VTx for their areas’ storytelling. He works continuously to problem-solve and improve efficiency for daily communications operations, all the while sharing his insights with leadership to help them in their decision making.”

Lonnie Johnson Jr., associate director, Field Operations and Administration, Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Administration, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2010.

John Thompson, northern district director, VCE, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Lonnie works directly with state VCE administration, Human Resources, Finance, various other departments in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and district directors to coordinate state-wide extension initiatives. His steadfast support and willingness to go above and beyond to support, guide, and represent VCE make him a perfect candidate for this award. He truly cares for the people in our organization and is always willing to give his time to support us and, by extension, the communities VCE serves. Our collective success, both as employees and as an organization, is largely because of him.”

Sadnima “Tiasha” Khan, program manager, Virginia Tech National Security Institute (VTNSI), has worked with Virginia Tech since 2019.

Madison Boswell, project manager, VTNSI, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Tiasha demonstrates complete mastery of program management. She oversees a research portfolio spanning $10 million dollars, which supports 12 graduate students and several dozen undergraduates. Her pioneering work on VTNSI’s workforce development programs has helped pave the way for Virginia Tech to meet the goal that all our students have opportunities in experiential learning prior to graduating. Tiasha directly recruits students, including underrepresented demographics, into the national security field, and the fellowship programs she manages have successfully placed students into jobs within the DoD and IC communities.” 

Tamara Knott, academic programs manager, Department of Engineering Education in the College of Engineering, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2018. 

Jenny Lo, senior instructor, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Tamara’s performance enhances the work of colleagues within and outside of our department. Her knowledge of governance processes helped faculty develop proposals for permanent undergraduate and graduate courses and special studies. She shepherded a significant change in our Ph.D. curriculum through governance. She built a strong connection with the Office of First Year Experiences and led the effort to secure funding to develop and implement instructor and GTA training and develop new course materials. Her work in developing departmental teaching schedules involves a high degree of coordination and problem solving.”

Mary Beth Lombardo, proposal manager, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), has worked at Virginia Tech since 2021.

Christine Absher, chief finance officer, VTTI, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “In the short span of time since she joined VTTI, Mary Beth has created and improved a plethora of internal operations and forms that help to streamline the proposal process. Her work has enabled institute researchers to input information into a template that allows the proposal team to be more efficient and better serve researchers with their submissions. She has taken the time to ensure that the researchers have a deeper understanding of the proposal process, some of which is accomplished by providing training opportunities, meeting with groups and individuals, and using various communication platforms.”

Joy Manning, director of renovations, Campus Planning, Infrastructure, and Facilities (CPIF), has worked at Virginia Tech since 2017.

Wendy Halsey, assistant vice president, Facilities Operations, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Joy’s strong leadership skills are obvious to CPIF management, so when there was an unexpected departure, she was assigned the heavy equipment crew in addition to the renovations program. Joy accepted this new responsibility without complaint and immediately implemented several program improvements. She streamlined the team’s workflow and encouraged team members to improve their Hokieserv skills. She developed a two-week planning process that allowed the team to work more efficiently and provided transparency, which the project managers appreciate.”

Christina McIntyre, director of professional development, National and International Scholarships in the Honors College, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2007.

Sara Vandyke, chief of staff for the Honors College, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “In addition to her many other responsibilities, Christina also maintains our organizational involvement in several state- and national-level honors organizations, including significant involvement with the National Collegiate Honors Council. NCHC is the largest organization in the country dedicated to honors education and provides opportunities for our faculty to publish in a peer-reviewed journal, present at a conference, and collaborate with colleagues from across the country and the globe. NCHC also benefits honors students, who can publish in a student research journal, serve as editors, and present at and attend the annual national conference.”

Jordan Metzgar, herbarium curator, Department of Biological Sciences in the College of Science, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2017.

Robert Cohen, professor and head of the Department of Biological Sciences, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Jordan has formed strong partnerships with schools, libraries, and numerous other local groups and engaged a large number of people of all ages with his infectious passion and knowledge of plants. His efforts have brought substantial positive attention to the herbarium and the important role it plays in our state. He has been a skilled user of social media, including using it to great effect to confirm the presence of the dangerous giant hogweed in Virginia during the summer of 2018. In addition, he created educational materials related to the infamous Stinky Phil corpse plant, which had a rare flowering event in 2020.”

Brittany Shelton, senior human resources manager, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (FLSI), has worked at Virginia Tech since 2015.

Linda Eaton, human resources generalist, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “In spring 2021, Brittany was given permission to formally relaunch Skillup VT to once again provide formal adult education opportunities to employees in partnership with Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley. With funding from the vice president for student affairs, Brittany was able to provide an ESL course for dining employees. Many of these employees are refugees who we were able to provide employment for through our engagement with the Blacksburg Refugee Partnership. The spring course was so successful that we were allowed to offer an informal summer session.”

Patricia Simpson, senior project manager and process improvement specialist, Human Resources, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2019.

Bryan Garey, vice president, Human Resources, wrote in a letter of nomination, “Tricia Simpson has worked tirelessly through resistance and limited support to make HR better in service to faculty and staff. She is the key reason we have a learning management system that has enabled tremendous increases in compliance for required state and university training. A new staff performance management system replaced an outdated home-grown Banner tool and enables active performance conversations between employees and supervisors and provides visibility to current job duties to facilitate important updates to position descriptions and annual performance goals.”

Stephanie Trout, director, Animal Care and Use Program and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) administrator, Scholarly Integrity and Research Compliance in Research and Innovation, has worked at Virginia Tech since 1998.

Lisa Lee, associate vice president, Research and Innovation, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Stephanie serves as the face of the university during our federal inspections for compliance with animal care and use regulations. During a particularly busy and stressful year with federal visits, she consistently represented the work of our animal care and use staff, our Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, the attending veterinarian’s office, and our faculty with professionalism, courtesy, and care. Stephanie’s commitment to excellence consistently brings positive attention to the university; the coordination and cooperation of Virginia Tech was praised by our site visitors at the conclusion of each visit.”

Chien-Chi Tseng, collegiate associate professor, Department of Management in the Pamplin College of Business, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2020.

Robert Sumichrast, dean emeritus, Pamplin College of Business, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Chien-Chi Tseng has contributed significant innovations to the Virginia Tech entrepreneurship community and ecosystem. He played a leadership role in the Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technology Management major program at Virginia Tech and led the entrepreneurship program with his efforts in winning the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship Model Program National Award in 2022.”

Tremayne Waller, director, Graduate Student Programs, College of Engineering, has worked at Virginia Tech since 2019.

Samantha Akers, research program manager, wrote in a letter of endorsement, “Every year, Tremayne travels around the nation to attend student recruitment conferences and meet with prospective students in addition to overseeing critical CEED programs for current students that are focused on building community and providing positive experiences outside the classroom. He leads by example to enrich everyone with whom he works. He encourages students and his colleagues to ‘take up space,’ because their voices, their ideas, and their talents matter. He provides leadership experiences for students, such as leading sessions for potential applicants, leading programming activities, and performing data analysis projects.”