Christopher Newport University

Hampton Roads session of Lead Virginia to meet at CNU

 

News Release - September 14, 2005
contact:
Karen L. Gill
karen.gill@cnu.edu
(757) 594-8428

(NEWPORT NEWS, VA) — A new group of leaders in Virginia’s corporations and civic organizations is meeting at Christopher Newport University for its next educational session.

Lead Virginia is an organization that formed in March to link Virginia’s leaders who are interested in working toward positive change for the state. Lead Virginia class participants meet for educational programs in different regions of the state for several days each month for seven months. The sessions so far have focused on education, transportation and economic development. Oversight for Lead Virginia is provided by a diverse Board of Directors, which includes Paul Trible Jr., the president of CNU.

The first session of Lead Virginia was held in April in Williamsburg. Other sessions this year were held in Danville, Harrisonburg, Northern Virginia and Wise.

Virginia Secretary of Education Peter A. Blake will address the Hampton Roads session at 5 p.m. on Oct. 20 at CNU’s Ferguson Center for the Arts.

Blake has worked in education policy and finance for 20 years. Most recently, he worked on Gov. Mark Warner’s Education for a Lifetime initiatives and on the 2005 Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act.

“Mr. Blake will paint with broad strokes the state of education in the Commonwealth as it is today and as it might be in the future,” said CNU Provost Richard Summerville, co-chair of the committee planning the Hampton Roads session. “He will address the greatest issues facing our educational system now and the likely outcomes and consequences for the future.”

The Hampton Roads session includes a panel discussion on education, moderated by Deborah M. DiCroce, president of Tidewater Community College. The following local leaders also will be giving presentations:

  • J. Robert Bray, executive director of the Virginia Port Authority
  • Arthur L. Collins, executive director and secretary of Hampton Roads Planning District Commission
  • Capt. Michael A. "Casey" Collins, command officer for Naval Support Activities
  • Dwight Farmer, executive director of transportation for the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission
  • Hugh Keogh, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce
  • John Quarstein, local historian
  • J.J. Keever, deputy executive director of the Virginia Port Authority
  • David Lawson, vice president for industrial products for Norfolk Southern Corporation
  • Charles W. "Wick" Moorman, president of Norfolk Southern Railroad
  • Dubby Wynne, retired CEO of Landmark Communications

The session also includes visits to the Norfolk International Terminal, Naval Station Norfolk, the Hampton Roads Planning District, VDOT's “Smart Traffic Center” and the Peninsula Workforce Development Center, where Deborah Wright, vice president and dean of Thomas Nelson Community College, will lead a panel discussion.

Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Business and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.