Laura Treanor will serve as the next president of Virginia Western Community College in Roanoke. The Virginia Community College System announced her appointment, which will begin July 1, on Tuesday.
Treanor will succeed Robert Sandel, who retires this summer after 24 years as president of Virginia Western.
“Succeeding Dr. Robert Sandel, who has led Virginia Western for more than two decades of transformative service, Dr. Treanor will have a hard act to follow,” David Dore, chancellor of the Virginia Community College system, said in a statement. “But I am confident that she will build on VWCC’s outstanding history of serving its communities and its diverse student populations and I’m excited she has accepted the post.”
Treanor is currently provost, senior vice president for instructional services and dean of faculty at Vincennes University in Indiana. She has also served as a vice president and dean at Baker College in Flint, Michigan. Treanor has previously taught at Roanoke College, West Virginia University and Barton College in Wilson, North Carolina.
She earned both a bachelor’s degree and a doctor of education degree at Virginia Tech, along with a master’s at The Ohio State University.
Virginia Western has about 10,000 students across its credit-earning, workforce development and continuing education courses. The college serves Roanoke, Salem, Craig County and parts of Franklin and Botetourt counties.
On Monday, the college signed an articulation agreement with James Madison University to guarantee admission to students who complete their associate of science degree with a major in biotechnology and want to transfer to James Madison. It’s the latest in a growing number of guaranteed admission agreements the college has with four-year schools around Virginia.
Virginia Western also recently formed a partnership with New River and Central Virginia Community Colleges to launch a paramedic program in response to the growing regional need for trained paramedics. Those classes start this fall.
