Virginia Tech Board of Visitors members reappointed
Gov. Ralph Northam recently announced the reappointment of two members to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
Anna Healy James, of Virginia Beach, senior vice president of government and community relations for Sentara Healthcare, and Letitia A. Long, of Alexandria, chairman of the board of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, will each serve a second four-year term which began July 1.
At its June 8 meeting, the Board of Visitors announced that Long would serve as rector for the 2021-22 academic year, contingent upon her reappointment by Gov. Northam. With her reappointment to the board, her term as rector began July 1. Ed Baine, president of Dominion Energy Virginia, in now vice rector.
In addition, Shelley Butler Barlow, of Suffolk, Virginia, co-owner of Cotton Plains Farm Inc., a multigenerational family farming operation, was reelected as president of the board of directors for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services (VDACS), As president, Barlow will continue her tenure on the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors as an ex officio member and will serve a third one-year term.
Anna Healy James
James received her bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business and later received her M.B.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University. After completing her second degree, James became director of government relations for VCU and the VCU Health System and later became the manager for state government affairs for Troutman Sanders Strategies, before serving as special assistant to Gov. Mark Warner.
While working with Warner, James established the governor's Healthy Virginians initiative, and advised him on issues such as teacher quality, K-12 education, procurement, capital outlay, health care, and higher education. She subsequently was named policy director to Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a position she held from 2014 to 2016.
Letitia A. Long
In addition to her role as chairman of the board of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, Long also serves currently on the boards of T-Mobile, Parsons, COPT, and Noblis. At Virginia Tech, she serves on the advisory boards of the School of Public and International Affairs in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology.
Long served as the fifth director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and was the first woman to lead a major U.S. intelligence agency. She previously served as the deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the deputy director of Naval Intelligence. Her career has spanned all aspects of organizational leadership, business functions, and global operations.
She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2017 Virginia Tech Distinguished Achievement Award, the Presidential Rank Award of Distinguished Executive, two Presidential Rank Awards of Meritorious Executive, two Department of Defense Medals for Distinguished Service, and three National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medals.
Long received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering and a master’s degree in engineering from the Catholic University of America. She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Strategic Intelligence from the National Intelligence University.
Shelley Butler Barlow
Barlow received her bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She has worked in various segments of agriculture, including hog production, feed sales, pharmaceutical sales, veterinary medicine, and row crop and vegetable farming. She is also the garden coordinator for Healthy Suffolk, a local nonprofit that supports community and school gardens.
Barlow is a 2016 Fellow of Virginia Agriculture Leaders Obtaining Results. In addition to her VDACS board position, Barlow represents Virginia’s cotton industry on The Cotton Board, is the Suffolk USDA Farm Service Agency county committee chair, and serves on the Virginia Farm Bureau’s AgPac Board of Trustees and Cotton Advisory Board. She was Virginia Farm Bureau’s 2010 Farm Woman of the Year.
Also joining the board for one-year terms are two new student representatives, Paolo Fermin, a rising senior studying computer engineering in the College of Engineering, and Phil Miskovic, a doctoral candidate in public administration and policy in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. Robert Weiss, professor of geosciences in the College of Science, is the new faculty representative, and Serena Young, administrative assistant in the University Ombuds Office, will serve as the new staff representative in the 2021-22 academic year.
