BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech President Tim Sands announced in a letter on Thursday that he will be stepping down in the coming months.
The University issued the following release on Thursday:
After 12 years of service to the university community and the Commonwealth of Virginia, and a career dedicated to the advancement of science and the impact of public higher education, Virginia Tech President Tim Sands intends to step down in the coming months. Sands made the announcement Thursday in a letter addressed “to Hokies everywhere.”
“There is no better role in higher education than to serve as the president of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,” Sands said. “Stewarding Virginia Tech as president has been the most fulfilling experience of my career.”
Sands said it was the right time to begin the process of stepping aside and provide the next president the opportunity to “take the baton at full stride” and continue Virginia Tech’s significant growth and momentum, telling the community that “together we have transformed Virginia Tech for the better.”
During his tenure, the university experienced a 30 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment, 200 percent increase in applications, 70 percent increase in extramural research expenditures, and 185 percent increase in the university’s endowment.
In sharing his plans with the rector of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, John Rocovich, Sands said he was committed to serving until his successor was in place to ensure a smooth transition.
“I am deeply grateful to President Sands for his leadership and tireless dedication to our university and his vision for what we can accomplish in service to our students and the commonwealth,” Rocovich said. “His drive to expand Virginia Tech’s impact through collaborative engagement with our communities and partners, and his steadfast commitment to public higher education have positioned us well for the future ahead. President Sands’ leadership in establishing the Virginia Tech Carilion Academic Health Center and the Innovation Campus will yield huge dividends to Virginia Tech for 100 years.”
Sands became president of Virginia Tech on June 1, 2014, after serving as provost and acting president of Purdue University. In his installation address on Oct. 17, 2014, he called on the university community to advance its impact on the commonwealth by developing the “binary star” created by the university’s main campus in Blacksburg and academic programs, opportunities, and partnerships in the greater Washington, D.C., area. Four years later, Virginia Tech announced plans to build an “innovation campus” in Alexandria as a signature part of the higher education package that brought Amazon’s HQ2 to Northern Virginia and continues to develop technology talent for the region.
The Alexandria building, now known as Academic Building One and home to the new Institute for Advanced Computing, is part of Virginia Tech’s significant growth across the commonwealth under Sands’ leadership. Fifteen major new construction projects have been launched since 2014 totaling 1.9 million square feet.
The North Academic District of the Blacksburg campus is the site of the largest transformation impacting students at nearly 500,000 square feet. It includes the Data and Decision Sciences Building, Hitt Hall and the Perry Place dining facility, the Undergraduate Science Laboratory, the New Classroom Building, and the New Business Building.
The Upper Quad also experienced significant expansion and improvement with the construction of Pearson Hall East and West, Upper Quad Hall North, and the Corps Leadership and Military Science Building.
Virginia Tech’s ongoing partnership with Carilion Clinic has been transformative in the Roanoke region with the development of the Health Sciences and Technology campus. The transition of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine from an independent institution to the university’s newest college is advancing a robust and growing academic health care presence. The expansion of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, with more than 40 faculty-led research teams in 260,000 square feet of laboratory and teaching space, doubled the university’s economic impact in Roanoke from $214 million in 2017 to $475 million in 2025.
Other new buildings that are complete or currently under construction include Mitchell Hall, the Creativity and Innovation District residence hall, the Beamer-Lawson Indoor Practice Facility, and the Dairy Science Complex at Kentland Farm.
Additional highlights of Sands’ leadership include:
- Establishing the Beyond Boundaries visioning initiative to engage and inspire the university community to imagine Virginia Tech’s role as a public land-grant university in 2047 and beyond and lay the groundwork for a new strategic plan
- Launching Virginia Tech’s sesquicentennial celebration to honor and reflect on the university’s history and inspire conversations about the future
- Successfully navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by engaging health care, government, and community partners throughout the region and leveraging the expertise of Virginia Tech scientists, researchers, and labs to support health care needs across the commonwealth and advance global understanding of how the virus is spread
- Achieving the initial $1.5 billion goal for Boundless Impact: The Campaign for Virginia Tech, engaging more than 117,000 alumni, and subsequently surpassing the $1.872 billion expanded goal two years ahead of schedule
- Increasing the university’s endowment from $800 million to more than $2 billion, providing critical resources to invest in Virginia Tech’s impact and excellence
- Launching the Partnership for Progress initiative to collaboratively identify and address shared challenges and opportunities for Virginia Tech and the surrounding region and to create a visionary, actionable road map to enhance quality of life
- Establishing Virginia Tech Advantage to remove barriers for in-state students with financial need, supporting emergency resources as well as research, study-abroad and internship opportunities
- Advancing Virginia Tech Global Distinction as the university’s commitment to institutional excellence across research, teaching, and engagement, making the university a destination for the best faculty, students, and partners who will pursue solutions to the world’s most complex problems
- Championing the initiative to advance Virginia Tech Athletics’ success and impact to elevate the university’s national visibility, preserve its role as a regional economic engine, and reinforce its value as a unique student leadership experience
Sands and his wife, Laura P. Sands, plan to remain in the area. “Laura and I will always be Hokies,” he said. “We plan to stay rooted in Blacksburg as this is most definitely home.”
You can read President Tim Sands letter in full here:
To Hokies everywhere,
There is no better role in higher education than to serve as president of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. With our commitment to service in the spirit of Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), our engaged presence in every community in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and our growing research impact across the globe, stewarding Virginia Tech as president over the last dozen years has been the most fulfilling experience of my career. It is now time, while Virginia Tech has momentum on so many fronts, for me to start the process of stepping aside so that the next president can take the baton in full stride. I have shared with the rector of the Board of Visitors my commitment to serve until my successor is in place to ensure a smooth transition for the university community.
Together, we have transformed Virginia Tech for the better. Undergraduate enrollment has grown by 30 percent, extramural research expenditures are up 70 percent, our endowment has increased by 185 percent, our U.S. News & World Report ranking among national universities has improved by 20 spots, and applications for undergraduate admission are up 200 percent. I am most proud that more than 100,000 Hokies have earned their degrees since I began in 2014. Our ambition to go further is reflected in our current priorities of Virginia Tech Advantage, Virginia Tech Global Distinction, and Invest to Win.
The late Nikki Giovanni, Hokie Nation’s world-renowned poet, so eloquently captured the Virginia Tech ethos when she said, “We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be.” I am confident that the next president will lead us forward with that same spirit, new aspirations, and an incessant drive to advance Virginia Tech.
Laura and I will always be Hokies. We plan to stay rooted in Blacksburg as this is most definitely home.
Go Hokies!
President Tim Sands