Virginia Tech’s Search for Its Next President Heats Up as Tim Sands Prepares to Step Down

Four questions for the next president of Virginia Tech

Last year more than 3.4 million people took part in choosing Virginia’s next chief executive, who will serve for four years and be gone. Far fewer people — perhaps no more than 14 — will have a say in hiring the next chief executive of an entity who might have even more lasting impact on Virginia. That is the president of Virginia Tech. A college president gets no fancy parade and no military flyover when he or she is inaugurated, and no one cal…

Virginia Tech’s Search for Its Next President Heats Up as Tim Sands Prepares to Step Down

One of the most consequential decisions for the future of the New River and Roanoke valleys is being made this summer by a group most residents will never vote for: the roughly 14-member Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, which is charged with choosing the university’s next president. The search moved to the front burner in April, when President Tim Sands announced he intends to step down after 12 years leading the Commonwealth’s largest universit…