Timothy Sands
After a unanimous vote, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has named the university’s next president. 55-year-old Timothy Sands, the provost of Purdue University will be the 16th president of Virginia Tech.
Sands holds an endowed chair in engineering at Purdue—and specializes in the growing field of nanotechnology, with applications for many high-tech uses. He’s published more than 250 refereed papers, and has been granted 16 patents in electronic materials. Last year he served as Purdue’s acting president.
Sands begins work on June 1st, when President Charles Steger steps down. Steger announced his retirement last spring—he’s been president of Virginia Tech since 2000.
Some 238 candidates were considered in the 6-month search to head the one-point-two billion dollar academic enterprise. Virginia Tech now offers 215 degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $450 million.
Virginia Public Radio 