Spring 2012 (PDF) - Virginia Tech

NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
The Honorable Laura W. Fornash
Virginia Tech alumna Laura W. Fornash was appointed Virginia’s Secretary of Education by Governor Robert
McDonnell in August 2011. As a member of the Governor’s cabinet, Fornash assists the Governor in the
development and implementation of the state’s education policy. In addition, she provides guidance to the
Commonwealth’s 16 public universities, the Virginia Community College System, five higher education and
research centers, the Department of Education, and state-supported museums.
Prior to this appointment, she served as deputy secretary of education and as the executive director of the
Governor’s Commission on Higher Education Reform, Innovation, and Investment.
A native of Chesterfield, Virginia, Fornash spent 20 years with Virginia Tech before joining the McDonnell
administration. At Virginia Tech, she held a number of positions in student affairs, continuing education,
distance learning, and government relations. Most recently, she served as director of state government
relations. She was the university’s restructuring project director, responsible for managing Virginia Tech’s
implementation of the 2005 Restructuring Act, which created new levels of operational autonomy for all public
higher education institutions in exchange for meeting certain academic performance measures. Prior to her
position in government relations, she was director of the Virginia Tech Richmond Center.
In 1998, Fornash was director of Information Technology Programs and launched an innovative web-based
interdisciplinary master’s degree program to help transition professionals into the information technology field
as result of research conducted for the International Technology Association of America.
Secretary Fornash received her bachelor of science in business in 1991 and her master of science in
hospitality and tourism management in 1998, both from Virginia Tech.
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