Virginia Tech president Tim Sands announced on Thursday that he intends to step down in the upcoming months, ending a 12-year run with the school.
The 16th president of the school, the 68-year-old Sands has served at Virginia Tech since 2014. He plans to stay on until a replacement is hired to “ensure a smooth transition for the university community.”
His contract was originally supposed to end at the end of the 2026-27 academic year.
Sands’ decision comes as the school's Board of Visitors is set to meet next Monday and Tuesday.
“There is no better role in higher education than to serve as the president of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,” Sands wrote in a letter to “Hokies everywhere.” “Stewarding Virginia Tech as president has been the most fulfilling experience of my career.”
He said now is the right time to begin the process to provide his successor a chance to “take the baton at full stride.”
In Sands’ 12 years in Blacksburg, he oversaw a 30 percent increase in undergraduate enrollment, a 200 percent increase in applications and a 185 percent increase in the university’s endowment.
He oversaw Virginia Tech’s expansion into Washington, D.C., with its $1 billion innovation campus in Alexandria, and helped expand the school’s partnership with Carilion Clinic, making the Carilion School of Medicine one of the university’s newest colleges.
In his letter, Sands touted Virginia Tech’s 20-spot improvement during his run in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of national universities.
In the athletics world, Sands has served as the chair of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, a two-year role he began in 2024. His term ends in August of 2026.
“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,” Virginia Tech Board of Visitors rector John Rocovich said the school’s release.
“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, a three-time Cal-Berkley graduate who came to Virginia Tech from Purdue University, said he and his wife, Laura, plan to stay in Blacksburg.
“Laura and I will always be Hokies,” he said. “We plan to stay rooted in Blacksburg as this is most definitely home.”