On Thursday, Virginia Tech announced the members of the search committee that will hire the next vice president and director of athletics, replacing outgoing athletic director Whit Babcock.
"Reporting to the president, the vice president and director of athletics works closely with university leadership to set and communicate a bold, forward-looking vision for Virginia Tech Athletics that positions the program for sustained relevance, competitiveness and financial growth," the release states. "This person will serve as the primary liaison to the university president, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors and senior administration to ensure athletics strategy is tightly integrated with the broader university mission."
Lynne Doughtie, who served on the search committee that hired Hokies football head coach James Franklin, is chairing this eight-member search committee. Here's the group, which includes Franklin, the only Virginia Tech athletics representative:
- Mario Ferruzzi
- James Franklin
- Jen Irish
- Quinton J. Nottingham
- J. Pearson
- Mehul Sanghani
- Amy Sebring
The retired Chairman and CEO of KPMG, Doughtie graduated from Virginia Tech in 1985 and received the school’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2018. A member of Boeing’s Board of Directors who has served on the university’s Alumni Association Board, she was named to Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People.
Pearson was influential in bringing Franklin to Blacksburg in November. The chair of the BOV's athletics committee, he's a 1987 graduate and was a member of the Corps of Cadets, who earned a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Virginia Army National Guard and served for nine years. He founded Carry-On Trailer, the largest trailer manufacturer in the world, and Vehicle Accessory Inc., the leading supplier of vehicle accessories in the country.
Sanghani was reappointed to the Board of Visitors to fill the seat vacated by the late Sandy Davis, who passed away on March 17. A BOV member from 2014-22, he is the CEO and founder of Octo, now part of IBM. His family’s $10 million donation in 2021 renovated what’s now the Sanghani Players Lounge for the football program and funded four new full-time recruiting positions.
Sebring, Virginia Tech's executive vice president and chief operating officer, played an instrumental role in adjusting the Hokies' athletics budget in the fall, which led to the $229 million budget increase.
Ferruzi has served as the dean of Virginia Tech's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences since 2024, with previous stops at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, NC State and Purdue.
Irish is the Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in Virginia Tech's College of Engineering. She has also served as the Virginia Tech faculty athletics representative since 2021. Her previous stops included Delaware and Lehigh.
Nottingham heads the Department of Business Information Technology in Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business. A board member of the Virginia Tech Athletic Foundation, University Club and the Virginia Tech Monogram Club, he played men's basketball for the Hokies from 1986-89, racking up 470 points and 221 rebounds.
In the release, Tech also announced Lisa Wilkes, the vice president for strategic initiatives and special assistant to the president, will support the search committee. The firm Parker Executive Search will also aid in the national search.
The Hokies expect to complete the search this summer. Babcock said as much when he spoke with reporters in early May: "The AD, certainly, you have to get an AD in before football season starts."
Change on the Board of Visitors
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger announced Thursday morning that rector John Rocovich has been removed from Virginia Tech's Board of Visitors, effective immediately.
"Your conduct has violated the Code of Conduct for Commonwealth Appointees to Boards, Authorities, & Commissions, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors' Code of Ethics, and the governing statutes requiring board members to act in accordance with the best interests of Virginia Tech," Spanberger said in the letter to Rocovich.
"I find this is sufficient cause for your removal from the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors pursuant to subsections C and D of § 23.1-1300 of the Code of Virginia."
The code Gov. Spanberger cited — § 23.1-1300. Members of governing boards; removal; terms; nonvoting, advisory representatives; residency — includes:
"C. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E or any other provision of law, the Governor may remove from office for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetence, or gross neglect of duty any member of the board of any public institution of higher education and fill the vacancy resulting from the removal."D. The Governor shall set forth in a written public statement his reasons for removing any member pursuant to subsection C at the time the removal occurs. The Governor is the sole judge of the sufficiency of the cause for removal as set forth in subsection C."
Through an athletics lens, Rocovich was influential in the Hokies' football transition from Brent Pry to Franklin as head coach, including assembling the search committee that swayed Franklin. He was also pivotal in securing the $229 million budget increase.
Moreover, Rocovich was in the process of guiding Tech into a new era of athletics, with fresh faces at athletic director, head of the Hokie Club and the CEO of Hokie Ventures. Plus, the university is hiring a new president to replace the outgoing Tim Sands.
Among the notes for the upcoming Board of Visitors meeting on June 1-2, though: amending the bylaws to remove term limits for rector and vice rector.
In 2025, the BOV made an exception to its own bylaws to allow Rocovich to serve a third term as rector. The bylaws limit the number of times a member can serve as rector to two one-year terms. Rocovich had served as rector from 2002 to 2004, which initially made him ineligible to serve as rector again for 2025-2026.
However, Rocovich responded to Gov. Spanberger's letter with a four-page one of his own to Candi Mundon King, the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The Cardinal News shared the document late Thursday night, which can be viewed here.It concluded with Rocovich stating, "I will not resign," and mentioning that Spanberger's letter failed to state the specific cause for which he was removed, as law requires. "I am confident she will find no such grounds," Rocovich said.
Rocovich said he found the call and subsequent letter asking him to resign "deeply offensive, legally unsupported and wholly inconsistent with the Governor's own publicly-stated principles."
Here's another snippet from Rocovich:
"To be clear: I hold my position as a member of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors pursuant to a lawful appointment by Governor Youngkin, confirmed in accordance with applicable state law. Under Virginia Code § 23.1-1300, a governor may remove a board member only for malfeasance, misfeasance, incompetence, or gross neglect of duty, and must set forth the specific reasons for any such removal in a written public statement. No such grounds exist. I have committed no malfeasance. I have not been derelict in my duties. I have attended meetings, fulfilled my obligations, and acted at all times in the best interests of Virginia Tech. A telephone request for voluntary resignation, made without written justification and without any identified basis in law, is not a lawful exercise of executive authority — it is an improper attempt to circumvent the legal protections that exist precisely to shield board members from political pressure."
In a separate release, Spanberger appointed Edward Baine to complete Rocovich's term as rector, which ends on June 30, 2027. His seat was set to expire on June 30, 2026.
Baine is the executive vice president of Utility Operations and the president of Dominion Energy Virginia. He was first appointed to the Board of Visitors in 2018 by Governor Ralph Northam and was reappointed in 2022 by Governor Glenn Youngkin. He previously served as rector from 2023-25.
Sharon Brickhouse Martin, who was previously appointed to begin July 1, 2026, will step into the seat vacated by Baine that ends on June 30, 2026, before serving her full term.
The BOV is slated to meet on June 1-2 in Blacksburg. Among the topics on the docket is "election of rector and vice rector for 2026-27."
At April's meeting, Rocovich appointed Bill Holtzman (chair), Ryan McCarthy and Jeanne Stosser to the nominating committee, with the purpose of bringing nominations for rector and vice rector for 2026-27 to the June meeting.
Hokie Ventures is not an LLC
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has updated materials for next week's meeting with a note: "Corrections have been made throughout the Open Session Materials document to show that Hokie Ventures is not an LLC."
It was previously listed with the structure of a "non-profit corporation with potential to include for-profit subsidiary entities." It's been changed to a structure of a "Virginia non-profit corporation and affiliate of Virginia Tech with potential to include for-profit subsidiary entities."
Here's one of the updated slides about the organization:
News dropped late Friday night that the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors will vote on the formation of Hokie Ventures, which was previously listed as an LLC. It would mean the creation of a non-profit corporation headed by a soon-to-be-hired CEO that will work to enhance the business operations of the athletic department.
The corporation will work as a strategic partner with the athletic department, aiming to boost the program's bottom line by maximizing existing revenues and securing new lines. It will be overseen by a CEO and governed by an independent board.
The plan, which will be voted on by the Board next week, includes a $15.2 million loan approval for capital to be used by the corporation. That funding will come from the bridge loan approved during the September meeting, which greenlit the $229.2 million “Invest to Win” plan for athletics.
[Editor's note: The Cardinal News updated its story late Thursday night with Rocovich's letter in response, and this story has been updated accordingly.]