RICHMOND — Gary Hancock meant to be a classroom teacher.

One of the first in his family to go to college, he wound up in law school instead, and became a managing partner in a Pulaski law firm.  But he never lost his interest in education – and in the opportunities that open doors to the future.

Hancock begins his term as chairman of the State Board for Community Colleges when it meets in Richmond Thursday, July 16. Previously vice chairman for the 2008-2009 year, he was elected unanimously in May to preside over the State Board for the 2009-2010 year.

It will be an important year, Hancock says, because the board is crafting a new six-year strategic plan. “We were initiating our first long-range plan – Dateline 2009 – when I first came on the State Board” in 2004, he says. “One of the things I’ve learned from that process is that it is so important to have very specific goals. It’s been so important because we have focused on the core elements of accessibility and affordability. It’s been a good discipline for us to have.”

This new plan will be even more effective at focusing the board’s efforts, Hancock believes. “Our role in workforce development has expanded in a major way since I’ve been on the board,” he says, noting major improvements in areas including nursing education and engineering. “And we’ve put into place articulation agreements with most of Virginia’s four-year public institutions. Now students know that if they come to a community college, they have a guaranteed ability to transfer to a four-year school….That’s a tremendous opportunity.”

Opportunity is what it’s all about for Gary Hancock. “Education opens the door to so many opportunities. If you can just get people in a position where they can get that education, the sky’s the limit.”

 “I’m so proud to be part of the community college system,” he adds. “I look around at the faces at graduations…. Some are very young, graduating from high school and college at the same time. And I’ve looked out and seen people in their 70s and 80s. I’ve looked out and seen people who’ve worked the same job for decades and lost those jobs. They’ve come back to us and been retrained and have new opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have.”

Hancock attended Madison College (now James Madison University), and went on to receive a law degree from the University of Richmond. He is now a managing partner in the law firm Gilmer, Sadler, Ingram, Sutherland & Hutton in Pulaski.

He’s been involved with New River Community College since 1995 as a member of its board and served as chair there in 2002. He has also served as mayor of the Town of Pulaski.

Also taking on a new role on the board is Nathaniel X. Marshall, of Lynchburg.  He is becoming the board’s vice chair, the title previously held by Hancock.

About Virginia’s Community Colleges: Created more than 40 years ago, the VCCS is comprised of 23 community colleges located on 40 campuses across the commonwealth. Together, Virginia’s Community Colleges serve more than a quarter-million credit students each year. For more information, please visit myfuture.vccs.edu.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jeffrey Kraus
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Relations
(804) 819-4949
jkraus@vccs.edu