By Philip Walzer
John R. Broderick, Old Dominion University's longest-serving president, will step down as of July 1 after leading the University for 13 years.
He will become the Board of Visitors Distinguished Lecturer in Old Dominion's College of Education and Professional Studies.
President Broderick will be succeeded by Radford University President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D., who was president of West Virginia State University before coming to Radford.
In May, the Board of Visitors held a surprise event to honor President Broderick and First Lady Kate Broderick for their service to the University. Here are video highlights: https://youtu.be/CnhHVu6q4tw
The Brodericks leave a significant legacy in a broad range of areas, including diversity and inclusion, research and fundraising. But his top priority was student success.
"I wanted us to make our best effort not to let any student slip through the cracks," he said. "ODU sent the message to the campus that we are going to collectively work together to try to help our students."
Early in his tenure, the University opened the Student Success Center and Learning Commons and added programs such as the Mane Connect success coaching initiative. As a result, the University reached record graduation and retention rates.
He also emphasized diversity and inclusion. Last fall, Old Dominion enrolled more than 7,000 African Americans, more than any other public four-year school in Virginia, as well as students from more than 100 countries. In 2019, Diverse Issues in Higher Education ranked ODU 14th in the nation in the number of African American students who graduate each year.
That dovetailed with Old Dominion's focus on social mobility. Roughly half of incoming freshmen are first-generation students. Old Dominion has been named a "top performer" in social mobility by U.S. News & World Report and was ranked No. 4 in the country this year for reducing inequalities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. The University launched the Center for Social Mobility to provide data and best practices to other institutions and recently held its fourth annual National Social Mobility Symposium.
Under his leadership, Old Dominion received more than $1.1 billion in new public and private resources. That included a $37 million gift - the largest in the University's history - from Carolyn and Richard Barry to open the Barry Art Museum.
The museum was among about 25 buildings constructed during his presidency. The University's newest buildings, which opened this year, are the Chemistry Building, with 37 labs and the state-of-the art Michael and Kimthanh Lê Digital Theater & Planetarium, and the Hugo A. Owens House, which has 470 beds and caters to students in STEM-H majors. The residence hall is named after Old Dominion's first African American rector. During the spring, the University also broke ground on a new three-story Health Sciences Building, which is expected to open in 2023.
During President Broderick's tenure, the University boomed as a hub for groundbreaking research and innovation in such areas as flooding resiliency and cybersecurity, receiving $49 million per year in research funding and contributing $2.6 billion annually to Virginia's economy. In 2018, Pulse Biosciences, a publicly traded company in California, generated $41.6 million in stock shares from Old Dominion's pioneering bioelectrics research to kill cancer cells.
President Broderick also oversaw the return of football to ODU in 2009 after a 69-year absence, as well as the recent rebuilding of S.B Ballard Stadium and launch of women's volleyball. But he emphasized that the priority is academics. Seventy-one percent of ODU's student-athletes earned at least a 3.0 grade point average in the spring of 2021.
In his final year and a half as president, he steered ODU through the pandemic. Unlike many institutions, which suffered enrollment declines, Old Dominion recorded a small increase in the 2020-21 academic year.
In the past two years, President Broderick received a Community Leaders' Award from the Urban League of Hampton Roads, the Darden Award for Regional Leadership from the CIVIC Leadership Institute, a 2020 Distinguished 400 Award by the federally established 400 Years of African American History Commission, and the First Citizen of Hampton Roads award from the Chamber of Commerce.
He has won strong praise both on and off the campus for his leadership.
"His long tenure has been characterized by innovation, bold leadership and commitment to equity," Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said. "A strong champion of STEM education, President Broderick launched bachelor's and master's programs in cybersecurity, whose graduates will fill thousands of critical IT jobs for decades to come. I am also grateful to First Lady Kate Broderick, who led the University's efforts for greater educational accessibility for students with disabilities and has been a driving force in making ODU a welcoming, inclusive community."
Kay A. Kemper, rector of Old Dominion's Board of Visitors, said: "We are indebted to President Broderick and First Lady Kate Broderick for devoting their life's work and hearts to ODU since 2008. As Old Dominion's longest-serving president, President Broderick has provided transformational leadership - increasing student success, promoting diversity and inclusive excellence, and accelerating research. As a result, he has earned recognition as a national leader in higher education. The Brodericks leave the University poised for a bright future."
Ellen J. Neufeldt, president of California State University San Marcos, served as vice president for student engagement and enrollment services under President Broderick. "When I think about John and Kate, I think about transformation," she said. "It was almost like they could see the road changing before everybody else. John understood the importance of student success and organized the University around it. They did so much to show me about innovative, caring leadership."
Taylor Heinicke, a quarterback for the Washington Football Team, said, "I've spoken to players from other schools, and no one has a similar relationship with their president. The fact that he went to most of our games and made an effort to know us means so much to all of the guys I played with. Even now, I know I can text or call any time I need to talk to him, and he'll be there for me."
