Robert (Rob) Parker has been named vice president for Advancement at Emory & Henry College. Parker brings more than 20 years of successful experience in higher education fundraising for the liberal arts and sciences, including 14 years in executive leadership roles at both private and public institutions.
“Emory & Henry has great momentum across every dimension,” said Parker. “I am excited to work with President Wells, the Board of Trustees, my colleagues at the College, and Emory and Henry alumni and friends to complete the Collective Connections campaign and secure the philanthropic resources that will sustain and increase this momentum.”
Parker has served as vice president for College Relations at Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., where he and his team had one of the two best fundraising years in that school’s history. Under Parker’s leadership as senior associate dean for development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s College of Arts and Sciences, he and his team raised $523 million. At Agnes Scott College, Parker planned the largest campaign in that school’s history and led his team in raising $85 million.
Parker earned a Doctor of Philosophy and Theology as well as a Master of Arts in Divinity from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Throughout April, the College celebrated National Poetry Month by hosting the Catherine Burns Larmore Visiting Poet Series with ecopoet Sherwin Bitsui and the Daniel Leidig Lectureship in Poetry with Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Phillips. Both Bitsui and Phillips are nationally renowned and award-winning poets. Each poet visited an English class taught by Professor Matthew Kelley, gave a poetry reading and signed broadside poems for attendees.
The 34th B. G. Raines Education Forum was held in March at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, Va. The forum is an annual event held to bring together individuals from Emory & Henry, surrounding schools, businesses, and industry to establish an ongoing dialogue regarding educational needs and opportunities in our region. The speakers included keynote speaker Valerie Ellery (right), an international educational consultant and best-selling author, and Fabiana Parker, 2023 Virginia Teacher of the Year. “For thirty-four years the B. G. Raines Education Forum has brought exemplary educators and leaders from all regions of our nation to Southwest Virginia,” said Dr. Sandra Frederick, Education Department chair. “These guests provide our local educators and community partners with insights into student learning, current educational research, and sound teaching pedagogy that can immediately be taken back into our regional schools to benefit the children of Southwest Virginia.”