VCU news

By VCU News staff

Gov. Glenn Youngkin appointed three new members to the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors today and reappointed an existing member to a new term.

Ellen Fitzsimmons is chief legal officer and head of public affairs at Truist Financial Corporation and a member of the executive leadership team. In her role, Fitzsimmons oversees the legal, government relations, corporate communications, corporate social responsibility, and philanthropy functions.

Clifton Peay, M.D., is the founding medical director of the American Eye Center in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Peay previously served as a VCU Board of Visitors member in the 1990s. He is past chair and member of the Board of Trustees of the National Medical Association (NMA), and actively serves in the Medical Society of Virginia and the Old Dominion Medical Society. 

Vernon Dale Jones, Ph.D., is former chancellor and chief academic officer of Pennsylvania State University’s Wilkes Barre Campus. Jones previously served as the vice president for strategy, administration and board affairs at Hampden-Sydney College and served as associate professor of public administration at VCU from 2006 to 2011.

Peter Farrell was originally appointed to the board in November 2019 and has been reappointed to a new four-year term.

The terms for board members Gopinath Jadhav, Coleen Santa Ana and Stuart C. Siegel expire on June 30.

“We will always be grateful to Coleen, Stuart and Gopinath,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “They have been committed and engaged board members whose unselfish and dedicated leadership has advanced VCU’s mission for our students and our patients. We sincerely thank them for their service.”