VCU news

By Mike Porter

Gov. Ralph Northam appointed two new members to the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors on Friday and reappointed two existing members to the board.

Former Ambassador Carmen Lomellin and Tonya A. Parris-Wilkins, D.D.S., dental director at the Bland Ministry Center, will join the board on July 1. In addition, current board members Keith T. Parker, the board’s rector, and H. Benson Dendy III, the vice rector, each received a new four-year term on the board.

Lomellin is principal at Lomellin Global Partners in Arlington, Virginia, which helps support and advance a broad range of political, educational, and social issues. Under President Barack Obama, she served as ambassador to the Organization of American States. Previous positions included serving as executive secretary of the OAS and holding positions in the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and two White House offices. Carmen has an M.B.A. from DePaul University and a bachelor’s degree in business from St. Joseph’s Calumet College in Indiana.

Parris-Wilkins is a 2003 alumna of VCU’s School of Dentistry and earned her bachelor’s degree from the College of William & Mary. She directs Bland Ministry Center in Bland, Virginia, which provides dental care and other community support services to Appalachian families. She is past president of the Virginia Board of Dentistry and formerly served on the VCU School of Dentistry faculty. A first-generation college graduate, Tonya now supports the Parris Wilkins Scholarship for third- and fourth-year dental students at VCU.

Dendy is president of The Vectre Corporation and Parker is president and CEO of Goodwill of North Georgia.

Lomellin and Parris-Wilkins will replace Bob Holsworth and John Luke, whose terms expire at the end of June. Holsworth and Luke each served the limit of two four-year terms. 

“We will always be grateful to Bob and John for their long and distinguished record of service and leadership to VCU,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “They have made us a better, stronger institution focused on advancing the American Dream in all ways for all the students and patients we serve. I appreciate their leadership and look forward to our continued engagement together.”