Wayne Turnage Named VCU Chief of Staff

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley
Division of University Relations

Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao announced today that Wayne M. Turnage has been named Chief of Staff in the Office of the President, effective Jan. 16, 2010.

Turnage currently is Chief of Staff for Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, managing the staff and budget of the governor’s office and cabinet and working with state agencies to develop and implement the governor’s policy agenda.

At VCU, Turnage will serve as a member of President Michael Rao’s senior leadership team.  He also will manage the president’s office staff and assist university leaders with implementation of VCU's strategic initiatives.

“VCU is a large and complex $2.5 billion organization which makes very important contributions to the Commonwealth in higher education, health care, and research,” said VCU President Michael Rao. “Wayne Turnage brings invaluable experience and insight to VCU especially as we move forward in extremely challenging times.”

Turnage has spent most of his career in Virginia state government. Prior to serving as chief of staff and deputy chief of staff to Gov. Kaine, he served as deputy secretary of Health and Human Resources and later special advisor in health policy under Gov. Mark Warner, and director of policy and research for the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services.  He also served for 15 years as chief legislative analyst for the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, the General Assembly's evaluation agency.

"Wayne Turnage is as fine a public servant as exists in this Commonwealth. He has helped steer Virginia through the toughest economy since the 1930's with a mixture of analytical excellence, compassion and creativity,” said Gov. Kaine.  “As a long-time champion of VCU, I applaud the decision to bring Wayne into a key leadership role and know that he will serve the university well."

Turnage’s appointment follows a competitive, national search in which VCU received more than 100 applications from across the country.

Turnage received a bachelor’s degree in social science from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, N.C., and a master of public administration degree from Ohio State.

Turnage will replace Sue Ann Messmer, chief of staff and vice president for University Relations, who announced last May that she is retiring in February 2010.