Attracting and Retaining Faculty

Thanks to support from the Jackson-Hope Fund, Virginia Military Institute has been able to recruit and retain distinguished faculty who are recognized experts in their fields with signing bonuses and funding to establish the laboratories and research programs they need to be successful in their professions.  Almost all new faculty who have been hired since 2004 have received recruiting incentives funded by the Jackson-Hope Fund.  In addition, Jackson-Hope grants supporting a wide range of faculty development and educational programs help retain faculty and enable them to be successful.

Jackson-Hope has also supported the establishment of new faculty positions  spread across engineering, the sciences, and the humanities in support of a wide variety of academic program initiatives.

Among the faculty members brought to VMI through the support of the Jackson-Hope Fund are Col. Joyce Blandino, mechanical engineering; Dr. Reshef Agam-Segal and Col. Catharine Ingersoll, English, rhetoric, and humanistic studies; Lt. Col. Jason Schroepfer, modern languages and cultures; Col. Brent Hierman and Col. Spencer Bakich, international studies and political science, and Maj. Katherine Baur, human performance and wellness.

Jackson-Hope funding for distinguished chair positions in each of the academic program divisions contributes private funds to improve faculty compensation, which is an integral part of retaining faculty.  Jackson-Hope Distinguished Chairs include Col. Dennis Foster, information and social sciences; Col. James Gire, life sciences; Col. Christina McDonald, arts and humanities; Col. John David, natural sciences; and Col. Matthew Swenty, engineering.