Faculty Advisors

For general information about VMI’s postgraduate opportunities, contact Col. Rob McDonald, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at mcdonaldrl@vmi.edu. 

For information regarding the particular scholarships below, contact the faculty advisor.

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Marshall Scholarship Faculty Advisor & Gates Cambridge Scholarship Faculty Advisor

Lt. Col. Patrick Eichholz, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies
eichholzpj@vmi.edu

Lt. Col. Eichholz graduated with a BA in English from the University of Dallas in 2006.  He worked five years as a Firefighter-Paramedic in Corsicana, Texas, before enrolling in the graduate program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2012.  After earning his Ph.D. in 2018, he joined the English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies Department at VMI. Besides serving as the Institute’s Marshall Advisor, he teaches courses in British literature and literary theory. 

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Rhodes Scholarship Faculty Advisor

Col. Steven E. Knepper, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies
knepperse@vmi.edu

A recipient of the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award and holder of the Bruce C. Gottwald, Jr. ’81 Chair for Academic Excellence, Col. Knepper teaches a range of literature, writing, and philosophy courses at VMI, including an honors seminar on the epic and a course on Moby-Dick. He is the author of Wonder Strikes: Approaching Aesthetics and Literature with William Desmond, co-author of Byung-Chul Han: A Critical Introduction, and founding editor of New Verse Review: A Journal of Lyric and Narrative Poetry.  Col. Knepper has directed student research projects on a variety of topics, from the poetry of Langston Hughes to the philosophy of Simone Weil, from Edgar Allan Poe’s Gothic conventions to J.R.R. Tolkien’s translation of the Book of Jonah.

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Fulbright Scholarship Faculty Advisor

Col. Jeff Kendrick, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Global Education
Professor, Department of Modern Languages and Cultures
kendrickjw@vmi.edu

Col. Kendrick is Director of Global Education and Professor of French at VMI. An advocate of international education, Col. Kendrick regularly directs study abroad programs and supervises cadet applications for competitive international scholarships and fellowships such as Fulbright, Boren, Critical Language Scholarship and Gilman/Gilman-McCain. He has also worked with cadets on international summer undergraduate research projects on propaganda and polemic in the French Wars of Religion and connections between 16th and 20th century French poetry.

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Truman Scholarship Faculty Advisor

Vera Heuer, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of International Studies and Political Science
heuerv@vmi.edu

Dr. Vera Heuer is a professor of international studies and the Director of the Asian Studies Minor Program at VMI. Specializing in contentious politics as well as South Asia, Dr. Heuer teaches courses on protest and social movements, activism, and South Asian politics. Dr. Heuer, originally from Berlin (Germany), received a Ph.D. and M.A. from Indiana University, Bloomington, and a MA from the Free University Berlin. She has extensive experience in mentoring and supporting cadet research. Her own research agenda focuses on social mobilization and the relationship between state actors and social movement organizations as well as how these dynamics are framed in the public sphere. Her scholarly work has been published among others in Research in Social Movement, Conflict and Change, The Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, and Nationalism and Ethnic Politics. 

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Goldwater Scholarship Faculty Advisor

Maj. Christopher N. Shingledecker
Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
shingledeckercn@vmi.edu

Maj. Shingledecker is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the Virginia Military Institute, where he serves as Campus Representative for the Goldwater Scholarship and a member of the Institute Honors Committee. His scholarly work is in theoretical computational astrochemistry, which spans the fields of physical chemistry, spectroscopy, astronomy, and physics. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union, the American Astronomical Society, and the American Chemical Society – for which he currently serves as the chair of their Astrochemistry Subdivision. He earned both his B.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Virginia and was subsequently an Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and Carl Friedrich von Siemens postdoctoral research fellow.

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Pre-Professional Program Advisor: Health Professions

Maj. Alison K. Burke, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
burkeak@vmi.edu

Maj. Alison Burke serves as the Health Professions Advisor at Virginia Military Institute. She helps cadets explore and prepare for careers in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, and other health fields. She provides personalized guidance on academic planning, application strategies, and professional development. MAJ Burke also maintains partnerships and articulation agreements with programs at Eastern Virginia Medical School at ODU, Virginia Commonwealth University, Mary Baldwin University, and Texas A&M University to expand opportunities for cadets. A molecular microbiologist by training, she is passionate about helping students discover their paths in the health professions. MAJ Burke’s goal is to connect every interested cadet with the resources, experiences, and mentorship they need to succeed in competitive health programs.

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Pre-Professional Program Advisor: Law

Lt. Col. Timothy Passmore, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of International Studies and Political Science
passmoretj@vmi.edu

Lt. Col. Passmore specializes in international law and organizations, conflict management, and U.S. foreign policy and national security. His current research addresses the ability of the United Nations to mobilize resources for peacekeeping operations.