This isn’t necessarily sports news, but it’s important because Timothy Sands has decided to move on, and the Board of Visitors has finally appointed his successor. Dr. Richard Linton is a triple Hokie who was previously running Kansas State University. Dr. Linton has decided to come home to Blacksburg to make his Alma Mater a completed circuit.
The University President is also the President of the Athletic Department, so maybe that’s the tie in we need for this big announcement, but for many of us in Hokie Nation it was really important to have that august position occupied by a Hokie alumnus.
Dr. Linton has made the Land Grant University rounds once he graduated from Tech, three times, no less. He holds a BS in Biology, MS in Food Sciences, and then followed that up by a Ph.D. in Food Sciences from Virginia Tech. Before being hired by Kansas State he was the Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State from 2012 to 2022. Virginia Tech alumnus named as university’s new president – Cardinal News Dr. Linton has also held positions at Ohio State and Purdue as well.
It seems that Dr. Linton decided that he’d really like to come back home and take Virginia Tech into the next phase of its growth and development.
Dr. Linton is expected to be handed the reins for the Spring Semester, but I bet that I might get a chance to take a few pictures at the football games. Linton’s stint as a student ran from 1984 until 1994. His 10 years at nearby NC State would have kept him abreast of the changes going on in Blacksburg.
Hokie Nation welcomes him back home with open arms. He left before “Enter Sandman” so he’s going to need to learn to jump.
