University of Mary Washington - Index

University of Mary Washington - summer08 - Index

Photos by Karen Pearlman
During her March introduction to the school, newly named
University of Mary Washington President Judy Hample addressed
a crowd inside Dodd Auditorium (top). Afterward, at a reception
at Woodard Campus Center, she spoke with UMW faculty, staff,
and administrators, including Acting President Richard V. Hurley
(middle), and greeted students (bottom).
private, liberal arts school in Nashville, where she chose to
major in not one but three subjects – French, communication,
and secondary education. She topped it off with a minor in
chemistry and, along the way, developed a deep appreciation
for the breadth and depth of the liberal arts.
She went on to receive both master’s and doctoral degrees
in communication from Ohio State University, earning her
Ph.D. in 1974.
Throughout her college and graduate school years,
Hample dabbled in theater, played racquetball, and gained
a passion for football, which she developed while growing
up watching the Dallas Cowboys on television with her
father and brother. But one activity stood out above the
rest – intercollegiate debate.
Being on the university debate team taught her to think
about things from every possible angle, to question every
word and every number, to scrutinize and re-scrutinize, and to
anticipate reactions and be prepared for myriad scenarios.
The debate skills she learned as both a team member
and coach have served her well throughout her varied
career, and the many stops along the way, including faculty
and administrative positions at the University of Illinois,
Western Illinois University, Emporia State University in
Kansas, Indiana State University, and the University of
Toledo in Ohio.
Her career path changed dramatically in 1998, when
she left the campus environment upon being named vice
chancellor for planning, budgeting, and policy analysis for the
Board of Regents of the State University System of Florida,
which at the time consisted of 10 public universities enrolling
247,000 students. She moved into a more corporate academic
environment and away from the campus life she had come
to cherish. But Hample simply readjusted her goals.
“I got into it,” she said, “and I loved it.”
A year later she was elevated to the position of executive
vice chancellor in the Florida system, and, in 2001, she was
named its chancellor. Then came the opportunity to lead
the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
After being hired in August 2001 as only the second
chancellor in PASSHE’s nearly 20 years of existence,
Hample immediately set out to take the state system and
its 14 universities to the next level of academic excellence.
PASSHE comprises a group of institutions with a rich history,
some dating back more than 150 years. Combined, they share
more than 400,000 living alumni. As chancellor, Hample
routinely dealt with many constituencies, but always at the
top of her list were the students – all 110,000 of them.
“Students are at the heart of everything I do,” she said.
As head of PASSHE, Hample led efforts to increase
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