UVA-Wise offers many advantages for students, primary among them small class size, a strong liberal arts core curriculum, and a faculty dedicated, first and foremost, to teaching.  Students at UVA-Wise have a chance to develop relationships not only with their peers but also with their professors—a very rare benefit in higher education.      

Students should pursue a course of study that both interests them and allows them to develop their natural abilities.  They should seize the one opportunity many of them will ever have to learn for the pure pleasure of learning.  Beyond that, students should work hard at their studies, meet and become acquainted with people of different backgrounds, and find extracurricular activities that are rewarding and healthy.

As an undergraduate, I ran the 400 meters at Baylor University (also known as “Quarter-Miler U) and was a teammate of Michael Johnson—the world record holder in the 400 and 200 meter sprints.   I have twice lived in Germany for extended periods.  

I received my B.A. in History and English from Baylor University, my M.A. and Ph.D. in European History from the University of Georgia, where I taught for several years as a graduate student.  My family and I came directly to Wise from Athens.