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Off Probation, NSU Board Is Expected To Hire Moore

By Leonard E. Colvin

Chief Reporter

New Journal and Guide

Less than a week after its accrediting agency lifted the probation on Norfolk State University, the school’s Board of Visitors (BOV) approved a resolution to begin the process of hiring Interim President Eddie N. Moore, Jr., as the HBCU’s permanent President.

According to a media release from NSU, the BOV authorized Board Rector Thomas N. Chewning to negotiate and execute a contract with Moore, replacing the interim title he has held since joining the university in September 2013.

If approved in the coming weeks, Moore will become the sixth president of the 80-year-old public institution, two years after joining the university in September 2013.

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“Eddie Moore is the right leader at the right time for Norfolk State,” asserts Chewning. “His strong leadership skills have been invaluable during a challenging period for the university, and continuity of leadership will allow us to stay focused on key initiatives vital to the future growth of university.”

On the same day that the NSU Board of Visitors made its move to hire Moore, the university’s Faculty Senate issued a resolution stating that it wanted the governing board to launch a national search for NSU’s next permanent president, according to the Faculty Senate Chair NSU History Professor Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander.

“The main concern expressed in that resolution was not the person, but the process being used to select the next president,” said Dr. Newby-Alexander. “This is the first time the university has not used a national search, had input from the community and has done business behind closed doors.”

Recently during a rally held in support of NSU, sponsored by a group of clergy members of the Norfolk Pastors’ Coalition (NPC), there were speakers at the event who called for a national search.

The gathering was held at the church of the group’s leader, Rev. Geoffrey Guns, senior pastor of the Second Calvary Baptist Church, which sits blocks away from the NSU campus.

‘We assume the board is making a decision which is in the best interest of the school,” said Guns. “I commend him for his work to turn around a school which has faced so many challenges. But can (Moore) sustain this current success? He will need ties to turn the ship around. This is the beginning of that journey.”

A press release from the NSU Newsroom noted that among Moore’s accomplishments was the recent decision by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to remove NSU from probation. Moore oversaw a cross-departmental effort to prepare a monitoring report for SACSCOC that successfully addressed administrative and procedural matters at the school which existed prior to his arrival on campus.

“President Moore set the tone for improvement and change at NSU as Interim President and CEO,” Chewning is quoted as saying. “He guided us through our accreditation challenges and helped us emerge a stronger institution.”

Before accepting the appointment as interim president and CEO, Moore served as president of St. Paul’s College from November 2011 through June 2012. Previously, he served as the president of Virginia State University (VSU) from 1993-2010.

Before his tenure at VSU, Moore was treasurer of the Commonwealth of Virginia, where he served on 18 state boards and had oversight authority for more than $20 billion of Virginia’s assets. He also served as comptroller at the College of William and Mary.

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Before entering the public sector, Moore had a corporate career with Gulf Oil Corporation, where he worked in accounting.

Throughout his career, Moore has been involved in organizations whose missions are designed to enhance the quality of education. He served on the boards of numerous educational organizations, including the Virginia Board of Agriculture, the Education Subcommittee of Richmond Renaissance, Board and Finance Committee Chair for the Central Intercollegiate Athletic

Association, and the 1890 Council of Presidents and Chancellors.

His past board service also include:

• Six years on the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools –Commission on Colleges

• Board membership on the Virginia National Defense Industrial Authority

• NCAA Division II President’s Council, NCAA Executive Committee

• Virginia’s A. L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership

In addition, Moore currently serves on the corporate boards of Owens and Minor Corporation and Universal Corporation, Inc.

Moore earned his bachelor of science in accounting from Penn State in 1968 and his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh in 1975. He is a certified public accountant in Texas and the Commonwealth of Virginia (inactive). Moore is a Vietnam War veteran, who is a recipient of the

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Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious achievement.

Moore has earned several awards, including the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award from the College of William and Mary. He holds honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees from VSU and St. Paul’s College. He also received the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship

Funds Leadership Award, the Dominion Virginia Power Strong Men/Women in Leadership Award, the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Penn State in 1999 and the U.S. Army Outstanding Civilian Award, in addition to numerous other awards and honors.

“I am honored and humbled by the faith the Board of Visitors has entrusted in me today by appointing me President of this great institution,” said Moore. “Norfolk State has many strengths. Chief among those strengths is the supportive environment created by our faculty and staff and experienced by our students and alumni. Students have said that the personal encouragement and close mentorship of NSU’s faculty makes a lasting difference in the academic experience. We are well-positioned for a brighter future.”

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