Judy Hample

Dr. Judy Gayle Hample is a former president of the University of Mary Washington. She was the university's first female president.^[1] Prior to this position, she was chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and chancellor of the Florida Board of Regents. She has served in a variety of faculty and academic administrative positions at various institutions over the course of her career.

Education

Hample earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969 majoring in communication and secondary education (French) from David Lipscomb University. In 1974, she earned a Master of Arts and Ph.D. degree in communication from The Ohio State University.^[2]

Professional History

Hample's first faculty appointment was at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a lecturer and director of intercollegiate debate in the Department of Speech Communication. Her first administrative appointments were at Western Illinois University as a department division director and later as assistant dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. She served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Emporia State University, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana State University and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Toledo.^[3]

Florida Board of Regents

From 1998 to 2001, Hample served in many positions at the Florida Board of Regents, first as vice chancellor for planning, budgeting and policy analysis, later as executive vice chancellor from 1999 to 2000, and finally as chancellor in 2001.

Chancellor of PASSHE

In 2001, Hample left the Florida Board of Regents to become the second chancellor of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education overseeing an annual operating budget of $1.8 billion and more than 12,000 faculty and staff. Much of her work was centered at the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She communicated regularly with presidents of the 14 constituent system universities, represented the system in the state capital, and reported to an appointed Board of Governors. On June 25, 2007 Hample announced her intent to leave her position as chancellor.^[4][5]

President of the University of Mary Washington

Hample became President of the University of Mary Washington on July 1, 2008, the first female president of the university, which except for a few day students was all-female until 1970.^[6][7] She succeeded Acting President Rick Hurley, who was also the University's Vice-President for Administration, Finance, and Legislative Affairs at the time. Hurley was named to that post upon the removal of Dr. William Frawley as President in Spring 2007. On February 19, 2010, two years into her five year contract, Hample announced her resignation from the University of Mary Washington, effective June 30 of that year.^[8] She stated that the resignation was for personal reasons.^[9] On March 8, 2010, Hample made a follow up announcement that she would be taking an academic sabbatical from April 1 until June 30.^[10]

Test Emergency Call Controversy

In September 2009, during a safety walk of the UMW campus, Hample, using a blue-light phone in the campus parking garage, faked an emergency call to University Police. She told the dispatcher that a man was preventing her from entering her vehicle, and that he may have a gun.^[11] Hample maintains the fake call was part of an official test of the school's blue-light system. Others in the college community believe Hample filed a false report and jeopardized public safety. No criminal charges were ever filed in the case.

Two newspapers, the Free Lance-Star and the Bullet (UMW), made FOIA requests for copies of the audio tapes of the call. The University initially refused these requests, citing an exception to FOIA for any evidence in a criminal investigation.^[12][13] The University eventually released the tapes [1], as well as video of the call being placed [2], after Hample announced her resignation.

References