John R. Broderick, Old Dominion University's eighth president, doesn't mind rolling up his sleeves and serving hot dogs at a university picnic.
A constant presence on campus, whether it's to escort a visitor, walk his dog or attend athletic and cultural events, he has developed a reputation as a friendly, approachable president.
But he's all business when it comes to his insistence on forging progress at Old Dominion, solving real-world problems and building on the region's strengths.
Under his leadership since 2008, Old Dominion has emerged as a research powerhouse in fields from cybersecurity to bioelectrics, where the University is pioneering advances in cancer treatment and cardiac procedures.
The establishment of the Center for the Study of Sea Level Rise in 2010 elevated Old Dominion to the top tier in addressing one of the most pressing environmental and economic dilemmas in Hampton Roads - and the world. Illustrating the University's pursuit of collaboration and innovation, it expanded the focus to flooding resiliency and then to resiliency in multiple forms, working with other institutions and bringing together faculty members from varied disciplines. President Broderick was featured in December 2017 in articles in the Chronicle of Higher Education profiling Old Dominion's resiliency efforts.
He has presided over an increase in public and private funding to the University. During his tenure, Old Dominion has received more than $765 million in new resources. From 2010 to 2017, the value of the University's endowment rose nearly 50 percent to $214 million.
But bucking the "bigger is better" movement, President Broderick has held Old Dominion's enrollment to approximately 24,500 to maximize the quality of the student experience.
To improve academic achievement, the University constructed a $10 million Student Success Center and Learning Commons. In 2017, Old Dominion recorded the highest graduation rate in its history. The University also has the second-largest percentage of degrees awarded in STEM-H (science, technology, engineering, math and health care) fields among Virginia's major universities.
The University gives students from any discipline the resources to turn their passion into an enterprise.
In 2013, Old Dominion received an $11 million gift from alumnus Mark Strome to create the Strome Entrepreneurial Center, realizing President Broderick's vision to expand entrepreneurial initiatives for students inside and outside the classroom. Old Dominion added a unique feature in the fall of 2017 with the opening of THE Monarch Way, a retail store run by students and selling the products of student, alumni, faculty and staff entrepreneurs.
In 2016, President Broderick announced the largest gift in the University's history, a $35 million donation from Richard and Carolyn Barry to create the Barry Art Museum. The museum, opening in 2018, will be the crown jewel in the Arts in the Village complex, which includes the Barry Arts Building, the James A. Hixon Art Studio Building, the Goode Theatre and the Brock Commons amphitheater.
Old Dominion's state-of-the-art dining facility, which opened in the fall of 2016, is named the Kate and John R. Broderick Dining Commons at the request of student leaders to honor the President and First Lady for spearheading inclusion initiatives and to recognize their commitment to student success.
The Board of Visitors also renamed the University's Diversity Champion Award for the president in 2013 to recognize his commitment to diversity and inclusion, which helped create a vibrant, multicultural campus. In the fall of 2016, Old Dominion enrolled nearly 6,200 African-Americans, more than any other public four-year school in Virginia, as well as students from more than 100 countries. In 2017, ODU was cited by the organization Education Trust as one of the 15 colleges in the nation with the best track records for graduating African-American students.
President Broderick has transformed his belief in community service into a centerpiece of University life. In 2011, he and his wife, along with their relatives, endowed the Evon-Broderick Award for Community Engagement and Service to recognize students who devote themselves to service.
In athletics, President Broderick oversaw the return of football to Old Dominion in 2009 after a 69-year absence, adding a rush of excitement and a burst of spirit to campus. He is past chairman of Conference USA's Board of Directors and a member of the NCAA Division I Presidents Forum and Committee on Institutional Performance.
But President Broderick has been clear that the University's priority is academics. And Old Dominion's students are triumphing in the classroom, too. The University had more students on the Conference USA Commissioner's Honor Roll last year - 286 - than any other school.
President Broderick's honors have included the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities' Humanitarian Award, the Urban League of Hampton Roads' Marian Palmer Capps Award, the New Journal & Guide's Impacting Lives award, the Dr. Hugo A. Owens Sr. Humanitarian Award from Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the Trailblazer Award from Men for Hope and a Visionary Award from the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. Inside Business journal ranked President Broderick No. 4 on its 2017 Power List of Hampton Roads.
He is past chairman of the Virginia Council of Presidents of colleges and universities and the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. He is the only college president to serve as a member of the Virginia Space Flight Authority board.
President Broderick is a board member of organizations including the Urban League of Hampton Roads, Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, Saint Patrick Catholic School, Physicians for Peace, Hampton Roads Partnership and General Douglas MacArthur Foundation. He also sits on the Virginia Advisory Committee of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and served as co-chair of Gov. Ralph Northam's Higher Education Policy Committee.
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Saint Patrick Catholic School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Saint Patrick Catholic School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.