UVa-Wise Chancellor Prior wins Wise County Chamber of Commerce President’s Award

David J. Prior, chancellor of The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, received the President’s Award at the Wise County Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner and Gala on April 18.

Bob Spera, the chamber president, presented the award and noted Prior’s “great vision and exceptional leadership” at UVa-Wise. Spera said Prior has led the College in the completion of many construction projects, including the renovation of Crockett Hall, the College’s first building when it opened in 1954. Ongoing projects on campus have resulted in the College undergoing the largest building phase in its history, Spera said.

“By the year 2010, it will dramatically change the landscape of the College,” Spera said of the new projects. “From there, I expect the sky is the limit. New projects and programs are just dreams now, but in the hands of a true visionary, reality is only a matter of a few dollars and a lot of hard work along the way.”

Prior became the seventh chancellor of UVa-Wise in 2005. He grew up in Rochester, Michigan, a small town north of Detroit. He earned an A.B. in biology from Olivet College in Michigan in 1965 and a master's degree in animal physiology and biochemistry from Central Michigan University in 1968. He earned a Ph.D. in biology (neurophysiology) from the University of Virginia in 1972 and was a post-doctoral fellow in neurobiology at Princeton University from 1972 to 1973.

Prior began his teaching career in 1973 at the University of Kentucky, where he eventually held dual full professorships in biological sciences and physiology and biophysics. He left in 1987 to become chairman of the Department of Biology at Northern Arizona University and was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 1992.

In 1995, he was named dean of graduate studies and research at Northern Michigan University. From 1998 until 2005, he served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs in the University of Wisconsin System.

                                                                                                     Posted April 22, 2009