VP for public relations to handle land donation
Vice President for Public Affairs Stewart Gamage ’72 will leave the College this summer for the University of Virginia.
Gamage, who previously served on the Board of Visitors, will take a position as director of the university’s Morven Project, which oversees the usage of a major land donation to U.Va.
“Morven is part of the property that John Kruge gave to the university in 2001. It’s right next door to Monticello,” Gamage said. “The question is, ‘How can the university best use this resource to support its national and international goals?’”
As vice president for public affairs, Gamage’s responsibilities at the College include overseeing economic and community development, government relations and press relations. The Morven job is a departure from these roles.
“I’ll be spending the first few months listening [to] and learning [from] people who know the university very well, trying to see how [Morven] can be best put to the university’s use,” Gamage said. “It takes everything that I’ve done in the past and combines them in a [new] way.”
Gamage has been a part of the College community since 1968, when she enrolled as an undergraduate.
“I’ve spent almost my whole life involved in some way with the College: as a student, a Board member and as an employee,” she said. “I love this place; it will be very hard to leave. But I think this is going to be a great opportunity.”
Gamage added that her years working with College staff were influential.
“William and Mary really is where it is today because of an incredible amount of hard work and dedication that people who care a great deal about this school have put into it,” she said. “To work with people like that has really been a great honor for me.”
