Neil Morgan, a former Newport News city manager known for leading redevelopment efforts in local government, has joined the team of Virginia Tech Fellows in Roanoke providing executive-level leadership training.

The Fellows, headquartered at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, are part of Virginia Tech's Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement.

"Neil Morgan will add strength to our team at the center, which carries out the important mission of developing leaders, organizations, and communities," said Susan E. Short, associate vice president for engagement with Outreach and International Affairs. "I am confident that he will develop new programs to add to our portfolio in his areas of specialty, which include local government management, urban and suburban redevelopment, and the oversight of local public safety operations."

Morgan takes over the post held by W. Robert Herbert, who continues to work part-time to carry out environmental workshops for which the center is known. Morgan also will be involved in the workshops, which position government teams throughout the country to operate their organizations to the highest federal standards following a curriculum endorsed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

City manager from 2009 to 2012, Morgan is credited with reforming the city's pension system, strengthening the city's sustainability programs, and promoting redevelopment projects including the City Center at Oyster Point. He had worked for the city since 1986. He earned a master's degree in public administration from West Virginia University in 1984 and, the following year, carried out further graduate studies in public administration and public affairs at Virginia Tech.

The two other Roanoke-based Fellows are E. Wayne Harris and Wayne Tripp, who run leadership programs for superintendents, principals, and other public school administrators.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

Share this story