Dive Brief:
- Laura Fornash is leaving her post as Virginia's secretary of education to become a lobbyist for the University of Virgnia, serving as an executive assistant to the university's president for state governmental relations.
- Prior to becoming the state's education secretary, Fornash spent 20 years lobbying for Virginia Tech.
- Fornash will remain with the administration of Gov. Bob McDonnell, who leaves office in January, through mid-November.
Dive Insight:
Grabbing Fornash as her time as state education secretary draws to a close is a wise move by the University of Virginia. Her decades of experience will serve the Public Ivy well, especially given her firsthand knowledge of education initiatives—like the Higher Education Advisory Committee—implemented by McDonnell in the two years since she took the post in his cabinet on an interim basis.