This special issue of the Byrd Business Review is dedicated to our new president, Dr. Tracy Fitzsimmons. As the 16th president of Shenandoah University, Dr. Fitzsimmons is the first female president of our 133 year-old institution. Dr. Fitzsimmons holds a B.A. in politics from Princeton University, an M.A. in Latin American studies from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University. Dedicated to building and sustaining academic excellence at Shenandoah, Dr. Fitzsimmons brings experience, determination and charisma to the president's office.

Recently, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Fitzsimmons for the readers of the Byrd Business Review. I trust you will enjoy hearing the heart and soul of our new president and will want to get actively involved in the academic life of Shenandoah University. I know she would enjoy hearing from you as much as I would.

Boxx: Tell the readers of the Byrd Business Review about Dr. Tracy Fitzsimmons, Shenandoah University’s new President.

Fitzsimmons: I am a family girl. I love my family, first and foremost. I am deeply committed to young people or people who are young at heart. I think that’s why I love what I do. I have a strong faith. I have a deep love of nature and outdoor recreation; and I share that with you, Dean Boxx, and I like that. I imagine we’ll be doing more in that area. I have a deep love of reading and travel.




Boxx: When you were a child growing up, what did you eventually want to be?

Fitzsimmons: [Laughs] When I was around 12, I went through a period when I thought I wanted to be the first woman president, and I think I meant of the country. But I am convinced that this is a much better presidency for me than the other one would have ever been. Then I went through a period when I thought I wanted to be an archeologist. I love history, and I love the stories that archeological sites and artifacts, such as shards of pottery, can tell us. These are stories about culture, history and transitions of years past. Finally, I went to politics, not “doing” it, but learning about politics.

Boxx: Were there any significant events in your early years that led you to university work?

Fitzsimmons: I grew up with education as a value in my family. Both my parents were the first in their families to graduate from college. My mother was a teacher, and she did not just go and be a teacher and then come back home. She never put down the teaching; every moment was a teaching moment. I see with her with my kids now. She does not let a moment go by that she’s not teaching them something — helping them learn something. So, education was embedded in my life from the get-go. I always knew that I would go to a university, but it never dawned on me that I would do something in a university setting when I graduated. It wasn’t until I went to graduate school. I didn’t go to graduate school thinking I’m doing this to be a professor. I went to graduate school because I wasn’t done learning yet. Then I fell in love with the topics, the subject area. When I was a teaching assistant in my Ph.D. program, I discovered that I loved teaching, and as it turned out, I was pretty good at it. I didn’t look back after that point since I knew I was going to be a teacher, a faculty member, and I knew I wanted to do it in a small institution. And, remember, I was at a large research university, Stanford. The expectation was clear on the part of the faculty at Stanford that we would all go on to a major research institution. Research would always be first, and teaching and service would be second. But my great loves were teaching and service. I do think research is important in terms of the way it opens my mind to new ideas, the way it bolsters my teaching. Teaching and service were always first for me and still are. When I left Stanford, I went to a small place, the University of Redlands. I didn’t even look at the big, major institutions. When I realized that administration was in my future, I never dreamed of being an administrator in a major research institution. As a matter-of-fact, I turned down an offer at one —an associate dean [position] — because it just didn’t feel like the right fit. I feel that at small places, we can change minds and open hearts.

Boxx: Please share with the readers of the Byrd Business Review information about your family.

Fitzsimmons: Well, I would be remiss if I didn’t start by saying I grew up in a family in which my parents are still married. They’re very close to each other, and I have one sibling, a brother, who is two years younger. As a family unit, we moved around a lot when I was young. I think that drew us closer together. There were many summers when we would move and my brother was my only friend because we’d left behind our old friends. We were the only people we had for each other. We spent a lot of time bolstering a friendship as well as a healthy sibling rivalry. That was my family growing up. Now, I am married to my husband Chuck, who is a great academic — a great policy person — who loves being a father to our three fabulous kids in our chaotic life in an old schoolhouse. Shayla is four, now she would say “four-and-a-half,” and she is a very reflective child. I had imagined a child who would talk a lot with her hands and would be very much the extrovert, except that she’s very much the reflective child who is deeply calm and centered, but with a terrific laugh. Then we have our twins, our two-and-a-half-year-old twin boys, Dash and Jag. They are identical twins. Dash comes from David Shane, the name of Chuck’s father. It is also my brother’s name. When I was nine years old, I lost a bet with my brother that resulted in me promising, in writing, that I would name my first born son after my beloved brother David. That’s what it says, and my mother kept the note all these years. When we knew we were going to have boys, she pulled out that note because she does not forget. She said the first one born has got to be named after your brother, so Dash is David Shane. The other son is Thomas Jag. Thomas is the name of Chuck’s grandfather, and it’s also Aramaic for “twin.” And, Jag is a family name on my side as well. It’s Jaglowski, my mother’s maiden name. Also, my grandparents owned a sporting goods store called Jag’s.
Boxx: I’ll never forget one time when Mary and I were down at your place, Dash and Jag came by for a quick visit. Dash said, with his thumb pointing directly to his chest, “Me Dash!”

Boxx: If we asked your family to tell us one thing that the readers of the Byrd Business Review do not know about you, what would it be?

Fitzsimmons: I spend a lot of time dancing around the house — whether it’s from room to room, when I’m playing games with the kids in the living room, when we’re outside in the garden or by the swing-set. Latin dancing is a secret love of mine. I don’t get a chance to do it very often now, but I love it. I think dance is a good outlet for our souls, for our passions.


Boxx: How do you balance family life with your professional life?

Fitzsimmons: Well, sometimes that’s hard, but I do my best. Sometimes, when I have evening events, it might mean that I leave here at 4 p.m. to spend a little bit of time with my kids and then come back at 6 p.m. to spend the rest of the evening at work. It means that we wake up at 5 a.m. or 5:30 a.m. at our house, and have time to read and play with the children in the morning before I leave for work around 7 a.m. We really try to immerse ourselves in the weekends, even when we have afternoon or evening events for the university. There’s always family time together. Every once in a while, the kids come to work with me. That’s one of the beautiful things about working at a university that’s very family focused. There’s the Clinton statement, that it takes a village. I actually think it takes a campus. A lot of people know my kids, and they’re comfortable with the kids coming here. Certainly, I don’t bring them to anything that might be hazardous for them or for anyone else, and I don’t bring them when they might disrupt things. They’ll go to a dress rehearsal, they’ll go to a class of the brass ensemble, or they’ll go watch a pick-up game of basketball with me. While I’m interacting with my kids, I can also interact with students.

Boxx: What is the best advice you have ever received?

Fitzsimmons: One of my mentors said to me once when I was going into administration, “The most important first question when somebody comes to you, ask yourself ‘is that my job or is that someone else’s?’” And of course there are corollaries to that; is that my business or is that someone else’s? I think that’s really helpful for all of us to think about. You don’t want to do someone else’s job. That does not help your relationship with them. You don’t want to stick yourself in somebody else’s business where you’re not welcome. It’s a very simple line, but I think it would do us all good to remember that. If I do my job, and if I do it well, and you do your job and do it well, and if we communicate well with each other, that’s how we’re going to get something done.

Boxx: Have any international experiences shaped your career?

Fitzsimmons: It’s hard to imagine an international experience that hasn’t. I feel I owe much of what I do to Rotary. When I graduated from college, Rotary paid for me through an international graduate scholarship to go and spend 15 months in Chile. It didn’t just impact my career; it impacted my values. At that moment, Chile was transitioning from a dictatorship to a democracy. I was able to witness that tremendous moment of political transition. And, of course, I’d grown up in a democracy where I had the right to vote. I’d already exercised it at that point, but that’s different from being among people who are denied that right — denied the ability to speak freely. During those 15 months, I gained such a deep respect for democracy and the power that it brings, how valuable it is, and how much we have to protect that right. I think that really influenced my career. I was probably going to be a professor anyway, but what it did was to focus me on studying democracy and democratization — how you get to democracy, and how you stay a democracy. It really influenced the way I run a classroom and how I interact with students inside and outside the classroom. I think it probably impacted the way I work as an administrator. I really do believe that when possible, we should work in a model of power with and not power over. That isn’t always the most efficient way, and sometimes we need to make decisions in a way that are much more efficient in terms of time and finances. But when possible, that’s a model that we should follow — a more collaborative approach.

Boxx: What did you learn as senior vice president and vice president for academic affairs that is assisting you as SU’s new president?

Fitzsimmons: I learned the culture of Shenandoah and the surrounding communities. I learned about the needs and desires of our faculty. I learned to function in a system where it was my job to always try and make sure that academics came first. I think it’s really good for an institution to have a president who comes out of academics, one who has been a faculty member. It wasn’t so long ago that I was in a classroom essentially full time with my students and thinking about how many articles I needed to write in order to get promoted. I was thinking about what kinds of theoretical gaps existed in my field, and how I could play a role in filling those gaps. I remember the challenges, and even though I spend a great deal of my time now doing community interaction, fund raising and public relations, my heart will always be where I came from, and that’s out of the faculty. That’s my roots.

Boxx: What was the very best day you ever had as a university employee?

Fitzsimmons: [Huge smile] Well, my very best day was when the trustees selected me to be president, because it meant that I got to stay at Shenandoah. Outside of that, my very best days are always graduation days. I see students, many of whom I know, walk across the stage. I know their stories. I know their struggles. I know their joys. For years, I got to read their names, and I put a lot of time into reading those names. They deserve that kind of respect, having their names pronounced perfectly. But now I get to hand their diplomas to them. So, it’s another role, but I love graduation day. Graduation is like Christmas to me.

Boxx: Why did you decide to become the President of SU?

Fitzsimmons: I felt I was ready for a presidency, and when I thought about where I would like to be president, there was no other place I wanted to be other than Shenandoah. It was clearly my number one choice. When I decided to come to Shenandoah as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences seven years ago, I came because it felt like the right fit. Things were on an upward trajectory, but they weren’t perfect. I had some sense of what the strengths were and where Shenandoah needed to go. That’s how I feel about Shenandoah now and the presidency. I know what our trajectory is, and I know it’s upward and onward. I know what Shenandoah needs to get there. I know we do an outstanding job of making sure that we’re financially stable and that we have most of the physical facilities that we need. I know that it’s time for us to focus deeply upon academic quality, educational excellence and community partnerships. I think those are my areas of strength.

Boxx: What is a typical day like for you?

Fitzsimmons: Joyous chaos [laughs]. I assume you mean at work. The day is always bookended by family in the morning and the late evening. I think the goal for all of us, whether we’re administrators or faculty, is to build our days around thinking about what’s best for our students. For me, that means how can I make sure that the resources are available to the faculty and the students to do the things they want to do? It might mean spending time with friends of the institution and talking to them about our financial needs. I’m spending a lot of time talking about the endowment these days. It might mean making decisions about budgeting so that we manage our debt well and that we have funds at the end of the year that allows us to pursue projects. I’m enjoying spending time with faculty and staff and other administrators envisioning the future of the institution. It certainly would have been faster for me to sit down and write the strategic plan myself. But I believe we’ll end up with a better plan. I think we’ll end up with a Shenandoah plan as opposed to a Tracy plan. We will have done it together.

Boxx: Shenandoah is engaged in formulating a new strategic plan. What is the process that has been used, and what do you hope the outcome will be?

Fitzsimmons: We started with students. We started with the Student Government Association and said where should Shenandoah be in three to five years? What would you be most proud of if that were to happen three to five years from now? Then we involved faculty and staff in the process to get their input. And we widened the circle again by asking community members, the Alumni Association board members and trustees to give input. It really has been a process of asking a lot of questions and opening doors for input. We did that in ways where people were able to engage in focus groups and to work with a consultant that we brought in from the outside. We also got anonymous input on a Web survey. Now we’re doing the nitty-gritty work with the University Cabinet that has faculty, staff and student representation along with administrators that have done other strategic plans. I think we’re going to have a really strong document because of input. I believe we could have had a fine plan had I done it on my own, but I think we’re going to have a great plan now because we were able to get a lot of information and ideas from others. I have to say, and I want to be clear, that as the CEO of this university, there will be nothing in the plan that I can’t support. There are a number of ideas that I had that won’t be in the plan because they’re not ideas that the community can support.

Boxx: What do you hope to accomplish as president?

Fitzsimmons: I want Shenandoah to become its name — to have a deeper connection to the environment, to the valley and to the outdoors. I want to know that wherever I go and whenever I sit down on an airplane or a bus, the person next to me will have heard about Shenandoah. They may not be able to say details about our institution, but they’ll say, oh, I’ve heard of that place in a really positive way. I want this to be an institution of choice for prospective students, for prospective employees and for prospective faculty. I want members of the community, whether locally or across the state and the nation, to think of us when they want a partner in higher education. I want them to say that Shenandoah is an up-and-coming institution — it has a good reputation for holding up its end in collaboration. Let’s work with them.

Boxx: What are the risks of being a university president?

Fitzsimmons: That you’re never right [laughs], and there’s always someone waiting in the wings to tell you how wrong you are — how you are in error. Also, there is the feeling there’s something that you’re not giving a 110 percent to. I believe that one of the other risks is that it’s too easy to not teach. I’m committed to teaching one course a year. It will mean less sleep, and it may mean that I can’t do something else that semester. However, by doing it, I keep in close touch with our students and what their needs are. It serves to remind me about what’s important — why we exist as an institution. If I don’t teach, it will be too easy to forget why we’re here. It will be too easy to get caught up in all the administrative muck.

Boxx: How would you describe your leadership style?

Fitzsimmons: I would imagine that the way I describe it is less important than the way others describe it. I think people would say that I’m OK with them disagreeing with me, and that I enjoy the process almost as much as I enjoy the outcome. I believe that I am fairly non-hierarchical and somewhat informal when the situation allows it. I am approachable to students and faculty, and I don’t expect to be called doctor or president — I’m just Tracy. At the same time, I will be firm when I need to be. Everybody deserves one chance, maybe even a second chance, but after that it’s all about what’s good for the institution and for our students. I’m not afraid of making tough decisions.

Boxx: What advice would you share with students about aspiring to a leadership position?

Fitzsimmons: I would start with the Byrd School of Business mission about being principled leaders. They need to figure out what that means first and if they’re willing to be principled leaders. That may mean that they might make some people unhappy along the way. Progress might be slowed down because you’re going to honor your principles first. In the end, I think that if you’re committed to being a principled leader, you’re going to be a better leader for everyone around you, and you’ll feel better about yourself. I like the global perspective piece that in this world, even if you want to run a mom-and-pop store in a small rural town — because of the way the world is changing, because of the products that are available, because of globalization and movement across borders, because of the way people travel — you still need to understand multiple cultures and have a global perspective. I guess I would ask students to focus on what the Byrd School does — that of being principled leaders with a global perspective.
Boxx: It pleases me very much for you to cite the mission of our school.

Boxx: What skill set do you see as being important for tomorrow’s SU graduates?

Fitzsimmons: Our graduates need to have breadth of education, which is why it is so wonderful that the Byrd School says that students have to take half of their courses outside the business school. Breadth of education is about bolstering what you know, and it’s about giving yourself the flexibility and fluidity to be in different situations and still be able to be seen as a leader. You need to have deep competence in a field as well. That may be accounting, it may be marketing, or it may be some other field. Interpersonal relations are important as well as being able to function in different cultures. If I may, the whole Byrd School of Business system is so important that it doesn’t matter what your chosen career is. It doesn’t matter if you change careers or if you change communities, if you’re not a good citizen then Shenandoah will not have served you well. You must be involved in your community, be involved in your place of worship, and be involved in your children’s education or in the caretaking of your parents. It’s about voting, voting, voting. So those are the three things: breadth of education, competence in one field or two, and being a good citizen.

Boxx: What are the key challenges facing SU?

Fitzsimmons: Clearly facing any institution right now is the economy. It impacts the endowment. It impacts whether and how much donors are willing to give. It impacts our students’ ability to pay tuition, and it impacts the personal lives of our faculty and staff. The economy is a major challenge for all of higher education. Rapidly changing technology is another real challenge. Just when we’re ready and we’ve invested in a whole new approach to technology, something new comes up. This young generation, those who are 18 and 20 year olds, have different expectations in terms of the way we communicate and the topics about which we communicate. That can be hard for us to keep up with. It may be text messaging or some other form of electronic communication. That’s a whole different ballgame for many of us. I think that communication is going to be increasingly a challenge for us. I am worried that there will be small institutions, not Shenandoah, which will have deep financial struggles if the economy doesn’t turn around.

Boxx: How do you see SU’s relationship with the city of Winchester?

Fitzsimmons: I think it’s strong and getting stronger. This is the community that gave us a second chance as an institution. They plucked us out of Dayton and brought us here. They threw open their doors and housed our students when we didn’t have dorm rooms. I don’t think they regretted that for a day. As we grow strong in terms of reputation, visibility and quality, the community of Winchester grows stronger.

Boxx: What makes you proud of SU?

Fitzsimmons: How long do we have for the interview [smile]? There are a lot of programs of which I am very proud. But, I think I’ll speak more generally. I’m proud that so many accrediting bodies have given us their stamp of approval — their stamp of excellence. I am proud that so many clinics only accept our [health professions and pharmacy] students on rotations and not those from other institutions. I am proud that we have students who have turned their lives around here, and that we’ve transformed their lives. They grew up in really difficult situations, and they now see a different world of possibilities because of Shenandoah. I am proud to be at a place that invests in our students, and we pay for many of them to have their first international experience. I am very proud of our students who are able to balance study and full-time work and for those who study and have a family at the same time.

Boxx: What do you see as the future of SU?

Fitzsimmons: I think the future of Shenandoah is a bright one. It’s one of increasing quality. I think our university will be an intellectually and creatively vibrant place to be.

Boxx: What do you think about the Byrd School of Business?

Fitzsimmons: I love the Byrd School of Business. You have the most coveted accreditation [AACSB International] and one of the most coveted buildings on campus. I think that you’ve managed to balance the breadth and depth of a business education in a way that’s a role model for all of us. And of course, I have a deep affection for you and Mary.



Boxx: Thank you for that nice comment and for sharing your time with the readers of the Byrd Business Review.