Governor Appoints UMW’s Rucker to Transportation Board

University of Mary Washington Associate Vice President and Dean of Student Life Cedric Rucker will soon weigh in on some of Virginia’s most important transportation issues. Gov. Ralph Northam announced the appointment last week of Rucker, a 1981 Mary Washington graduate and longtime University employee, to the Commonwealth Transportation Board.

“I am so honored by the appointment, and look forward to serving the citizens of the region and the Commonwealth,” Rucker said.

The 17-member board oversees the state’s transportation projects and initiatives, including the construction, maintenance and operation of roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, seaports, railways, buses, public transportation, mass transit and more. Recent initiatives include the Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor, Amtrak Northeast Regional Extension to Roanoke, and changes and upgrades to major interstates, including I-95.

“These issues are important to everyone who calls Virginia home, to everyone who travels to and through Virginia,” Rucker said.

A world traveler, he earned a master’s degree at the University of Virginia, where he served briefly as assistant dean of admissions, before returning to his alma mater to work in Student Life. Rucker, who was named to this winter’s Richmond Public Schools Black History Month Influential list, served previously on Virginia’s Board of Medicine.

“As an educator, I advise students to be civically responsible. It’s part of being a citizen who wants to make a difference,” he said. “Transportation is critical to the economic development and sustainability of the Commonwealth.”