 |
About VCOM
University Collaboration
Request a Campus Tour
Meet the Administration & Board of Directors
Board of Directors
John G. Rocovich, Jr., J.D., L.L.M.
Chairman, Board of Directors
Mr. Rocovich is the founder of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) and Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Rocovich is an attorney and the Chairman of the law firm Moss & Rocovich Attorneys-at-Law, P.C. in Roanoke. Mr. Rocovich has dedicated himself to his alma mater, Virginia Tech, and has held countless offices to assist in the enhancement of that university. He also devotes considerable energy to the Southern Baptist Convention and their Foreign Mission Board, other colleges, Virginia museums, and financial and commercial institutions.
William G. Anderson, D.O.
Dr. Anderson began his professional career in the practice of medicine and surgery in Albany, Georgia where he practiced for six years. He was a founder and first president of the Albany Movement, which spearheaded the Civil Rights Movement in Southwest Georgia. Dr. Anderson served as a member of the American Osteopathic Association’s (AOA) Board of Trustees for 20 years, where he also served as President. Dr. Anderson has served on the boards of several osteopathic and community organizations in Michigan and Iowa. He has also received seven Honorary Degrees from colleges and universities across the country.
Thomas R. Brock, Jr., M.B.A.
Mr. Brock began his career as a systems engineer for software based industrial systems with General Electric (GE) working for GE in various leadership roles until he retired in 1995. Following retirement, Mr. Brock established a management consulting firm which focuses on helping charitable organizations become more financially sound. Mr. Brock has held numerous leadership positions in community organizations in the Roanoke Valley.
Neal Castagnoli, Jr., Ph.D.
Dr. Castagnoli held the Peters Endowed Chair of Chemistry at Virginia Tech for 20 years. Until his recent retirement, Dr. Castagnoli was also Co-Director of the Harvey W. Peters Research Center for the Study of Parkinson's Disease and Disorders of the Central Nervous System. He has received many awards over the years including the Jacob K. Javits Neurosciences Investigator Award, National Institutes for Health; Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Research Excellence; and the Virginia’s Outstanding Scientist (2000) from the Virginia Science Museum. Dr. Castagnoli has also served as a member on various boards and committees throughout his career.
Jimmy Gibbs
Mr. Gibbs is Founder and Chairman of Gibbs International, Inc. With more than three decades of success in the used equipment industry, the Gibbs name has become synonymous with innovation and cutting edge technology, impacting the textile, real estate, energy, and mining industry worldwide. Gibbs International, Inc. conducts business on five continents meeting the unique operational and asset management needs of its customers. Mr. Gibbs serves as director of many companies and charitable organizations.
Roy E. Heaton, D.O.
Dr. Heaton has maintained a family medicine and osteopathic manipulation practice in Arlington, Virginia since 1988. Dr. Heaton holds clinical faculty positions with eight of the nation’s osteopathic schools. He continues to serve the osteopathic community through his involvement in the Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association.
Bruce Holstien
Mr. Holstein is President and CEO of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Holstein comes from Corpus Christi, Texas, where he served as President and CEO of CHRISTUS Spohn Health System. Prior to that role, he was an executive with Sentara Health System in Norfolk, Virginia.
James C. (Jim) Justice, II
West Virginia businessman, Jim Justice, has been involved in his family’s business throughout his life, in the areas of agriculture, mining operations and other businesses. He serves as president and CEO of over 47 different companies. In 2009, Justice acquired the Greenbrier Resort and Greenbrier Sporting Club. Justice carries on the family tradition of being a major supporter of many youth programs. Justice is most proud of his family (including a daughter, Jill, who graduated as a D.O. from VCOM in May 2012) and serving as head girls basketball coach at Greenbrier East High School in Lewisburg, West Virginia.
Daniel A. Wubah, Ph.D.
Dr. Wubah, Vice President for Undergraduate Education, Deputy Provost, and Professor of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech, began his academic career in 1992 as an Assistant Professor of Biological Services at Towson University in Maryland. A year after he earned tenure, he was elected department chair. In 2000 he moved to Virginia as James Madison University’s Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, and was appointed special assistant to the president three years later. From 2007-2009 he served as Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Professor of Zoology at the University of Florida before moving to his current position at Virginia Tech.
The National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have funded Dr. Wubah’s research and projects. His work has resulted in more than 60 peer-reviewed journal publications, book chapters and technical reports. He has served as a National Academy of Sciences panel member; testified before the U.S. Congress on preparing the scientific workforce; chairs the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Study Session; is a trustee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges; and has served on the National Aquarium in Baltimore Board of Directors
Bhabra Misra, D.O., Ph.D
Alumni Association President, graduate Class of 2007
Dr Misra graduated in the 2007 Inaugural Class from VCOM. Prior to medical school, he worked in the computer, telephone, (including E-911), internet, cable, satellit,e and software systems optimization and security systems for over 24 years. He was active in student organizations, serving as president of the Student Government Association, president of the Class of 2007 and president of the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) organization. During this time he was also active in national organizations, including the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents and served as delegate to the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and SOMA.
Dr. Misra served as chief intern and chief resident for his Internal Medicine residency. During this time he served on the American College of Osteopathic Internists Research Committee and was a featured speaker at LewisGale's Nursing Symposium for Human Subjects in Research at the YMCA and Community Disaster Response Coalition on Child Abuse and Elder Abuse.
Dr. Misra is currently employed by LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, Virginia, as a hospitalist. He was most recently a speaker at the Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association (VOMA) Fall Conference held in conjunction with the VCOM Class of 2007 reunion where he presented on complications of mononucleosis. He has served on VCOM's Alumni Association Board of Directors since its inception and currently serves as president of the organization. He remains active in medical education, supervising residents at the Free Clinic of the New River Valley and teaching medical students in the core 3rd year medicine rotation at LewisGale.
Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, D.O.
The Dean was chosen for her experience in osteopathic medical education and in rural health. Dr. Rawlins has over 18 years experience in medical education and has served as the Dean for VCOM since the initial planning stages in 2001. Dr. Rawlins earned her degree from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine; Missouri, is board certified in family practice through ABOFP and is employed full time by VCOM.
Dr. Rawlins has many years in medical education and educational administration; she began teaching in 1990 at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in family medicine and was the course director for emergency medicine. Dr. Rawlins was awarded board certification in both fields. In 1994 Dr. Rawlins began serving as a family practice residency director in Michigan. Two years later Dr. Rawlins moved to Pennsylvania and established an osteopathic family practice residency at St. Luke’s Hospital where, for several years, she served as both residency director and osteopathic Director of Medical Education. In 1998 Dr. Rawlins was recruited to become the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs for the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri, serving in that position for two years and as the Interim Dean and Vice President for one year. Dr. Rawlins, as the founding Dean for VCOM, led the College in the development of the curriculum, clinical site affiliations, budget and long range plan, and assisted in the design of the first educational and research facilities.
Sue Ellen B. Rocovich, D.O., Ph.D.
Dr. Rocovich is one of the founding members of VCOM’s Board of Directors. Dr. Rocovich worked as an emergency room physician for several years in Virginia. She has also served on the Virginia State Board of Medicine, Board of Directors of the Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech Foundation, the Bradley Free Clinic of Roanoke, Virginia, and the Mill Mountain Theatre.
Raymond D. Smoot, Jr., Ph.D.
Dr. Smoot is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Secretary-Treasurer of the Virginia Tech Foundation. As such, he is responsible for management of assets totaling $700 million. He previously held several vice presidential positions at Virginia Tech and is quite active in community affairs. Dr. Smoot is also Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Virginia Retirement System, one of the nation’s largest pension funds.
James F. Wolfe, Ph.D
President
Dr. Wolfe has a long career in academics as a Professor Emeritus in Chemistry at Virginia Tech, previously serving as Chemistry faculty for many years, Chemistry Department Chair for nine years, Vice Provost of Virginia Tech for more than five years, and as the Co-Director of the Harvey Peter’s Research Center. His administrative and educational experiences, his accomplishments in research, and his knowledge of Virginia Tech made him a natural choice for the position.
Carolinas Campus Advisory Board
Ingo Angermeier
Ingo Angermeier is the former President and CEO of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System (SRHS). With more than 30 years of administrative experience in healthcare, he brought great improvement and progress to healthcare in Spartanburg before retiring in 2011. Under his leadership, the hospital system grew to include three hospitals (including the Village at Pelham and the Hospice Home) and implemented the Regional One helicopter program. Angermeier was also instrumental in the design of SRHS’ state-of-the-art emergency center, which gets about 110,000 visits a year and is one of the busiest in the state.
William Barnet, III
William "Bill" Barnet III is the former mayor of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and currently serves as CEO of William Barnet & Son, Inc. The family venture was founded in 1898 and has evolved into a global company that manufactures, trades and contract processes a wide variety of synthetic products for the chemical fiber, engineered resin and textile-related industries.
His membership on boards of public entities includes that of Bank of America and Duke Energy, and he has extensive involvement with civic boards, including current organizations such the Palmetto Business Forum, ETV Endowment, Palmetto Institute, The Duke Endowment, Girl Scouts of South Carolina (Mountains to Midlands Council), and the Converse College Board of Trustees.
Barnet received his B.A. and M.B.A. from Dartmouth College, and served as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and with the Adjutant General's Corps. He and his wife, Valerie Manatis Barnet, have three children - Mary Rebecca (21), Will (18) and John (16).
Benjamin B. Dunlap, Ph.D.
Benjamin Dunlap, Ph.D., graduated summa cum laude from Sewanee: The University of the South, in 1959, then went on to attended Oxford University for three years as a Rhodes Scholar, and completed further graduate work at Harvard University, from which he received a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature in 1967. From then until 1993, he held full-time academic appointments at Harvard and the University of South Carolina, where he was awarded both the USC Teacher of the Year Award and the university’s Russell Award for Distinguished Scholarship. He twice served as a Fulbright Senior Lecturer in Thailand and was a member of the inaugural class of U.S.-Japan Leadership Fellows in Tokyo. In 1993, he accepted an appointment at Wofford College as the Chapman Family Professor in the Humanities, a position he still holds. In 2000, he became the 10th president of Wofford College.
Since 1985, Dunlap has been a frequent moderator for the Aspen Institute in this country and abroad. In 2007, he was one of “Fifty Remarkable People” making presentations at the annual TED Conference in Monterey. His many publications include poems, essays, anthologies, guides, and opera libretti, and he has served as writer-producer and on-camera talent for more than 200 Public Television programs, for which he won numerous national and international awards. For four and a half years in the 1970s and '80s, he performed as soloist and principal dancer for the Columbia City Ballet.
In 2006, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, Sewanee: The University of the South, and in 2010 he was honored with the South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities.
Jimmy Gibbs
Mr. Gibbs is Founder and Chairman of Gibbs International, Inc. With more than three decades of success in the used equipment industry, the Gibbs name has become synonymous with innovation and cutting edge technology, impacting the textile, real estate, energy, and mining industry worldwide. Gibbs International, Inc. conducts business on five continents meeting the unique operational and asset management needs of its customers. Mr. Gibbs serves as director of many companies and charitable organizations.
Bruce Holstien
Mr. Holstein is President and CEO of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Holstein comes from Corpus Christi, Texas, where he served as President and CEO of CHRISTUS Spohn Health System. Prior to that role, he was an executive with Sentara Health System in Norfolk, Virginia.
Jay Moskowitz, Ph.D.
Dr. Moskowitz joined the National Institutes of Health in 1969 as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Public Health Service and served in a number of capacities for over 26 years. This was followed by a distinguished career that included positions at Wake Forest University School of Medicine (formerly Bowman Gray School of Medicine),The Pennsylvania State University, Penn State College of Medicine, and Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
In September 2007, Dr. Moskowitz accepted the positions of President and CEO of Health Sciences South Carolina, Endowed Chair and Professor of Translational Clinical Research in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. He also serves as Professor of Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, and Adjunct Professor of Public Health at Clemson University. Dr. Moskowitz is married with two sons. He and his wife, Joanne, live in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and Columbia, South Carolina, and are very active in both communities.
Harold R. Nicolette, D.O.
As a 20 year member of the South Carolina Osteopathic Medical Association (SCOMA), Dr. Harold Nicolette has served in a number of leadership positions including President, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer, and Board of Trustees. He also holds professional memberships in the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), American Academy of Family Practice (AAFP), American College of Osteopathic Family Practitioners, and Charleston County Medical Association.
A graduate of Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Nicolette began his professional career as a family physician in Texas before relocating to Charleston, South Carolina. Since 1983, he has worked in private practice in Charleston, and is also employed by Doctors Care in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
Dr. Nicolette is a lifetime member of the Sigma Sigma Phi National Honorary Osteopathic Fraternity and has served on international missions to Romania, China, and Guatemala where he provided medical care and volunteer services.
Timothy J. Kowalski, D.O., FACN
Vice Dean, VCOM - Carolinas Campus
A graduate of the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1983, Dr. Kowalski completed a rotating internship, psychiatry residency, and child psychiatry fellowship at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Board Certified in Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry, Dr. Kowalski began work within the South Carolina Department of Mental Health in 1993, rising to the position of Medical Director at the William S. Hall Psychiatric Institute in Columbia, SC where he was active in teaching child psychiatry residents and medical students.
Dr. Kowalski is a past president of the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners, the South Carolina Osteopathic Medical Society, the American Association of Osteopathic Examiners and the American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists. Dr. Kowalski has also served on prominent committees of the Federation of State Medical Boards, the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners and the American Osteopathic Association.
Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, D.O.
Executive Vice President and Dean
The Dean was chosen for her experience in osteopathic medical education and in rural health. Dr. Rawlins has over 18 years experience in medical education and has served as the Dean for VCOM since the initial planning stages in 2001. Dr. Rawlins earned her degree from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine; Missouri, is board certified in family practice through ABOFP and is employed full time by VCOM.
Dr. Rawlins has many years in medical education and educational administration; she began teaching in 1990 at Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in family medicine and was the course director for emergency medicine. Dr. Rawlins was awarded board certification in both fields. In 1994 Dr. Rawlins began serving as a family practice residency director in Michigan. Two years later Dr. Rawlins moved to Pennsylvania and established an osteopathic family practice residency at St. Luke’s Hospital where, for several years, she served as both residency director and osteopathic Director of Medical Education. In 1998 Dr. Rawlins was recruited to become the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs for the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri, serving in that position for two years and as the Interim Dean and Vice President for one year. Dr. Rawlins, as the founding Dean for VCOM, led the College in the development of the curriculum, clinical site affiliations, budget and long range plan, and assisted in the design of the first educational and research facilities.
John G. Rocovich, Jr., J.D., L.L.M.
Chairman, VCOM Board of Directors
Mr. Rocovich is the founder of VCOM and is the Chairman of its Board of Directors. Mr. Rocovich is an attorney and the Chairman of the law firm Moss & Rocovich Attorneys-at-Law, P.C. in Roanoke. Mr. Rocovich has dedicated himself to his alma mater, Virginia Tech, and has held countless offices to assist in the enhancement of that university. He also devotes considerable energy to the Southern Baptist Convention and their Foreign Mission Board, other colleges, Virginia museums, and financial and commercial institutions.
James F. Wolfe, Ph.D.
President
Dr. Wolfe has a long career in academics as a Professor Emeritus in Chemistry at Virginia Tech, previously serving as Chemistry faculty for many years, Chemistry Department Chair for nine years, Vice Provost of Virginia Tech for more than five years, and as the Co-Director of the Harvey Peter’s Research Center. His administrative and educational experiences, his accomplishments in research, and his knowledge of Virginia Tech made him a natural choice for the position.
VCOM – Virginia Campus • VCOM – Carolinas Campus