Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 13, 1990 TAG: 9005140189
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's not to say Brownlee has sought the limelight in her nine years as president of Hollins College. She hasn't. Rather, she's been so effective on the job and so dedicated to the community that the limelight has sought her.
Her effectiveness as an administrator no doubt prompted the Association of American Colleges to recruit her. On Sept. 1, Brownlee will become the first female president of the Washington-based association of 620 colleges and universities. It's small consolation that Brownlee hadn't been job-hunting.
When Brownlee became Hollins president in 1981, the trustees gave her an assignment: Connect Hollins with Roanoke. The college had the reputation of being a bit standoffish. It was an assignment Brownlee pursued with vigor.
She herself has served the community in numerous business, cultural and educational capacities. Brownlee was one of only seven women named among the valley's most influential people in a poll conducted by this newspaper a couple of years ago. Brownlee has been on the boards of the Science Museum of Western Virginia (she holds a doctorate in chemistry), the Roanoke Symphony Society, the Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Roanoke Valley Educational Consortium.
The value she placed on community service was picked up around the campus, too. When Brownlee came to Hollins, fewer than 10 students a semester were doing volunteer work in the Roanoke Valley. During a talk to the Rotary Club in 1988, she reported that the number of student volunteers at the college had risen to more than 300.
Brownlee's list of accomplishments as Hollins' third female president is lengthy. She initiated a long-term planning process for the college, for one thing, and added majors in computational sciences and communications studies.
Hollins is a vibrant college with a national reputation - at a time when many small, private institutions are floundering.
The most concrete testimonials are the doubling of alumnae contributions during Brownlee's tenure, an increase in enrollment from 880 to 1,108, and a huge boost in Hollins' endowment: from $14.5 million in 1981 to $38.3 million this year.
Brownlee manages to be down to earth and still a proper British gentlewoman. Hollins students marvel that she calls them by name when they see her on campus, but she can do the same for the valley's movers and shakers. As one of only two female members of the Shenandoah Club, she has lent undeserved credibility to that exclusive organization.
Paula Brownlee has been an inspiration and a model to many. She will be greatly missed at Hollins, and all around the Roanoke Valley.
by CNB