Whitt Clement to Serve as University of Virginia Rector

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP special counsel Whittington W. Clement will serve as rector of the University of Virginia. His two-year term is effective July 1.

As rector, Clement is chair of UVA’s 19-member Board of Visitors. He has served as vice rector since 2019 and succeeds James B. Murray Jr. as rector. Clement was appointed to the board by then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2015 and reappointed by Gov. Ralph Northam in 2019.

“It’s a great privilege to lead such a strong, dedicated board, and I look forward to working with my colleagues, President (Jim) Ryan and his leadership team as we transition from the extraordinary year of the pandemic to more normal times,” Clement said in the university’s announcement of his leadership position.

Clement, who helped establish Hunton Andrews Kurth’s state government relations practice, is a graduate of UVA and the UVA School of Law. He is a former president of the Virginia Bar Association, a former chair of the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia and former member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

Northam has appointed counsel Heidi W. Abbott to the Norfolk State University Board of Visitors and reappointed Todd P. Haymore, head of the firm’s Global Economic Development, Commerce and Government Relations Group, to the Virginia Commonwealth University Board of Visitors. Both appointments take effect July 1.

Another member of the Global Economic Development, Commerce and Government Relations Group, Director of Government Affairs C. Evans Poston, is also a member of the UVA Board of Visitors. He was appointed by Northam to a four-year term in 2018.