Virginia Business magazine has announced the Virginia 500: 2022-23 Power List, naming University of Mary Washington President Troy Paino among the commonwealth’s top education leaders.

“It’s like the Fortune 500, but instead of focusing on companies, it’s about people,” said Virginia Business Editor Richard Foster in the publication’s opening letter. “We strive to inventory the most powerful and influential leaders and executives in Virginia across 20 major sectors, ranging from real estate and manufacturing to higher education and government. We accept suggestions for the Virginia 500, but it is compiled based on research by our editorial staff, not through nominations.”

Likewise Paino’s profile in the publication spotlights his personal approach, citing this year’s Region III President’s Award from NASPA, the organization of student affairs administrators in higher education, in recognition of his desire to include student views in strategic planning initiatives. The listing also chronicles his leadership through the pandemic. UMW’s COVID-19 in Context online courses in 2020 engaged the campus and community-at-large in learning more about the virus, and at the height of the pandemic, UMW was among the state’s higher education institutions with the lowest infection rates. Read more.

The University of Mary Washington is a premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences university in Virginia, highly respected for its commitment to academic excellence, strong undergraduate liberal arts and sciences program, and dedication to life-long learning. The university, with a total enrollment of more than 4,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, Va., a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Va., which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region’s employers.