RADFORD – The Radford University Board of Visitors has reached an informal agreement with RU President Penelope W. Kyle for her retention as university president for five additional years beginning July 1, 2008.  Board member Mrs. Nancy Agee will head the discussions with President Kyle leading to a formal agreement.

“I am honored to be asked to continue as president of Radford University for five more years. I believe this university is on the verge of becoming one of the nation’s leading public comprehensive institutions. I am excited about the opportunity to lead this great university toward a promising and successful future,” says President Kyle.

President Kyle became RU’s sixth, and first female, president when she took office on June 1, 2005. She came to RU with more than 30 years of experience in state government, the corporate and legal worlds, and higher education.

Upon assuming the presidency, President Kyle immediately focused on leading the university’s initiative to become one of the top 50 masters universities in the nation.   The Radford University strategic plan “7-17”, completed in 2007 at her direction, identifies four strategic directives -- the investment in people, programs, global and local society and the future of Radford University.

Under President Kyle’s leadership, the university also added its first doctoral program in psychology with an emphasis in rural mental health and launched an initiative to grow graduate college student enrollment by offering additional doctoral and masters level programs including a doctorate program in physical therapy and a masters program in occupational therapy. She hired the university’s first Provost and chief academic officer. The Radford University Board of Visitors, at President Kyle’s request, has increased its membership by four positions to provide an opportunity for more diversity and leadership innovation within the governing body.  She recently announced to the RU community the launch of a capital projects investment program totaling more than $211 million which will transform the Radford campus.

She graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina and did her postgraduate studies in English at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law and later earned her MBA from the College of William and Mary.