March 28, 2024

Richardson to Return as Dean of COB, Messplay to Assume Role as VP for Administration and Finance and CFO

As of January 1, Dr. Lynne Richardson will be returning to her role as Dean of the College of Business. Richardson has served as Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer over the last year. Her first love, however, is the College of Business, which she has worked to build since her arrival seven years ago, setting the stage for the recent successful site visit by the AACSB accreditation team.

With Dr. Richardson’s return to her academic role, on January 1, Mr. Paul Messplay, our current Director of Budget, will step into the role of Vice President for Administration and Finance and Chief Financial Officer.

He has worked at UMW in budgeting for 11 years, and came to us after serving in positions at VCU, Tennessee’s Higher Education Commission, and Virginia’s Department of Planning and Budget, and he is well-known and respected in the Commonwealth and on our campus. Mr. Messplay has a Master of Public Administration (Financial Management) from VCU.

He has been deeply involved in institutional conversations about our financial position, in state conversations about funding for higher education, and in Board of Visitors conversations about our revenue opportunities and cost drivers.