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Center Leadership
Meredith Gunter
Director of Strategy and Public Engagement
E-Mail: meredith.gunter@virginia.edu
Phone: 434-982-5585
Meredith’s current role as Director of Strategy and Public Engagement builds on her prior work as Interim Director of the Cooper Center and as outreach director for the Center’s Demographics Research Group. Prior experience includes policy and special initiative development in state government, with a particular interest in international relations, and senior leadership in several institutions of higher education. Meredith’s research, teaching, and educational achievements focus on human intellectual and ethical development, gerontology, and racial/gender equity. Meredith is a devoted locavore and dog lover.
Michael Phillips
Associate Director
E-Mail: mwp2q@virginia.edu
Phone: 434-982-5549
As Associate Director, Michael is responsible for the overall fiscal integrity of the Center including providing up-to-date financial information to all units as well as maximizing their efficiency and contributions to the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is married to his wife Jessica, a practicing attorney in Charlottesville, and they have one son, Matthew.
Executive Director
Executive Director
E-Mail: TBA
Phone: TBA
A national search is underway for a new director after John P. Thomas, who headed the Center for 20 years, left the Weldon Cooper Center to begin a new job in Richmond with consulting firm DecideSmart.