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Center Leadership
Larry D. Terry II
Executive Director
E-Mail: larry.terry@virginia.edu
Larry Terry comes to the Cooper Center in 2018 from Texas, where he worked to improve the lives of citizens in the Dallas region and beyond, creating practical partnerships with elected officials, public servants and community leaders to address poverty and other community issues, including launching the Community Leadership Academy, the nation’s first peer-based citizen police officer leadership training program. His passion is research-based, outcome-driven programs and services that advance the priorities of the University of Virginia in serving the Commonwealth, forming lasting partnerships with citizens, and building vibrant, connected communities. Terry’s research, publications, teaching, and educational achievements focus on leading and managing public organizations, housing reform, and community engagement and public trust. Prior to his position at UNT Dallas, Terry served as an assistant professor of Public Administration at both Long Island University-Brooklyn and Arizona State University.
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.