People

Executive Director

E-Mail: larry.terry@virginia.edu

Larry Terry came to the Cooper Center in 2018 from Texas, where he worked to improve the lives of citizens in the Dallas region and beyond, including launching the Community Leadership Academy. 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.

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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 Demographics Research Group. Her prior experience includes policy and special initiative development in state government. Her research focuses on human intellectual and ethical development, gerontology, and racial/gender equity.

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Associate Director

E-Mail: mwp2q@virginia.edu

Phone: 434-982-5549

Hired in 2015, Michael is the Associate Director of the Weldon Cooper Center.  He holds a BA and MBA from the University of Delaware and is Virginia-licensed CPA.  Focusing on ensuring the Cooper Center is financially solvent, Michael also seeks to facilitate the Operations of the entire Center and streamlining the administration of the organization. 

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IT Specialist

E-Mail: felix@virginia.edu

Phone: 434-982-5937

Allen Saunders is an IT Specialist at the Weldon Cooper Center. He is a graduate of the U.Va.College of Arts and Sciences. Before joining the Cooper Center staff, he served as the Director of Minority Programs for the School of Engineering.

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Communications Director

E-Mail: bob.gibson@virginia.edu

Phone: 434-924-7812

Bob Gibson is the communications director and senior researcher at the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. From 2008 to 2016, he was executive director of the Center's Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership. Before coming to UVA in the spring of 2008, he was a political writer, columnist and editor at the Charlottesville Daily Progress for more than 30 years.

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Business Manager

E-Mail: pbc@virginia.edu

Phone: 434-982-5714

Paula Campbell is the Business Manager for the Weldon Cooper Center. She has been working at UVA for 39 years. She loves baseball and spending her time at the beach.

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Director of Development

E-Mail: ji5r@virginia.edu

Phone: 434-924-1310

Prior to joining the Cooper Center, JC worked in the College Foundation for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences here at the University of Virginia as a Director of Development. Traveling to various regions of the country, he was able to build relationships and raise meaningful dollars through his engagements with alumni, parents and friends of the Arts & Sciences.

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Program Director, Southern Virginia/GO Virginia Region 3

E-Mail: rbd7g@virginia.edu

Bryan David serves as a Program Director for the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service to advance economic development in Southern Virginia. His work is through a partnership between the Cooper Center and the Growth and Opportunity Region 3 Council.