Senior Advisor
Dr. Robert G. Templin Jr.
Bob Templin was the president of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) from 2002-2015. NOVA is Virginia's and the Washington metro region's largest institution of higher education, with more than 78,000 students expected to be enrolled in 2012-2013. The college offers more than 150 different associate degree and certificate programs from biotechnology and engineering to geospatial systems and cybersecurity. Under Dr. Templin's leadership the college increased its enrollment by 18,000 students and last year NOVA awarded more associate degrees than any other two-year college in the nation, including the most degrees in information technology and in business and management.Templin also helped to lead an effort with a number of the region's technology companies to increase the supply of front-line workers in scientific and technology (STEM) fields by working with school students and adults from low-income, minority and immigrant families. In 2010, a "proof of concept" program called SySTEMic Solutions was begun in Manassas, Manassas Park and Prince William County with NOVA working with three school systems and employers including Micron Technology, Aerojet Corporation, BAE Systems, Computer Sciences Corporation, Insystech, Lockheed Martin and PTC Inc. SySTEMic Solutions serves more than 1,000 students with plans to scale the initiative to 3,000 students across Northern Virginia over the next three years.
Prior to NOVA, Templin served as a senior fellow at the Morino Institute, helping the development and launch of Venture Philanthropy Partners, a $35 million philanthropic fund targeting youth-serving organizations in low-income communities in the Washington metro area. Between 1994 and 1999, Templin served as the president of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), an organization that enhances Virginia's economic competitiveness through technology-based economic development. During Templin's tenure, CIT was credited with helping to create or retain more than 12,000 high-tech jobs, attracting or creating more than 225 technology-based companies, and increasing company sales or new capital investment by more than $500 million.
Over the past 25 years, Templin's work in workforce training, education, economic development and immigration policy has been featured in such media as National Public Radio, USA Today, PBS National News Hour and Fortune magazine. He was instrumental in the creation of the "Blueprint for Technology-Based Economic Growth in Virginia," a strategic plan that outlines the steps that Virginia should take to guide the state's emergence as a leading technology state. He has been named Virginia Business Newsmaker of the Year by Virginia Business magazine and one of the 100 Tech Titans of the Washington region by Washingtonian magazine. Templin has been honored by receiving the Earle C. Williams Leadership in Technology Award from NVTC, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Virginia Government by Virginia Commonwealth University, the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region's Civic Spirit Award for outstanding leadership in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, and the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce's James M. Rees Award for contributions to the economy and quality of life in Northern Virginia. In 2011 he was named Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine and Top Innovator of 2012 by NOVAEXEC magazine.
