Deborah M. DiCroce a South Hampton Roads native and lifelong Virginian, has devoted her life to public service. A leader in forging partnerships for the public good, she began her “second act” in March 2012 as President and CEO of the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. 

Dr. DiCroce has over 35 years of experience in Virginia higher education, serving as President of Tidewater Community College for 14 years and previously as President of Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville for nine years. Upon her retirement as President of Tidewater Community College, the College Board bestowed upon her the honorary title of President Emerita. 

Dr. DiCroce is a past trustee of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and past chair of the Presidents Academy of the American Association of Community Colleges. She is the only community college president to have chaired the Virginia Council of Presidents and has taught at the University of Virginia, The College of William & Mary, and Old Dominion University. She is a past member of the Board of Visitors at Norfolk State University and Christopher Newport University, and a past member of the State Board for Community Colleges. In 1995, Dr. DiCroce was invited as one of 20 college and university presidents nationally to meet with the President of the United States at the White House for a discussion on higher education. She was profiled in The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2008 as one of 10 “Presidents Who Make a Real Difference.” 

Among her many community activities, Dr. DiCroce has chaired the regional boards of the Hampton Roads Chamber, the Urban League of Hampton Roads, and the Hampton Roads Partnership, as well as the regional campaign for the United Way of South Hampton Roads. She has served on state-wide commissions, boards, and committees under nine Virginia governors. Dr. DiCroce currently sits on the boards of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, RVA-757 Connects, Virginia Beach Vision, and the Greater Norfolk Corporation. A past board member of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, she co-chaired its Back to Work Virginia Task Force, the results of which launched the Virginia Promise Partnership. She is also an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Portsmouth where, in 1986, she was elected as the Club’s first woman member. 

Dr. DiCroce has been honored by both of her alma maters, Old Dominion University and The College of William & Mary, as a distinguished alumna. She regularly makes the list of regional “power brokers” and was elected to the roster of “Influential Women of Virginia.” Virginia Business Magazine named her to its “Virginia 500” power list of influential leaders. Dr. DiCroce is the recipient of the CIVIC Leadership Institute’s 2011 Darden Award for Regional Leadership and the Downtown Norfolk Council’s 2005 Downtowner of the Year. In 2012, she was named First Citizen of Chesapeake. She was inducted into Junior Achievement’s Business Hall of Fame in 2018. 

Dr. DiCroce holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from Old Dominion University and a doctorate in Higher Education from The College of William & Mary.