Richard Linton is leaving Kansas State University for Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors has scheduled a meeting Wednesday, Oct. 14 at noon Central Standard Time to appoint the university's 17th president. The Kansas Board of Regents also called a special meeting for tomorrow at 12:15 p.m.
Richard Linton and Virginia Tech
Linton has served as K-State's 15th president since 2022. He earned a bachelor's degree in biology, a master's degree in food science and a Ph.D. in food science from Virginia Tech, giving the move a direct link back to the university in Blacksburg, Va.
That connection reaches beyond his own academic path. Before K-State, Linton was dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University, department chair of food science and technology at The Ohio State University, and a faculty member in the Department of Food Science at Purdue University.
Next-Gen K-State
At K-State, Linton has guided the creation and implementation of Next-Gen K-State, a strategic plan set through 2030 and beyond. His departure leaves that work tied to a leader who is now moving to a different university before that horizon arrives.
The timing puts both governing bodies on a short clock. Virginia Tech is moving toward naming its next president, while the Kansas Board of Regents has set its special meeting for tomorrow at 12:15 p.m. to deal with the change at Kansas State University.
Board meetings ahead
The sequence matters for both schools: one board meets to appoint a president, and the other meets to address the departure of its own president. For K-State, the immediate question is who carries the university forward after a leader who was linked to a plan extending through 2030 and beyond moves on to Virginia Tech.
The move leaves Linton with a familiar destination and two campuses facing formal decisions within a day of each other. Virginia Tech has set the appointment meeting for Wednesday, Oct. 14 at noon Central Standard Time, and Kansas State University now faces the transition that follows his exit from Manhattan.
