Catherine Cotrupi, Assistant Dean of Student Services, Inclusion, and Strategic Partnerships

Catherine Cotrupi (she/hers) serves as the Assistant Dean of Student Services, Inclusion, and Strategic Partnerships for the Graduate School at Virginia Tech.

She is passionate about community engagement, inclusion, access, and justice-based efforts and has served in professional and personal roles working to bridge the these to leverage the resources of each for the benefit of the others.

Her professional work and passions lie at the intersection of community engagement and inclusion efforts. Her previous professional roles include working for VT Engage, the Center for Service Learning, Leadership Education, and Civic Engagement; and Multicultural Programs and Services (now the Campus Community Centers) at Virginia Tech; and as Community Engagement Manager at the University of Southern Indiana. 

Catherine earned both her doctoral degree in Higher Education and her master’s degree in Sociology from Virginia Tech and she earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Clemson University. Her personal, professional, and academic interests include individuals’ actions toward actively addressing inequity and hegemony.

She is involved in the regional community in a variety of ways; she has served on the Board of the New River Conservancy since 2020, and the Board of the Community Foundation of the New River Valley since 2023. She has been on the City of Radford’s Recreation Commission since 2018, and she has been an Officer of Elections serving as a Poll Worker then Precinct Chief since 2016.

She and her wife, Tara, live in Radford with their cats Finn, Andarna, and Serifina.

You can reach Dr. Cotrupi at (540) 231-6529, or via email: cotrupi@vt.edu.