The Virginia Military Institute has named its next superintendent.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David Furness was announced Friday as the institute’s 16th superintendent, the top leadership role at the public military college in Lexington. The announcement came just hours before VMI’s newest cadets, known as rats, matriculate on Saturday.
He succeeds (Ret.) Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins, whose contract expired at the end of June after months of controversy surrounding the school’s efforts to increase diversity.
Furness, a three-star general who currently lives in Tampa, Florida, is a 1987 alumnus of VMI. He retired from the Marine Corps in 2023 after 36 years of service.
“I have benefited immeasurably from my VMI education and the leadership experience it afforded me. I am indebted to the Institute for molding me into the man I am today, and it is an immense honor to give back and serve the VMI community as Superintendent,” Furness said in a press release sent late Friday afternoon by VMI.
Furness spent 2013 to 2017 as legislative assistant to the commandant of the Marine Corps, where he created curriculum and training programs and launched a program with George Mason University for Marine Corps officers to earn a master’s degree in public policy.
Furness received some criticism in 2019 in his role as commander of the 2nd Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, after tightening discipline and hygiene practices that some saw as micromanaging, according to reporting by Military.com.
His service also includes the title of deputy commandant for plans, policy and operations at Marine Corps headquarters at the Pentagon from 2020 to 2023.
Following his retirement from the Marine Corps, he worked as executive vice president of defense programs for J.A. Green & Company, a government relations firm based in Washington, D.C.
Furness holds master’s degrees from the Marine Corps University at Quantico and the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.
The institute’s board of visitors opted in February not to renew Wins’ contract. Some have blamed the ouster on perceived political overreach at VMI, where most board members have been appointed by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. The board of visitors has maintained that Wins’ ouster was solely due to performance issues, though it has not detailed specific qualms with Wins’ four-year tenure.
VMI’s search committee interviewed six candidates for the superintendent position, which has an annual base salary of about $350,000 and comes with a vehicle allowance and housing on post.
Three candidates were interviewed the week of Aug. 11: Furness, Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bill Rapp, and Brig. Gen. Dallas Clark. Clark, a 1999 alumnus, is deputy superintendent for finance and support and has been serving as acting superintendent since Wins’ departure.
James Inman, president of the board of visitors, said of Furness in the institute’s release: “His impeccable military record, passion for the VMI experience and proven record advancing the mission of complex organizations make him the right person to lead the Institute in this next chapter of its history.”
The board of visitors at VMI met for several hours on Friday before the announcement.
