Virginia Bender

Virginia “Ginny” Forrester Bender, Ph.D. ’78

Assistant to the President for Special Projects
Secretary to the Board of Trustees
vbender@saintpeters.edu
(201) 761-6024

Virginia Bender serves as assistant to the president for special projects and secretary to the Board of Trustees. She has spent most of her higher education career at Saint Peter’s University, including 25 years in academic administration and enrollment management positions, followed by 18 years in the president’s office.  Virginia spearheads the University’s federal grants initiative and is the accreditation liaison officer and a frequent peer reviewer for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).

She has been active in higher education associations, presenting at Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, MSCHE and the Society for College and University Planning conferences, and has also served as a trustee at Saint Peter’s Preparatory School. In 2019 Virginia received the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award for the U.S.-France International Education Administrators Program.  Virginia earned her undergraduate degree in French from Saint Peter’s, master’s in education from Rutgers University and Ph.D. in educational leadership from Fordham University.