Dawn Hess

Dawn M. Hess, Ed.D

Director for Compliance and Ethics

Dawn Hess is the Director for Compliance and Ethics at Virginia Tech. Dawn joined the office in 2025. Reporting to the Vice President of Audit, Risk, and Compliance and Chief Risk Officer, Dawn is the principal leader for the university’s institutional compliance program.  In her role, she seeks to partner with distributed campus-wide compliance personnel to bring a systematic and proactive approach to compliance risk management.

Dawn's educational pursuits span a vast array of experiences which allow her to bring a unique experience to the position. She began her education with an Associate of Science in Chemical Technology at Tri-Cities State Technical Institute, she continued by obtaining her Bachelors of Science in Environmental Management and Technology and a Master of Science in Environmental Health and Safety Management from Rochester Institute of Technology, and she obtained her Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership from Northeastern University.  Her work experience is similarly vast with stops at Xerox Corporation, Rochester Institute of Technology, Finger Lakes Community College, and most recently the inaugural Chief Compliance Officer at Norfolk State University.  

Contact Dawn:

dhess25@vt.edu
(540) 231-2441