Longtime Manor College Professor Virginia Saunders Set to Retire

Dr. Virginia Saunders’ final day will be August 2.

In 1995, Dr. Virginia Saunders was asked to start and develop Manor College’s Dental Hygiene program. She jumped at the opportunity.

“At the time, I never dreamed I would one day have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actually build a dental hygiene program from the ground up,” Dr. Saunders said.

After 32 years at Manor College including 29 leading the Dental Hygiene program, Dr. Saunders will retire on August 2.

“At this stage of my life, I would like my day-to-day schedule to be a lot less hectic and less centered on work,” Dr. Saunders said.

Dr. Saunders began working at Manor as the Long Range Planning Chairperson in 1992. She transitioned to the Program Director of Dental Hygiene in 1995.

Her immediate task became seeking accreditation for the Dental Hygiene program. Dr. Saunders performed hundreds of hours of research constructing the perfect dental hygiene clinic. She began by interviewing her counterparts at other institutions.

“It was important to find out what they would do differently, what mistakes they made when they designed their clinics, what worked and what didn’t,” Dr. Saunders said. “That’s my nature. I didn’t want to bulldoze into something. I knew I needed to gather enough information to do things right and have them be successful.”

The program welcomed its first students for the Fall 1996 semester. Since then, the program has become one of the top Dental Hygiene programs in the Commonwealth. The program features a three-year pass rate of 97 percent on the Dental Hygiene National Board Exam and in regional board examinations.

Dr. Saunders received numerous awards since coming to Manor. She received the Teaching Excellence award in 2008, and Board of Trustees Faculty Award for Exemplary Demonstration of the Spirit and Values of Manor College and the Provost Award for Teaching Excellence in 2019.

Her greatest achievement, however, is the program’s culture and community, she said.

“I have always been a firm believer in the critical impact education can have on the trajectory of a person’s life,” Dr. Saunders said. “I am also a firm believer in oral health’s key role in a person’s general health. Those values inspired me to create an environment of trust and support for my faculty members. They inspired me to be the best example I can be as a dedicated healthcare professional and educator. They inspired me to set the bar high for our students, to prod them out of their comfort zones, and to build their confidence in what they can achieve.”

Dr. Saunders is lauded by both fellow faculty members and her students alike.

“The program’s success only happens because of Ginny’s commitment to developing a program that prepares students well for their chosen field, a program that provides strong didactic coursework with clinical experience,” Manor College Provost Dr. Joseph Gillespie said. “I believe that Ginny’s impact as an instructor is in her conscientiousness, her commitment to ensuring professionalism in students and in the emphasis Ginny places on ensuring students show they care for their patients and their patient’s needs.”

Jaime Simpson, Dean of the Allied Health Division at Manor College, added, “We honor Ginny’s dedication to Manor College and legacy of successful leadership in the Dental Hygiene program since its inception. Ginny’s vision and determination has led to a stellar program with exceptional outcomes. We are thankful for Ginny’s contributions over the past thirty years to her program, students, and overall Manor College.”

Aracely Lebron graduated from Manor College in 2024 with her Associate Degree in Dental Hygiene. She recalled Dr. Saunders’ passion and dedication to lecturing hygiene and how she’d go the “extra step” to ensure students understood the concepts.

“She saw something in each and every student that walked through the hygiene doors and guided us on our journey for pursuing this career path,” Lebron said. “Dr. Saunders motivated me to not give up. This is a competitive and challenging program and there were some days that I questioned everything. There is no doubt that Dr. Saunders has impacted every one of us who are and were part of the program.”