• Seasoned educator

• Immigrant

• Leader for ethics in politics

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Ghazala Hashmi, Ph.D., is an experienced educator and advocate who has spent over 25 years working within Virginia’s college and university system. She currently serves as the Founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) at Reynolds Community College.

 

Ghazala immigrated to the U.S. from India 50 years ago. As an immigrant living in a small town in the South, she saw first-hand how community building and fostering important dialogue can bridge the cultural and socioeconomic divisions that we face. She later earned her Ph.D. in English from Emory University, and she and her husband moved to the Richmond area in 1991. Ghazala would be the first Muslim-American woman to serve in the Virginia State Senate.