Putting Virginia Tech to work for Hampton Roads

Diane Deffenbaugh

20 May 2026

Mallory Tuttle standing on stairs at the Virginia Tech Newport News Center — As associate director of the Virginia Tech Newport News Center, Mallory Tuttle M.S. ’14 works across the region, matching university expertise with the people and communities of Hampton Roads. Photo by Craig Newcomb for Virginia Tech.

Mallory Tuttle M.S. ’14 calls herself a “dot connector.” Spend a few minutes talking with her, or follow her through a typical week, and it’s easy to see why.

As associate director of Virginia Tech’s Newport News Center, Tuttle works across a region shaped by defense and aerospace, coastal industry, and energy innovation. Her job is to match the university’s expertise with the people doing that work — and to make sure those connections last.

Virginia Business magazine recently took notice, naming her to its 2026 Forty Under 40 list, along with four other Hokies. The statewide list honors rising professionals for their career achievements, community service, and commitment to inspiring change.

“Mallory has a remarkable ability to understand what people and communities need, then connect them with the right partners, ideas, and opportunities,” said Susan Johnstad, director of Virginia Tech’s Richmond and Newport News centers. “She leads with relationships — and that's why she represents Virginia Tech so well in Hampton Roads.”

That connective work is becoming even more important as Virginia Tech deepens its presence in the region through major initiatives such as the Secure Energy Future Center and its new role with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Tuttle and the Newport News Center help translate those large-scale investments into working partnerships and lasting relationships.

“The real impact happens when we can connect those big initiatives to individuals — whether that’s a student exploring a career path, a professional building new skills, or a community partner solving a local challenge,” Tuttle said.

Tuttle came to this work by an unconventional route. She studied parks and recreation at Ferrum College, then earned a master’s degree in hospitality and tourism management from the Pamplin College of Business. She went on to work at Old Dominion University, managing entrepreneurship programming and teaching business courses, before joining Virginia Tech.

Her hospitality background, she said, still shapes how she works.

“I often describe my approach as taking a concierge mindset,” Tuttle said. “It means being attentive, listening carefully, and thinking about how to create value for everyone involved. At its core, community engagement is about building relationships and making sure people have positive, productive experiences working together.”

Connecting people, place, and opportunity

The Newport News Center, part of Outreach and International Affairs, is one of Virginia Tech’s four Commonwealth Campus Centers. It offers professional development, continuing education, and customized training across the region. Located in Tech Center Research Park — a 100-acre innovation district in Newport News modeled in part after the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg — the center sits in the kind of collaborative environment Tuttle helps cultivate across Hampton Roads.

In a given week, she might help a county strengthen leadership among its employees, introduce high schoolers to careers in coastal industries, or give working professionals new tools for decision-making.

One long-running example is the Emerging Leaders Academy, developed in partnership with James City County nearly a decade ago. The program helps county employees build skills that often lead to expanded responsibilities, and sometimes to longer arcs. A former academy participant recently joined the Newport News Center’s advisory council — a reminder, Tuttle said, of what can happen when you stay committed to people over time.

“Investing in people and leadership development can come full circle in ways that strengthen both our partnerships and our communities,” she said.

Another program, the Introduction to Data Analytics certificate, offered annually in partnership with Pamplin faculty, has become a favorite among working professionals looking for tools they can put to use right away.

A student, a career, a region’s future

The Promoting Careers in Aquaculture initiative connects K-12 students and educators with professionals in the field, helping young people see opportunity in the coastal economy around them.

For one participant, Will Townsend, that opportunity came into sharper focus. He grew up around the seafood business, but the program helped him see a path into it. He connected with industry professionals, enrolled at Virginia Tech to study agricultural technology, and now plans to return to coastal Virginia to build a career.

“Moments like that reinforce that our work isn’t just about programs or partnerships,” Tuttle said. “It’s about people and the futures they’re building.”

Beyond the center’s walls

Tuttle’s instinct to connect and improve doesn’t stop at the Newport News Center’s door.

When she joined Virginia Tech in 2019, pregnant with her first child, she had questions about navigating parenthood as a new employee. Rather than keep them to herself, she joined the university’s Early Childhood Education Initiatives Advisory Working Group to help improve the experience for others. She developed a parental leave protocol to help teams keep projects moving while a colleague is away. And she proposed confidential office hours where Virginia Tech employees could get one-on-one support around the realities of working parenthood.

Tuttle also serves on the Portsmouth Museums Foundation, supporting an institution she values both as a community resource and as a place her daughters love to explore. That commitment to community service earned her the Pamplin College of Business Ut Prosim Alumni Award in 2019 — and it extends well beyond Hampton Roads.

Through the 2025 Lead Virginia program, Tuttle traveled across the commonwealth, meeting leaders from different sectors and seeing firsthand how challenges and opportunities can look very different from one region to the next. She came home with a broader network and a sharper sense of how Hampton Roads fits into Virginia Tech's land-grant mission.

“Every day takes me on a new adventure,” Tuttle said. “I don’t think a job can be any more fulfilling than that.”

Tuttle is one of five alumni recognized on this year’s Virginia Business Forty Under 40 list: