In the three years that Dr. Nicole Munday has served as Laurel Ridge Community College’s dean of humanities and social sciences she has earned the respect and admiration of her faculty, leading her to be honored with the 2026 Distinguished Administrator Award.
The honor took Dr. Munday by surprise, leaving her “thankful and honored.”
“This college is very special,” she said. “People just have a real heart for the mission and it’s a super-friendly place to work. The students are just a joy to work with, they’re very open. It’s a really nice atmosphere.”
Multiple nominations were submitted on Dr. Munday’s behalf. One of them says that Dr. Munday is the most “people-focused, positive and supportive” administrator she has worked for in her 20 years of college-level teaching.
“She has been tireless in her support of me, a new faculty member, and of our entire department and division,” the nomination states. “She’s the kind of administrator you want to work harder for because you know that she’s going to be there to support you.”
Another nomination notes Dr. Munday’s “collaborative and student-centered” approach to leadership.
“She works seamlessly with student services to ensure that every decision prioritizes student success,” it says. “While she is firm when circumstances require, her approach is always grounded in empathy and understanding.”
A third nomination calls Dr. Munday “the real deal.”
Nicole Munday (left) and Lori Killough (right) at an award ceremony.
“Her positive outlook provides leadership that inspires everyone she works with at the college,” it says. “Dr. Munday believes in the abilities of all people and fosters an environment that celebrates everyone’s gifts, talents and potential. Always open to listening and considering various perspectives, Dr. Munday advocates tirelessly for faculty, uplifts anyone she comes into contact with, and honors student concerns and circumstances. At the same time, she does not shy away from challenging issues.”
Prior to coming to Laurel Ridge, Dr. Munday served as an interim associate dean of language arts and social sciences at Northern Virginia Community College, and before that as the associate director of assessment at Germanna Community College.
“My division, humanities, is just very good at what they do and have the right heart for helping students,” Dr. Munday said. “As soon as I came here three years ago, it was a very open and welcoming environment, very flexible, which means we can do a lot of exciting things for students, leverage new initiatives and think strategically about how to grow programs. It’s all so much easier when people collaborate well with one another.”
After growing up on Long Island in New York, Dr. Munday attended William & Mary, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in English. She then worked as a journalist, including at Washingtonian magazine and at newspapers in Maryland and Tennessee.
Because Dr. Munday loved writing, she thought she would probably enjoy teaching others the craft, so she decided to return to college, earning a master’s degree in English from Salisbury University, where she worked as a teaching assistant. She then attained a Ph.D. in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
During this time, Dr. Munday discovered the field of writing center studies, overseeing a center at Salisbury and becoming president of the Mid-Atlantic Writing Centers Association and serving on the board of the International Writing Centers Association.
Nicole Munday (left), Kim Blosser (right), a student (middle) stand together during an awards ceremony.
At Laurel Ridge, she has found much to be enthusiastic about.
“I’m really excited about the Future Educators Academy,” Dr. Munday said of the lab school housed at Laurel Ridge that allows high schoolers to earn their associate degree in education before transferring to a four-year university to finish their teaching degree.
She said work is being done to allow the FEA, which is also at Germanna, to serve as a sustainable model at other community colleges in the state.
“I’m also excited about the new faculty who we have hired in recent years – really talented people – mentoring them and helping them to build their careers and a strong foundation here at Laurel Ridge,” said Dr. Munday. “We have a lot of really talented new faculty and dedicated senior faculty, as well.”
Along with the Education, Early Childhood Development, Visual Arts and Human Services programs at Laurel Ridge, opportunities in the humanities continue to grow, she said. Dr. Munday said many faculty members have also been building more community partnerships.
“My approach to administration is all about effective collaboration and supporting the people who work with me so they can do their best work,” she said. “That’s my philosophy, and I have found that to be really rewarding.”