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Bryce Pendleton Named VP of Brand & Technology

Bryce Pendleton
Bryce Pendleton

Buena Vista, Va. — President Bonnie H. Cordon has named Interim Director of Information Technology Services Bryce Pendleton the vice president of brand and technology at Southern Virginia University. In this role, Pendleton will work in collaboration with various offices of the university to address technology needs and maintain stewardship for all university branding.

“Bryce is fantastic,” said President Cordon. “He has repeatedly been a key problem solver and force multiplier across campus, and has delivered on everything he’s been asked to do. We see an opportunity to innovate and improve in our digital spaces, so we’re asking Bryce to step up and lead our efforts in branding and technology. There are exciting things ahead!”

Pendleton has served as the interim director of IT since December 2023 while also overseeing the university’s brand and digital experience since 2016. As interim IT director, he successfully led multiple major technology initiatives, including launching a new university website, svu.edu, new comprehensive university calendar, svu.edu/calendar, and new academic catalog and curriculum management platform, catalog.svu.edu. He also recently directed a successful implementation of an industry-leading integration platform enabling various software systems to seamlessly interface.

“My primary interest is creating user experiences that are beautiful, intuitive, seamless, and reliable,” said Pendleton, who will also serve on the president’s leadership council in this role. “Our dedicated IT team works hard to improve student and employee experiences with technology, ensuring they have the digital tools they need and helping them know how to use those tools safely and responsibly.”

As Southern Virginia’s brand director, Pendleton assisted in the development of the university’s updated visual identity, including the new Knight logo and return to crimson, in 2017. Pendleton also assisted with successful Apple Distinguished School applications in 2019 and 2022, and currently serves on Southern Virginia’s Alumni Association Advisory Board.

“The digital tools that our students use day-in and day-out reflect and fulfill our brand promise,” said Pendleton. “We excel at providing a personalized and transformative educational experience to each student—the experiences our students have with our technology should reinforce that. I’m excited to work closely with university leaders to develop a strategy for the technology we use to further our mission and improve the student experience.”

Pendleton graduated valedictorian from Southern Virginia University in 2010 majoring in both art and politics. He was also a member of the men’s basketball team and the student association executive council. After graduation, Pendleton completed the M.Arch III master’s program in architecture at Virginia Tech where he received the 2013 Bill Brown award for a graduate student who best exemplifies the qualities of a successful graduate architecture student.

After graduate school, Pendleton worked as an architectural designer at Kirchner & Associates Architects before returning to the university in 2016 as an adjunct instructor of two- and three-dimensional design. He and his family live in Lexington, Virginia.