Gov. Terry McAuliffe has appointed former state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple to the Virginia Board of Health. Whipple is currently employed as the regional director for community and member outreach for the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. Whipple will fill the seat vacated by Eric Deaton, who resigned his seat on the board to take a position outside of Virginia.
Whipple represented the 31st District in the Virginia State Senate from 1996 until her retirement in 2012. She chaired the Senate Rules Committee and, as chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, was the first woman to hold a leadership position in the Virginia General Assembly. In the Senate she served on several standing committees, including the Finance committee, as well as legislative commissions including the Virginia Housing Commission. While in the Senate, she was both a member and chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Committee on the Environment. As a member of the Arlington County Board (1983–1995), she worked on transportation issues and served on the WMATA board of directors. A former instructor at Northern Virginia Community College, Whipple was appointed to the Arlington County School Board in 1976, and was chair in 1978. She is currently president of the Alliance for Housing Solutions; vice chair of the Virginia Women’s Monument Commission and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Arlington Community Foundation.