L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

2025 L. Douglas Wilder Symposium
Virginia's Elections: Our National Importance

Date: Thursday, September 25, 2025
Time: 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Location: Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Ave. Richmond Virginia

Join us for the 2025 L. Douglas Wilder Symposium, Virginia’s Elections: Our National Importance. This timely event will explore Virginia’s historic gubernatorial race and the commonwealth’s pivotal role in shaping national politics. The program will bring together thought leaders and scholars for an insightful discussion you won’t want to miss. Panelists will include: Governor L. Douglas Wilder, Susan T. Gooden, Robyn Diehl McDougle, Bob Holsworth and Niraj Verma.

RSVP FOR THE 2025 WILDER SYMPOSIUM

About our panelists

L. Douglas Wilder is the 66th Governor of Virginia and the nation’s first elected African American governor, serving from 1990 to 1994.  Governor Wilder graduated from Virginia Union University and Howard University School of Law, and afterward established a legal practice in Richmond. He served five terms in the Virginia Senate before taking office as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. In 2005, he became the first directly elected mayor of Richmond in decades. 

Susan T. Gooden, Ph.D., is dean of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU. She is an elected fellow of the congressionally chartered National Academy of Public Administration. Gooden is a past-president of the American Society for Public Administration and a past-president of the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration. 

Robyn Diehl McDougle, Ph.D., is associate dean of research and outreach at the Wilder School. Under Governor Wilder’s leadership, McDougle has established the VCU Wilder School Commonwealth Poll as an esteemed polling operation not only in Virginia, but nationally, including as an approved CNN Presidential Poll in 2024. The Commonwealth Poll provides current voter opinions on current election forecasts as well as both domestic and foreign policy issues across a wide spectrum of areas.

Bob Holsworth, Ph.D., is a frequently called-upon and referenced political analyst. He is the managing partner of DecideSmart and the founding director of the Wilder School. His comments on Virginia and national politics have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post and in newspapers throughout the nation. He has appeared on the major American TV networks and on the BBC. He was named one of the 100 Influentials in Virginia Politics by Campaigns and Elections magazine. 

Niraj Verma, Ph.D., is a professor of urban and regional planning and public policy. He served as director and the first dean of the Wilder School from 2010 to 2016. His contributions span more than 40 years and combine engineering, design, and technology in urban planning, institutional analysis, and public management. A winner of a Fulbright Award for Academic and Professional Excellence and supported by the Rotary, German Academic Exchange, and Humboldt Foundations, he is a globally recognized scholar and instructor, incorporating design theory approaches rooted in American pragmatism. 

About the Wilder Symposium

A signature event of the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, the Wilder Symposium is an annual forum hosted by the school’s namesake, Governor L. Douglas Wilder. The event highlights everything from local policies to state and national politics and has become a vibrant platform for activism, discovery and critical discussion in the Commonwealth.