William & Mary’s Board of Visitors elected two members to executive leadership positions today during its annual summer retreat.
The board voted to make John Brownlee J.D. ’94, P ’22 vice rector and AnnaMaria DeSalva ’90 secretary, effective immediately.
Brownlee is a partner at the international law firm Holland & Knight LLP in Washington, D.C., and serves as chair of its National White Collar Defense and Investigations Team. DeSalva is a proven business executive who was most recently global chairman of the Burson Group, one of the world’s largest strategic communications and reputation advisory firms.
The 17-member Board of Visitors serves as the governing body of the university. In April, the board elected Ardine Williams, a former vice president for workforce development at Amazon, as its rector.
“John and AnnaMaria are respected leaders in their fields and dedicated alumni who embody William & Mary’s values of service and excellence,” said Williams. “They have been strong partners on the board, and I am honored to lead the board alongside them as we continue working on the university’s strategic goals.”
John Brownlee J.D. ’94, P ’22
Brownlee has a distinguished career in public service, serving more than 10 years in the U.S. Department of Justice as both the United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia and assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.
He is well-known for leading the team that secured the first conviction of Purdue Pharma for its role in the opioid epidemic in the United States. During his tenure at the Justice Department, he led several other high-profile investigations and prosecutions, including the first conviction of a major defense contractor for violating the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. He also helped develop a new legal theory by using the Violence Against Women Act in a successful double-murder prosecution.
Brownlee received his Juris Doctor degree from William & Mary Law School and has remained close with his alma mater. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army as an infantry officer and later in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He is a graduate of the Army’s Airborne and Ranger programs. After law school, he served as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judge Sam Wilson in Roanoke, Virginia.
Brownlee’s daughter, Thompson Brownlee Sevila, graduated from the university in 2022 and is presently a fourth year medical student in Washington, D.C.
Appointed to the Board of Visitors in 2024, Brownlee served as secretary to the board and is vice chair of the Executive Committee, chair of the Committee on Administration, Buildings, and Grounds and a member of the Committee on Institutional Advancement.
AnnaMaria DeSalva ’90
DeSalva is an experienced chairman, CEO and public company board leader whose career has centered on helping complex institutions navigate transformation under significant scrutiny. She most recently served as global chairman of Burson, one of the world’s largest strategic communications and reputation advisory firms, formed through the 2024 merger of Hill & Knowlton and BCW. Previously, she served as global chairman and chief executive officer of Hill & Knowlton, leading the firm through a multi-year strategic repositioning and growth resurgence.
DeSalva also served as vice chairman of the board of XPO Logistics, then a Fortune 200 transportation and logistics company, and as an inaugural director of RXO following its spin-off from XPO. At both public companies, she chaired the Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committees during a period of outsized value creation and structural change.
DeSalva’s governance and advisory experience includes service with public institutions serving the national interest. She served for seven years on the Board of Governors of Argonne National Laboratory, one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s premier national laboratories focused on advanced science and technology with relevance to U.S. economic competitiveness and national security. She also served as a special government employee and advisor to the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on public health and risk communication.
Earlier in her career, DeSalva held senior enterprise leadership roles at DuPont and Pfizer, working closely with CEOs and boards through strategic reinvention. At DuPont, she served as global chief communications officer and senior advisor to the chairman and CEO through the Dow-DuPont megamerger and subsequent separation into three public companies. At Pfizer, she led corporate affairs for the company’s global biopharmaceutical innovation enterprise during a period of restructuring and R&D transformation that renewed focus on biomedical innovation, long-term growth and stakeholder confidence.
DeSalva earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with honors from William & Mary and has remained an engaged alumna, often serving as a mentor, speaker or panelist for student and alumni programs. She has been a member of the Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, executive-in-residence at the Raymond A. Mason School of Business and a member of the Business School Foundation Board. She was also involved with the university’s For the Bold campaign and established the Mary E. DeSalva Scholarship Endowment.
DeSalva was appointed to the Board of Visitors in December 2022 to fill a vacancy and reappointed in 2023. She is currently a member of the Executive Committee, chair of the Committee on Academic Affairs and vice chair of the Committee on Institutional Advancement.
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