UVA Center for Politics

Center for Politics
2400 Old Ivy Road
P.O. Box 400806
Charlottesville, VA 22904
Tel: 434.243.8468
Fax: 434.243.8467

Home > Programs > Gov. Project > Dalton '00 > Panelists

Keynote Speaker

John Chichester

The Honorable John H. Chichester was elected to the Senate of Virginia in 1978 and has just completed his twenty-second session with the Legislature. In the Senate, he is the senior member of the Republican Party and serves as the President pro tempore. Senator Chichester is also Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which deals with all appropriations and taxation for the Commonwealth. He is also a member of the Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, the Commerce and Labor Committee, the Education and Health Committee, and the Rules Committee.

Senator Chichester serves as a member of the Executive Committee for both the Southern Legislative Conference and the Council of State Governments. He is the Vice President of the Council of State Governments and is Past Chairman (1994-1995) of the Southern Legislative Conference. He is also on the Executive Committee of the Southern Regional Education Board.

Additionally, Senator Chichester served as Chairman of the Commission for the Future of Higher Education in Virginia. This Commission began in the spring of 1994 and completed its work in early 1996. Currently, he is the Co-Chairman of the Joint Subcommittee on Higher Education Funding Policies.

Senator Chichester was born in Stafford County, where he still resides with his wife, Karen, and he attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute.