65% of Virginia business leaders say the aging workforce is a serious issue for the economy. Source: 2008 Older Dominion Project Business Leaders' Study
About the ODP
James Rothrock, Board Member
James A. Rothrock, a native of Martinsville, Virginia, has been involved with human service advocacy and programming for more than 40 years. He is a graduate of St. Andrews Presbyterian College in Laurinburg, North Carolina, and obtained his Master’s Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University in 1978. Since 2002, he has served as the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services, an agency where he also has served as a counselor, training coordinator, and deputy commissioner. In 1965, he began his relationship with DRS when he became a client after a sledding accident which resulted in a Spinal Cord Injury. In September 2010, he was tapped by Governor Bob McDonnell as Interim Commissioner at the Virginia Department for the Aging.
Prior to his current position, Rothrock represented a wide array of human service programs at the state level and was responsible for legislation and budgetary actions which expanded the menu of services to Virginians with disabilities and Older Virginians. He has been an adjunct faculty member at VCU and continues to serve there in a variety of advisory roles.
He is a graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond and the Virginia Executive Institute and has several publications on leadership and counseling. In March, 2002, he was the recipient of the “Outstanding Achievement by an Alumnus Award” which was sponsored by the VCU School of Rehabilitation Counseling. In April of 2006, St. Andrews acknowledged him as the “Distinguished Alumnus.”
Rothrock has served on numerous community boards for private non-profit organizations in the Richmond area (Housing Opportunities Made Equal, A Grace Place, and CultureWorks). He also is a Deacon at Grace Baptist Church where he has served as the key volunteer for CARITAS since 2007.
A resident of Henrico County, Rothrock lives with his wife, Jane, a management consultant. His son and daughter-in-law, Sam and Rebecca, live in Salem along with Henry and Emilie, his grandson and granddaughter.