From family roots to community impact, Angie Strickland leads GTCC Health Sciences
Published on: January 23, 2026
Shaped by the legacy of strong women, Angie Strickland grew up in West Virginia where her mother and godmother blazed a trail as founders of the region’s first private physical therapy practice, setting the course for her own career in health care.
That positive influence led Strickland to a career as a physical therapist and to the family business.
She stepped away from the family business for a bit to live in the Washington, D.C., area, but remained in the health care field working as the vice president of operations for a home health care agency, focusing on the administrative side.
“I moved back to West Virginia (in 2014) after my husband, Jon, and I were married,” said Strickland.
Then one day, she received a call that changed the course of her career and would later be the catalyst that brought her to Guilford Technical Community College.
“Higher education found me,” she recalled.
“One day a recruiting firm called me and asked if I was interested in leading a physical therapy program at New River Community and Technical College. So, I went to learn more about the job and 30 days later I started,” Strickland said.
In true leadership style, Strickland went right to work at the Beaver, West Virginia college in 2018 taking her clinical and administrative experience and integrating it into the higher education side of health care.
“I got to New River Community and Technical College on September 1, and October1 we started developing a brand-new program,” she recalls. “Two years later we were taking on our first cohort. It was an intense experience.”
Strickland held the role of department chair and physical therapy assistant (PTA) program director at New River until she was promoted in 2023 to the dean of pre-professional and transfer programs.
For her last two and a half years at the college, she held a dual role as interim dean and PTA program director. It was important to Strickland to hold an interim role as dean so she could continue to build and develop the PTA program. She also started her second doctorate in education through Marshall University while working at New River.
“The day that I started in higher ed, I just knew I had found the new life force for my career. It is a joy and honor to educate students who want to work in your profession,” said Strickland. “It is a great place for your years of experience to collide with the future of the profession.”
Thanks to her experience in the field, it didn’t take long for Strickland to realize the tangible impact and the community connections that community colleges provide.
“I love community colleges because you’re able to quickly develop programs to meet community needs. It feels much more connected and reflexive to regional needs and demands. Specifically in healthcare programs, you’re working right alongside the clinical partners. You get to see what meaningful changes need to be made in your curriculum and labs so that your graduates are ready to meet those needs. Your ability to adapt in community colleges makes your curriculum and ultimately your graduates more relevant and employable,” Strickland said.
Ready to move outside of West Virgina, Strickland (and her husband) began to look for opportunities in 2025 and the GTCC dean of health sciences job popped onto her radar.
“After going through the in-person interview process at GTCC, it was very clear to me that there was a very tenacious leadership team who believed in innovation and evidence-based practices,” she said. “Most of all, the group of deans and directors showed cohesion and excitement. They all seemed so happy and proud of working at GTCC. I told my husband, ‘I think I’ll be a little heartbroken if I don’t get this because I feel like I should be here.’”
Strickland began her position as the dean of health sciences for GTCC in October 2025.
“I just feel like I’m supposed to be here,” she exclaimed. “Every piece of it has aligned perfectly and I can’t believe this is my life now. I have the privilege of getting to lead here. These program directors and faculty members have been so gracious to me. The elevation of innovation in the classroom and the talent here is second to none. I’m so impressed with how they do amazing things every day, and they make this job very easy.”
After finding the perfect job, Strickland and her husband needed the perfect home as a part of making North Carolina their forever home.
“We moved into our home Thanksgiving Day and that was special,” said Strickland. “Having our family surround us on that day was a wonderful gratitude-filled moment. My family will be moving to North Carolina (from West Virginia) soon and it is an exciting new chapter for us all. I am lucky that they believe in me and see that our future is here in North Carolina.”
Her love for educating the next generation of healthcare professionals, supporting the instructors and faculty and impacting the Triad is what motivates her as the GTCC dean of health sciences.
“I came to GTCC because when I started in community college seven years ago, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with it so hard that I’m working on a second doctorate. Being here and working with such strong programs and experienced leadership is so rewarding. The only way to get better at any of it is to work where you’re challenged, it’s more than I asked but everything I prayed for. I came here to grow.”
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