Dr. Ripon La Roche II appointed to Longwood Board of Visitors

Dr. Ripon (Rip) W. La Roche II of Farmville has been appointed to the Longwood University Board of Visitors by Gov. Tim Kaine.

Dr. La Roche, an ophthalmologist with the Southside Eye Center in Farmville, will serve a four-year term. The Longwood Board of Visitors was expanded from 11 to 13 members last year, and he is the 13^th member. The appointment was announced Oct. 30 by the governor's office.

Dr. La Roche has been with the Southside Eye Center since 1982. He was president of the medical staff at Southside Community Hospital (SCH) in 1995, chief of surgery at SCH in 1986-87, and a member of the SCH Board of Directors from 2003 to 2007. He also is a former member of the boards of directors for Centra Health, the Virginia Society of Ophthalmology, and Central Virginia Health Systems. He is a member of Johns Memorial Church.

He received a B.A. in biology with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1974, and he is a 1978 graduate of the Medical University of South Carolina, where as a third-year medical student, Dr. La Roche was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society. He is a native of Camden, S.C.

Dr. La Roche's wife, Claire La Roche, is an associate professor of business law at Longwood, where she has taught since 1998. They have five children.