P. Murry Pitts '80

P. Murry Pitts '80 was appointed to the Board of Visitors August 14, 2020, by Governor Ralph Northam and was reappointed to a second four-year term on July 1, 2022, by Governor Glenn Youngkin. He is currently serving as Vice Rector of the Board and is an ex-officio member of all standing committees in addition to serving on the Presidential Evaluation & Compensation Committee. He represents the Board on the Online Virginia Network Board of Directors.

Pitts is CEO of Burlington Medical and Bar-Ray Medical Products, companies that manufacture surgical radiation protection gear for nurses and surgeons and health care professionals. After the pandemic began to spread, Pitts retooled his four plants in Newport News, Littlestown, PA and the UK and began making protective gear (PPE) for doctors and nurses treating COVID-19. As the pandemic subsided the plants went back to normal manufacturing operations.

After graduating from Old Dominion University in 1980 with a degree in criminal justice, he chose to enter the business world. He worked for United States Lines, a container shipping company, for seven years before entering the paperboard carton business. In 1988, he acquired Pell Paper Box in Elizabeth City, NC, and eight years later he bought another company, merged the two and christened it Carded Graphics LLC. After selling the company in 2015 to Graphic Packaging International, he stayed with the company as VP of sales and operations for the east region for a year and then became CEO of a Swiss converting-machine manufacturer. After retiring briefly, he went to work with private equity firms, including one that co-owns Burlington Medical and BarRay Products.

Pitts resides in Charlottesville, Virginia.