Poggendorf closes decades-long career at alma mater

When Brenda (Porter) Poggendorf ’81 speaks about the value of a Roanoke College education, she’s not reciting empty words. She’s drawing on more than 45 years of personal history — as an alumna, a parent, an educator and an admissions leader who’s helped shape the campus for generations of students. 

"You know, I’ve been called to Roanoke, so to speak, three times in my life,” she reflected. “This is family. This is home. It will always be part of my life — just in a different way now.”  

Poggendorf retired at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year after more than two decades serving the college community. She rose to lead one of Roanoke’s pivotal divisions as vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid.  

In that post, she helped guide the College from the nascent internet era into the lightning-fast, round-the-clock age of social media.  

She was a steady hand at a time when the competition to nab the attention of prospective students and break through the noise was increasingly fierce, said President Emeritus Michael Maxey, who recruited Poggendorf to replace him as vice president of enrollment after being tapped for the presidency.  

“She’s been innovative and forward-thinking and taken us to a much more sophisticated level of recruitment,” Maxey said. “She was also active in campus life to a huge degree. You could run into her at many events that she had no obligation to attend other than she just loved the students and loved the college community.” 

Poggendorf didn’t always envision herself in higher education. A San Francisco native, she returned to Silicon Valley after graduation to work as a chemical technician but found a lab setting didn’t suit her. Then she got a call from her alma mater.  

“I had been a tour guide as a student and was asked if I would come back as an admissions counselor,” she recalled. “I said, 'You’re going to pay me to tell students about this college that I love? Wow, all right.’”  

That call would set Poggendorf’s career on a new course, working directly with families and helping countless students connect with a college experience that would help them discover their path. That people factor has remained a constant of Roanoke even as other parts of the world have changed, she said.    

“A big part of why I chose Roanoke as a student was because every time I called with a question, the people were so friendly,” she said. “They got me in touch with a current student, Kim McLeod ’79, who was also from California and lived not far from me. When she was home on break, she invited me over and showed me all her pictures. She really introduced me to the College in a more personal way, and she’s still a friend today.  

“That’s the hallmark of Roanoke: its people. It’s what brought me here, and it’s what brought me back so many times.”  

Poggendorf’s career brought her back to Roanoke not once, but twice, with an initial tenure in admissions from 1982-1988 followed by a return as vice president in 2007, interspersed by serving fellow Lutheran-founded Carthage College in between.   

Her family would grow into a multi-generation Maroon household. Her sister, Kimberly (Porter) Trerice, is a 1985 alumna. Her daughter, Allie Poggendorf, earned her degree in psychology in 2019. 

“Roanoke served them well. It served me well,” Poggendorf said. “It will always be a special place.”