On February 12, 2021, Dr. Hemphill was announced as the 9th president of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

He had become president of West Virginia State University in 2012 and of Radford in 2016.

[1][2][3] Before the West Virginia position, he had been vice president for student affairs and enrollment management at Northern Illinois University, where he received several student and professional awards, and was praised for his work in the aftermath of a 2008 campus mass shooting.

He later edited a book on campus violence as well as presenting papers on leadership and crisis management in higher education.

In 1998, he earned a Ph.D. in higher education administration and policy studies at the University of Iowa.