Entering graduate school at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University he was awarded an MA in education in 1979.
The university also continued an ambitious residential hall construction project under Atwater's leadership.
"[2] Atwater resigned as president of IUP on June 30, 2010, to serve as a Senior Fellow at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
[3] Since his departure as president, Atwater has continued to be the subject of news reports probing his spending practices at IUP.
[2] Atwater was announced as Norfolk State's new president on April 22, 2011, by the NSU Board of Visitors.