Mayor Bobby Dyer was sworn in on November 20, 2018, and is the first Veteran to be directly elected as mayor in Virginia Beach history. Before being sworn in as Mayor, Dyer represented the Centerville District for 14 years. He currently works as a physical therapist. His prior positions include health care executive, business consultant and assistant professor in the School of Government at Regent University. Dyer served in the United States Marine Corps from 1968 to 1972. In 1976, he earned a bachelor's degree in physical therapy from Saint Louis University and in 1982, a master's in public administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He earned his Ph.D. in organizational leadership from Regent University in 2001. He currently serves as the City Council liaison to the Bikeways and Trails Advisory Committee, the Clean Community Commission, the Community Services Board, the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, the Hampton Roads Transportation Accountability Commission, the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, the Human Rights Commission, the Open Space Advisory Committee, and the Process Improvement Steering Committee, which he initiated. Bobby and his wife, Trish, live in the Lake Christopher section of the Centerville District and have two children and four grandchildren.