Meet a Colleague: Matt Crance

Meet a Colleague: Matt Crance Matt Crance serves as a physician's assistant with Lindley Health.

W&L News Office
March 11, 2026

Q. How long have you worked at W&L?
I have been working at W&L for 14 years.

Q. What is the favorite aspect of your job at W&L?
I am most fulfilled when I get to play some part in the well-being and growth of the students. I feel fortunate that my job affords me those opportunities often. I am also lucky to have a tight-knit work family that I can lean on and trust.

Q. If you chose a different path, what other career would you have?
Likely physical therapy - prior to becoming aware of the physician's assistant (PA) profession, I was certain that was where I was headed. Outside of healthcare, I've always found food science to be fascinating.

Q. Where did you grow up?
I grew up on a farm in rural Botetourt County (adjacent to Rockbridge), later moving 10 minutes outside of Lexington.

Q. What three words describe you best?
Empathetic, curious and calm.

Q. Name one person from history you would like to spend a day with and why.
John Prine. His music was a constant growing up - sometimes on a stereo but usually live from my father's voice and guitar. Prine's plain-spoken story telling is unmatched and, with age and my father's passing, I hear those familiar lyrics differently. To jam some tunes and hear those stories would be sublime.

Q. Who is the most famous person you have met and where did you meet them?
Arguably not that famous but an interaction that comes to mind is meeting Bela Fleck and the Flecktones after their concert at the W&L pavilion in the mid 90s. It was one of my first "real" concerts and I was (and still am) obsessed with their music - they were so gracious with their time.

Q. What do you like to do away from work?
Spending time with my family, playing and listening to music, cooking and playing boardgames.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
My lack of shelf space for new boardgames.

Q. What is your least favorite chore at home?
Given my allergies, caring for our three cats.

Q. What is the most adventurous thing that you have ever done?
Having a third child in my 40s.

Q. What do you pretend to hate but secretly love?
My kids' taste in music. Inevitably their interest is infectious, and I'll find myself singing the tunes in my head all day long.

Q. What is your all-time favorite food or food dish?
I love all things spicy so a "make it hurt" Indian or Thai dish.

Q. Where would you choose to build your dream home?
Anywhere near family with mountain views and a wraparound porch. If said family/mountains/porch happened to be in Hawaii, my feelings would not be hurt.

Q. What is your all-time favorite book?
Either "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston or "Red Rising" by Pierce Brown.

Q. What is your all-time favorite movie?
"Interstellar" - gets me every time.

Q. What song or artist could you play on repeat?
Anything Punch Brothers or Radiohead are safe bets.

Q. Tell us something most people don't know about you.
I've played the upright bass in multiple (mostly bluegrass) bands since childhood.

Q. Anything else you'd like to share?
My wife's grandfather was the registrar at W&L years ago and so my father-in-law grew up in the "Howard House" on campus (later demolished to make way for the Hillel House).