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Building an ecosystem
Even though William & Mary is best known as a liberal arts “public Ivy,” it’s also a research university where professors are quietly producing innovative technology — and are less quietly trying to create an entrepreneurial network to support it. Local capital isn’t as available in the Williamsburg area as it is around larger state […]
U.Va. commerce alum donates $10M for scholarships
A University of Virginia alumnus, John Connaughton, and his wife, Stephanie, have donated $10 million to fund need-based undergraduate scholarships for McIntire School of Commerce students, the university announced Thursday. U.Va. will match the couple’s gift, which establishes the Connaughton Bicentennial Scholars Fund. Portions of the Connaughtons’ gift will go toward the launch of &[...]
UR alumni couple donates $25M for student learning center
Carole and Marcus Weinstein, alumni of the University of Richmond, have donated $25 million — the second-largest single gift in the Richmond university’s history — to support a center focused on student learning, UR announced Wednesday. The Carole and Marcus Weinstein Learning Center will be located in the Boatwright Memorial Library. The gift will enable […]
Civilian life
Paul Valentine is on a winding career path. After leaving the Army more than a decade ago, he got his commercial driver’s license at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave. He was taking classes to try to get an engineering degree as well but quit to take full-time work at trucking companies after his […]
The big freeze
Given pandemic-caused interruptions, college students have been through a lot so far this decade, but one silver lining at many Virginia schools has been frozen tuition. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin made it a priority to keep costs flat this academic year, and he succeeded in getting all 15 of the state’s public colleges and universities […]
Angela and Carl Reddix donate $1.1M to JMU
James Madison University alumni Angela and Carl Reddix have made a $1.1 million commitment to their alma mater to support first-generation college students, JMU announced Friday. Founder, president and CEO of Norfolk-based ARDX, a health care management and IT consulting firm, Angela Reddix studied marketing at JMU and graduated in 1990. Her husband, Carl, studied […]
Va. Tech names College of Architecture, Arts and Design dean
Virginia Tech has named a new dean to lead its College of Architecture, Arts, and Design (AAD) following an international search. Tsai Lu Liu will start July 1. He has led the Department of Graphic Design and Industrial Design at North Carolina State University, in Raleigh, since 2012 and has a background in industry and […]
Emory & Henry receives $2M gift for equestrian expansion
Emory & Henry College will use a $2 million donation from The Bill Gatton Foundation to help construct a new equestrian center and boost its equine studies program. The private college, based in Emory, announced the donation Monday. The Bristol, Tennessee, foundation’s lead gift for the project was to Emory & Henry’s Collective Connections Campaign, […]
CNU chooses next president, Coast Guard Academy chief
U.S. Coast Guard Academy Superintendent Rear Adm. William G. Kelly will become Christopher Newport University‘s sixth president on July 1, the Newport News-based public liberal arts school announced Thursday. CNU Chief of Staff Adelia P. Thompson has been serving as interim president since former President Paul S. Trible Jr.’s retirement at the end of the […]
Head of the class
Donald Alexander Jr. considered multiple schools, as well as the Air Force, before he landed at Norfolk State University in 2019. The Chesapeake native grew up with strong ties to the university, one of Virginia’s two public historically Black colleges and universities. As an elementary schooler, Alexander went to summer camp on Norfolk State’s campus, […]
MARCIA CONSTON
Conston saw early on the value that education has for marginalized communities. She knew her goal was “to become someone to effect change in the lives of young people. And I knew that education would be the path to do that.” Conston began her career as a college administrator at her alma mater, Mississippi’s Jackson […]
Mary Washington hires admin/finance VP
The University of Mary Washington has hired Craig Erwin as vice president for administration and finance, effective Jan. 10. Erwin replaces Paul Messplay, who retires on Jan. 20. Erwin comes to UMW from Southwestern University, a private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas, where he was vice president for finance and administration and chief financial […]
