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A step up the ladder
Internships often help college students learn what they want to do as a profession by expanding their horizons, providing on-the-job experience or helping them change paths to follow a new passion. For instance, an internship helped Virginia Commonwealth University student Oscar Kemp discover that his interest in domestic social work applied just as well to […]
Genworth president gives $1.5M to W&M
William & Mary has established a new postdoctoral fellowship in its Global Research Institute, funded by a $1.5 million gift from Genworth Financial Inc. President and CEO Tom McInerney, the college announced Wednesday. The fellowship will advance the GRI’s international study and research collaborations. A multidisciplinary hub, the institute has facilitated applied research projects in[...]
JMU fundraising campaign brings in $251M
James Madison University‘s second comprehensive fundraising campaign, Unleashed, raised more than $251 million, the Harrisonburg university announced Friday. The eight-year fundraising campaign, which exceeded its $200 million goal in March 2021, ended June 30. It began with an advanced gift phase in July 2014 before JMU announced it publicly in October 2018. Unleashed attracted 63,976 [&hel[...]
Bowman gives $5M to Va. Tech for land development program
Reston-based Bowman Consulting Group Ltd. founder and CEO Gary Bowman committed $5 million to Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering for the expansion of sustainable land development learning initiatives, the university announced Monday. “The Bowman gift solidifies Virginia Tech as the premier undergraduate and graduate programs in the field of sustainable land development,” Mark Widdows[...]
Upward mobility
Last year, when Old Dominion University was searching for its new president, the executive search firm contracted by the university also provided a bit of business intelligence about how the university of 24,000 students in Norfolk was viewed nationally. “Old Dominion University was seen as a university on the rise,” says ODU’s rector, Bruce Bradley, […]
A stitch in time
At the end of 2020, Eastern Virginia Medical School firmly rejected a study recommending that the medical school merge to become part of Old Dominion University. But time passes, minds change, and sometimes there’s turnover at the top. In August 2021, Dr. Richard Homan, who’d led EVMS for nearly a decade, retired. By December, Dr. […]
Launching pad
When COVID-19 hit in spring 2020, Cindy R. Earl lost her job as a furniture company’s sales rep. But the Portsmouth resident’s sudden unemployment came with a positive side effect: She had time to assume care of her ailing grandmother after the pandemic had shuttered the assisted living facility where her grandmother had lived. It […]
A stitch in time: ODU, EVMS eye potential merger
At the end of 2020, Eastern Virginia Medical School firmly rejected a study recommending that the medical school merge to become part of Old Dominion University. But time passes, minds change, and sometimes there’s turnover at the top. In August 2021, Dr. Richard Homan, who’d led EVMS for nearly a decade, retired. By December, Dr. […]
Virginia Tech appoints COO from W&M
Virginia Tech announced Wednesday it has named Amy Stoakley Sebring, currently chief operating officer at William & Mary, as its executive vice president and COO, effective Nov. 1. “I am very pleased to welcome Amy to the university community and our leadership team,” Virginia Tech President Tim Sands said in a statement. “She brings a […]
Virginia Tech promotes VP of comms, marketing
Virginia Tech announced Tuesday it has promoted Tracy Vosburgh to be its inaugural vice president of communications and marketing. The university is also renaming its University Relations department to Communications and Marketing. Vosburgh has served as Virginia Tech’s top communications administrator since 2015, when she joined the university as senior associate vice president for universi[...]
‘The Wild West’
From an outsider’s perspective, it may appear as if technology is improving and changing almost daily — especially sparked by pandemic-driven remote work. But according to a 2021 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, more than 80% of technologies improve in performance at a rate of less than 25% per year. Virginia Tech, however, […]
Accelerating the solar workforce
When local school systems decided to add solar arrays to their buildings, regional environmental nonprofit Appalachian Voices and other members of the Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia counted it as a victory in their six-year efforts to develop a renewable energy cluster in Virginia’s coalfield counties. In January, Southwest Virginia Community College and Mountain Empire […]
