W&M receives $30M anonymous donation
An anonymous William & Mary alumna has donated $30 million to renovate and rename a building in honor of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who is currently the university‘s chancellor. Robert M. Gates Hall will house three academic centers — the Global Research Institute, the Institute for Integrative Conservation and the Whole […]
New options, new audiences
As more students and their families question which colleges present the best return on their big investments, many are choosing to play it safe. That often means starting at community college or public universities while living at home, with others postponing post-secondary education or considering other options. The impact of college loan debt and soaring […]
Health Care: A new horizon
Virginians could look back at 2024 a few years from now and see a turning point for health care in the commonwealth — the dawn of a “Virginia Research Triangle” in biotechnology, pharmaceutical manufacturing and medical research. In December 2023, the University of Virginia broke ground on the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute […]
ODU promotes engineering dean to VP of research
Kenneth J. Fridley has been promoted to vice president for research, Old Dominion University announced Monday. He has been in the position on an interim basis since August 2023 while also serving as dean of ODU’s Batten College of Engineering and Technology. Fridley, who began his new role Wednesday, will continue as interim dean until […]
3 Va. universities make top 100 in national R&D rankings
The University of Virginia, Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth University landed in the top 100 in the National Science Foundation’s fiscal 2022 rankings by expenditures on research and development. NSF determines the rankings with data from its annual Higher Education Research and Development Survey, which surveys U.S. colleges and universities that expended at least $150,000 […[...]
Jefferson Lab to lead $300M data hub
The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility will lead a $300 million to $500 million data science computing hub that will make scientific data more accessible to sciences nationwide, the U.S. Department of Energy announced Monday. Known as the High Performance Data Facility hub (HPDF), the project will be based at the Newport News-based lab in […]
Virginia Tech professor named MacArthur Fellow
Linsey Marr, a university distinguished professor and the Charles P. Lunsford Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech, on Wednesday was named one of this year’s 20 MacArthur Fellows. A prestigious award known as the “genius grant,” the fellowship is awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in recognition […]
A ‘North Star’ for others
It’s been a few months since Virginia Commonwealth University‘s Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center was added to an elite, national list of comprehensive cancer centers, but the excitement around the June announcement continues. “It definitely is a huge deal,” says the center’s director, Dr. Robert A. Winn. “This is something we’ve chased for the better part […]
Teamwork makes dreams work
Talk with researchers a few minutes, and they’ll explain how many stages it takes for an idea to become a medical treatment, and for the treatment method to be tested, approved and brought to market. In many cases, it can take several years. Founded in June 2020, the Hampton Roads Biomedical Research Consortium is a […]
VCU sets sponsored research funding record
Virginia Commonwealth University set a record for its sponsored research funding — $464.6 million — in fiscal 2023, the Richmond public research university announced Friday. The total is a 14% increase since last year and a 71% increase over five years ago. “I’m proud that research is one of the fastest areas of growth and […]
Virginia Tech research institute receives $50M gift
A foundation established by the estate of Richmond philanthropist Bill Goodwin‘s late son, Hunter, has made a $50 million commitment to support cancer and neuroscience research at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, Virginia Tech announced Tuesday. The gift is one of three record $50 million donations Virginia Tech has received, including the 2018 […]
Nanotech company to invest $2.9M in C-ville expansion
Laser Thermal, a nanotechnology company spun out of the University of Virginia, will spend $2.9 million and add 28 jobs at its manufacturing, research and development facility in Charlottesville, Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday. The company provides testing services to companies wanting to understand thermal properties at the device level, such as semiconductor companies seeking […]