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2025 Virginia Black Business Leaders Awards: Michael Elliott
In 2022, Elliott was named VCU Health System’s first chief operating officer, and moved to Richmond from Lynchburg, where he was chief transformation officer at Centra Health. He also worked for Sentara Health and earned a doctorate in pharmacy and master’s in health administration at VCU. In 2024, he was elected chair of the Virginia […]
Biz schools prep students for private equity careers
Explosive growth in private financing markets in recent years has opened new career opportunities, and several of Virginia’s business schools are expanding curricula and extracurricular activities to help students land in-demand jobs at private equity and venture capital firms. Assets in the private market are projected to grow at more than double the rate of […]
VCU eyes purchasing Altria’s Richmond research facility
Officials with Virginia Commonwealth University are discussing with the Altria Group the possibility of buying its 450,000-square-foot research building in downtown Richmond, the two parties acknowledged separately this week. The Altria Center for Research and Technology, which opened in 2007, sits on more than four acres at 600 E. Leigh St. and is assessed for […]
Va. universities take ‘heavy hand’ with protest policies, advocate says
RICHMOND, Va. — Students, lawmakers and free-speech activists question if updated university policies that regulate student demonstrations violate First Amendment rights. After campus protests that led to some clashes with police, institutions such as Virginia Commonwealth University, James Madison University, University of Virginia and Virginia Tech adopted similar policies. The new rules b[...]
VCU names new dean of health professions college
Virginia Commonwealth University‘s College of Health Professions will have a new dean effective Aug. 15, the university announced Wednesday. Amy R. Darragh comes from Ohio State University, where she is director and vice dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Services. Darragh succeeds interim dean Paula Song, the college’s Richard M. Bracken Chair and […]
VCU launches pharmaceutical sciences undergrad degree
Graduate school isn’t a prerequisite for a career in the pharmaceutical industry. Virginia Commonwealth University‘s new Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) degree will prepare students to step into pharma jobs like quality assurance technicians, research technologists and laboratory technicians, according to Kelechi “K.C.” Ogbonna, dean of VCU‘s S[...]
VCU revives Atlanta’s Creative Circus ad school
Editor’s note: The print version of this story in the May 2024 issue of Virginia Business incorrectly reported the amount of Virginia Commonwealth University‘s purchase of the Creative Circus. VCU acquired Creative Circus’ branding and intellectual assets from Texas-based Ancora Education for $75,000. The potential bottom line wasn’t the sole motivator behind Virginia Commo[...]
Va. college sports betting proposal off the books for another year
RICHMOND, Va. — Lawmakers struck out again with a proposal to allow betting on Virginia college sports teams. Virginia law since 2021 has allowed sports betting through casinos and online sports books like FanDuel and BetMGM, with the exception of wagers on state youth and college sports. Some legislators have gone to bat to change […]
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 […[...]
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 […]
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 […]
Three Va. universities land on top patents list
Three Virginia research universities have made the National Academy of Inventors’ new list ranking the nation’s universities that were granted the most patents in 2022. The University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University each made the list released Aug. 30, ranking 43rd, 86th and 91st respectively. U.Va. had 52 patents issued in […]
