U.Va. hires AstraZeneca exec to lead Manning biotech institute
Mark T. Esser, vice president for vaccines and immune therapies at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, will be the inaugural chief scientific officer and leader of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Virginia, U.Va. announced Thursday. Esser, who will join U.Va. May 1, earned a Ph.D. in micro[...]
Private schools’ graduation numbers remain stable
While concerns about the costs of education have led to some declines and ups and downs in enrollment among private colleges in the commonwealth, the number of degrees these Virginia institutions are awarding overall has remained relatively stable. Many parents and students are wary of accumulating crushing college loan debt and[...]
Take a look inside George Mason’s high-tech science and engineering labs
In a third-floor lab at George Mason University’s new, $107 million Life Sciences and Engineering Building in Manassas, students will dissect and study the effects of decomposition on human remains. A few floors away, their peers may dangle from harnesses while wearing sensors to research gaits while others test fly an aut[...]
JMU introduces next president
James Madison University on Wednesday announced that University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Chancellor James C. Schmidt will be the next president of Virginia’s fifth largest public university. The university’s board of visitors, who voted to affirm his appointment earlier in the day, announced Schmidt’s selection [...]
Emory & Henry names new president
Washington County-based private college Emory & Henry University announced Monday that it was promoting Louise Fincher from interim president to the university’s permanent 23rd president. The university’s board of trustees unanimously selected Fincher as president during its spring board meeting. Fincher has more[...]
Three Virginia business schools make top 20 Poets&Quants rankings
Four Virginia business schools placed among the top 104 business schools in Poets&Quants’ 2025 rankings of undergraduate business schools, released Monday. Of these Virginia schools, three were in the top 20. Poets&Quants for Undergrads, an online publication and forum dedicated to business schools, ranks schools b[...]
NOVA launches initiative to help recently unemployed federal workers
Northern Virginia Community College on Wednesday announced the launch of an initiative to help recently unemployed federal workers and contractors transition to their next careers. Known as NOVAnext (new employment, exploration and transition), the initiative is designed to help workers to explore how their skills and experience[...]
More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump’s anti-DEI campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students. The Education Department announced the new investigations Fr[...]
Va. community colleges and businesses help fill in-demand jobs
Virginia had about 295,000 unfilled jobs as of November 2024, according to a U.S. Department of Labor report released in January, but it’s not as simple as sending people to job interviews to fill these positions. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration notes that these are good jobs for skilled workers, but there are l[...]