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Hollins University appoints new provost
Hollins University has named Laura A. McLary as its new provost effective July 1, the Roanoke-based university announced this week. McLary arrives from the University of Portland in Oregon, where she served on the faculty teaching German starting in 1999 and became academic associate dean for the university’s College of Arts a[...]
U.Va. names new engineering school dean
The School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia announced Friday the appointment of its first female dean, Jennifer L. West. She will start July 1. A researcher, inventor and entrepreneur, West comes from Duke University, where she’s been associate dean of doctoral education for a little more than six years at […]
Virginia colleges mull legality of mandatory COVID vaccine
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia universities plan a return to campuses in the fall, but there are questions if the COVID-19 vaccine can be mandated. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration only authorized the vaccine for emergency purposes, according to Lisa Lee, professor of public health at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. The vaccin[...]
T-Rextasy: Dino replica finds home at Great Minds’ future Richmond HQ
Call it rex appeal. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C.-based education company Great Minds will install a museum-quality replica of Stan the Tyrannosaurus rex’s skeleton at its future headquarters in Richmond. Measuring 13 feet tall and 40 feet long, the actual Stan’s fossilized skeleton sold for $32 million in a Christi[...]
UPDATED: Liberty University files $10M suit against Falwell
Liberty University has sued Jerry Falwell Jr. for $10 million, accusing the former president and chancellor of the Lynchburg-based Christian university of breach of contract and fiduciary duty. The suit alleges that Falwell negotiated a salary increase and larger severance package in his 2019 contract while not disclosing to the[...]
Liberty’s renamed think tank names Pompeo, Huckabee as fellows
Liberty University’s newly renamed think tank, the Standing for Freedom Center, has announced a slate of five new fellows, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Also named as fellows are Abby Johnson, an anti-abortion activist who used to work for Planned Parenthood, and Libert[...]
VMI names Wins new superintendent
Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins was named Virginia Military Institute’s new superintendent by the VMI Board of Visitors on Thursday. Wins, who has served as interim superintendent at VMI since November 2020, is a 1985 graduate of the state-supported military college in Lexington. “Maj. Gen. Wins has distinguished [...]
Mary Baldwin University announces $5 million gift
William H. “Bill” Goodwin Jr. and his wife, Alice, have made a $5 million gift to Mary Baldwin University to fund the launch of a new hybrid doctor of nursing practice degree program. The prominent Richmond philanthropic couple, who have given tens of millions of dollars to charitable causes, said in a statement that they [&[...]
GMU Center for Government Contracting taps two fellows
The Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University has named two senior fellows, it announced this week. The Fairfax-based center added Stephanie Halcrow, who most recently served on the House Armed Services Committee as a professional staff member, and promoted researcher Eric Lofgren. Halcrow is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, who […]
Hampden-Sydney receives $12M gift from alum’s estate
Hampden-Sydney College announced Tuesday it has received a $12 million gift — the second-largest in the history of the 245-year-old private men’s college — from the estate of a 1937 graduate and his wife. The estate of M. Blair Dickinson Jr. and Sarah “Lucile” Lawton Dickinson bequeathed the gift to the college, which Blair Dickinson […]
UVA Health hires chief diversity & community engagement officers
Charlottesville-based UVA Health has named Dr. Tracy M. Downs as the health system’s inaugural chief diversity & community engagement officer, effective July 1. A urologist who specializes in the surgical treatment of urologic cancers, Downs previously served as associate dean for diversity and multicultural affairs and as a professor of urologic oncology for the University […]
Mary Baldwin receives $1M gift to endow building
Mary Baldwin University has received a $1 million gift from the Robert Haywood Morrison Foundation to endow the building that houses the university’s Program for the Exceptionally Gifted for girls age 13 and older seeking college degrees, MBU announced Wednesday. The building will be named in honor of President Emerita Cynthia Haldenby Tyson at a […]
