News

Public colleges and universities are vital to Virginia’s economy, accounting for nearly $4 billion in annual state revenue, according to a report issued this week by the Virginia Business Higher Education Council. 

“It’s humbling and exciting to see how UVA operations are put into the context of statewide impact and to reflect on how our institution contributes to this region and all Virginians,” said Jennifer “J.J.” Wagner Davis, UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the wellbeing of our community by providing rewarding careers, a world-class education, outstanding patient care and research that contributes to solving global challenges.”

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Wagner Davis on Friday was named the recipient of this year’s Crockett Award in recognition of efforts that strengthen the relationship between the University of Virginia and the College at Wise.

The annual award is named after Samuel R. Crockett Jr. who helped create a division of the University in Wise in 1954 while serving as the UVA Extension representative in Southwest Virginia.

UVA President Jim Ryan recently announced the first winners of the “Hoos Making an Impact” program, launched by the Staff Senate in late 2022, to collect and implement innovative ideas from staff across Grounds as part of an initiative to cultivate staff success and foster staff relationships with the community. The inaugural theme for the new, annual competition was sustainability, generating a list of 44 staff ideas to advance UVA’s 2030 Sustainability Plan. A selection panel reviewed and named the top 10 for a second round, during which proposals were presented in person. All ideas were evaluated based on alignment with the sustainability plan, feasibility and overall impact on UVA, should the idea be implemented.

University of Virginia President Jim Ryan on Friday announced an additional contribution of $65 million to the pools of matching funds for two key programs that benefit both students and faculty at UVA.

The Bicentennial Scholars and Bicentennial Professors funds, initiated in 2017 around the bicentennial of the University’s founding, have been one of the most impactful initiatives of the Honor the Future campaign. This combination of philanthropy matched by the University’s Strategic Investment Fund has energized private philanthropy around key strategic initiatives of the University and created more than $588 million for permanently endowed scholarships, as well as more than $468 million for endowed professorships.

The University of Virginia Board of Visitors’ Buildings and Grounds Committee on Thursday reviewed and approved the sites for additions to a long-term master plan for the Fontaine Research Park, including a biotechnology institute, a parking garage, a central energy plant and road modifications.

The new Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, which will position UVA at the forefront of cutting-edge medicine such as cellular and gene therapies that may revolutionize how diseases are treated, is scheduled to be built on what is now a parking lot flanked by the Aurbach Medical Research Building and by the Sheridan G. Snyder Translational Research Building in the Fontaine Research Park.

Her ears are a little longer and her sniffer a little stronger.

Maggie, the University of Virginia’s adorable police-dog-in-training, is three months into her special assignment as the school’s first bloodhound and she has discovered a brand-new talent as a student recruiter.

The University community was introduced to Maggie a month ago and the interest in her was so strong, UVA Today decided to check back in with the 35-pound-dog and her handler, officer Logan Moore.

The University of Virginia announced today that Augie Maurelli has been appointed vice president for finance and chief financial officer.

Maurelli is an experienced financial leader in higher education and has served as associate vice president for financial operations at the University since December 2019. He previously served as associate vice president for strategy and operations in University Finance at the University of Delaware and held leadership roles in athletics both there and at Georgetown University.

The new Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Virginia will be warmed with geothermal heat, which stores energy in underground wells. The recently announced Manning Institute, which will position UVA at the forefront of cutting-edge medicine such as cellular and gene therapies that could revolutionize how diseases are treated, will use a newly tested geoexchange heating method.

The University of Virginia has honored 11 employees for exemplary service, presenting them with Outstanding Contributor Awards. The awards are granted in honor of former Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Leonard W. Sandridge who, in his 44 years of service to UVA, was a consistent champion of University staff.

University of Virginia athletic director Carla Williams likes to leave the windows of her McCue Center office open, better to hear the sounds of construction outside the building. The noise rarely abates.

“All day, every day,” Williams said, smiling. “I love it.”

Nearly a dozen more University of Virginia apprentices have joined the ranks of skilled tradespeople.

The Facilities Management division held a celebration Jan. 26 in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom to celebrate the 11 students who graduated from the University’s apprenticeship program.

Progress is impossible to miss on the University of Virginia’s Contemplative Commons building, which will combine classrooms, a research laboratory and an innovation hub with serene, contemplative spaces. The U-shaped building, which opens onto the Dell Pond, was designed as a multipurpose complex dedicated to helping students flourish in all aspects of their lives through flexible learning studios that can be used for classes, quiet reflection, physical activity or social interaction.

The 57,000-square-foot building on Emmet Street, scheduled to open this year, will feature academic activities during the day, and be available to host extracurricular events, such as social gatherings and local community engagements, on evenings and weekends. It also features a new, more accessible pedestrian bridge across Emmet Street, replacing an aging span adjacent to Ridley Hall.

The newest hire in the University of Virginia’s Police Department commanded lots of attention on the Lawn earlier this month.

She arrived on time for our interview with her entourage in tow. I could spy her from a distance, rounding the Rotunda, her tail perfectly upright. But when she arrived and we began our exchange, it quickly became apparent this would be a fractured conversation as, time and again, new admirers inched over for a not-so-quick nuzzle of her impossibly mushy and adorable muzzle.

Virginia Evans recalls clearly the time when she was advised that the University of Virginia would need to move its 2020 spring semester courses online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The task was enormous and the time frame short. Evans, UVA’s chief information officer, found herself at the point of the University’s hectic dash to shift 4,200 classes for thousands of students online so instruction could continue while everyone anxiously awaited vaccines that would safely enable in-person activities, including a return to classrooms. Virginia Evans recalls clearly the time when she was advised that the University of Virginia would need to move its 2020 spring semester courses online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The task was enormous and the time frame short. Evans, UVA’s chief information officer, found herself at the point of the University’s hectic dash to shift 4,200 classes for thousands of students online so instruction could continue while everyone anxiously awaited vaccines that would safely enable in-person activities, including a return to classrooms.

In her 26 years at the University of Virginia, Vice President for Finance Melody Bianchetto has championed numerous initiatives that have enhanced the University and shaped its future – and she has been a UVA basketball fan even longer.

The University of Virginia Board of Visitors’ Buildings and Grounds Committee reviewed plans and preliminary drawings Thursday for the future home of the Karsh Institute of Democracy, a 65,000-square-foot facility, the project that was approved by the board in June 2021 to be the second academic building constructed as part of the redevelopment of the Emmet-Ivy Corridor.

Due to an extraordinary response, the University of Virginia will provide a second night for the “UVA Night at Winter Wander” at no cost to faculty, staff and students.

High demand for the initial UVA Night at the Boar’s Head Resort’s Winter Wander Trail of Lights, set for Monday, quickly exhausted ticket supplies.

The University of Virginia today announced a special opportunity for members of the University community to experience – at no cost – the Boar’s Head Resort Winter Wander Trail of Lights.   

“UVA Night at Winter Wander,” set for Monday, will provide students, faculty, staff and their families and guests access to free tickets to the second annual holiday lights festival at the resort.

Today, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan and University Rector Whitt Clement sent a letter to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares requesting the appointment of special counsel to conduct an independent, external review of the events surrounding the tragic events that occurred on the University’s Grounds on the evening of Nov. 13.

After more than 100 years, the University of Virginia’s historic Cobb Hall is getting a new life and a new partner to share it.

Cobb Hall will now be part of a larger complex with the new Shumway Hall next door, together housing an expansion of the McIntire School of Commerce. Seen as separate structures above ground with a shared exterior courtyard, the two buildings will be linked by a shared underground service corridor that will also connect to the McIntire School’s existing Rouss and Robertson halls.

For more than a century, it has been the University of Virginia’s bellwether of the transition from comfortable autumn days to the approaching chill of winter. The majestic Pratt Ginkgo tree on the northwest side of the Rotunda is among the last of the trees to burst into full fall color, well after the peak of leaf season passes in Central Virginia.

The University of Virginia’s new Contemplative Commons building, designed as a blend of academic classrooms, a research laboratory, innovation hub and serene contemplative spaces, has reached another milestone.

Observers clustered Wednesday on the pedestrian bridge spanning Emmet Street to watch a decorated white beam carefully lowered into place on the east tower of the Contemplative Commons on Emmet Street. The beam, signed by University officials, workers at the Contemplative Sciences Center and employees of general contractor Hourigan Construction Corp., marks the final, uppermost piece put into the structure’s skeleton.

The Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign is the best opportunity for University of Virginia faculty, staff and others to support the organizations that support the community.

For more than a year, the University of Virginia’s Local Economy Working Group has worked to identify ways for UVA to do more work with local businesses and to identify and overcome barriers to pursuing that goal. In June, the group, which is affiliated with the President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships, presented its recommendations. And in October, President Jim Ryan and his administration responded to those recommendations, detailing a timeline for the University’s procurement staff to achieve them.

Picture this: You are in one of the three University of Virginia dining halls and you just finished your breakfast. You place your dirty plate and food scraps in the dish return station, leave, and go about your day. Where does this waste go after you leave the dining hall? Caroline Baloga, UVA Dine’s sustainability manager, has the answer – and it is more complicated than you might think.