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University of Virginia

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“We wish to establish in the upper and healthier country, and more centrally for the state, a University on a plan so broad and liberal and modern, as to be worth patronizing with the public support.”
Thomas Jefferson

The University of Virginia, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, is a vigorous, modern institution, animated by the forward-looking spirit of its founder, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s powerful convictions–the idea that the university exists to train young people for public service and the belief that the liberal arts constitute the foundation for any education–continue to inspire its students and faculty and guide the development of its programs.

Jefferson was a man of many talents, and he expressed them fully in founding the University of Virginia in 1819; he outlined the institution’s purpose, designed its buildings, supervised construction, and planned its curriculum. He also directed the recruitment of its initial faculty.

When classes began in 1825, with 68 students and a faculty of eight, the University of Virginia embodied dramatic new ideas in American higher education. In an era when colleges trained scholars for the clergy and academia, Jefferson dedicated his University to the education of citizens in practical affairs and public service. The innovative curriculum permitted the student a broader range of study than was available at other colleges and universities of the day, and Jefferson implemented novel ideas concerning student self-government and religious freedom.

Jefferson chose an undeveloped plot of land on the edge of Charlottesville on which to locate the University of Virginia. Jefferson was a skillful architect, a consummate builder, and an inveterate tinkerer. His belief in public service, his respect for the achievements of the past, and his sense of balance and proportion are expressed in the buildings he designed for his “academical village.”

This educational community was built around a rectangular, terraced green–the Lawn–flanked by two continuous rows of identical, one-story rooms. These rows are accented by large buildings, the Pavilions, each in a different style. Both the rooms and the Pavilions open onto a colonnaded walkway fronting the Lawn. Behind each of the two rows of buildings are public gardens delineated by serpentine brick walls and backed by yet another set of rooms. The Rotunda, a half-scale model of the Roman Pantheon, closes off one end of the Lawn, while the south end was originally left open to a vista of the mountains.

The genius of Jefferson’s design is that it integrates housing for students and faculty as well as classroom and library space into a single unit. Students lived on the Lawn and in the outer two rows of rooms, known as the Ranges. Faculty members lived in the Pavilions, while the Rotunda held the library and classroom space.

Although the University has grown since Jefferson’s time, the Lawn remains the intellectual and spiritual heart of the Academical Village and serves much of its original purpose. Students who have made special contributions to the University are awarded a Lawn room in their fourth year; senior faculty and their families live in the Pavilions, where classes are also held; and graduate students live in the Ranges. The Rotunda’s oval rooms and the Dome Room are used for meetings of the Board of Visitors, dinners, and other ceremonial occasions, as well as for student activities.

The special grace and character of Jefferson’s design are widely recognized. As Ada Louise Huxtable noted in The New York Times, the University “is probably the single most beautiful and effective architectural group of its kind in the country, or in the history of American building.”  In 1976, the American Institute of Architects proclaimed it “the proudest achievement in American architecture in the past 200 years”; in 1987, the Lawn was named to the World Heritage List.

Although the University of Virginia has expanded to encompass more than one thousand acres, it still retains the intimacy that characterized the Academical Village. University planners have been careful to reserve open space for study and contemplation while erecting modern facilities for each of the seven undergraduate schools.

Each year, the area attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists who come to see the Grounds of the University, visit the homes of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe, tour local wineries, and hike through the Shenandoah National Park, just 20 miles west in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Charlottesville has its own traditions. The community celebrates each spring with a Dogwood Festival and New Year’s Eve with First Night Virginia fireworks and entertainment. Steeplechase fans attend the Foxfield Races, and every spring, runners in the Charlottesville Ten-Miler rush through town toward the finish line at University Hall.

A pedestrian mall downtown offers fine dining, distinctive shops, art galleries, and nightspots in a historical section of the city. In the Court Square area, lawyers and business people occupy offices in buildings dating back to the 1700s. The city is known for its fine restaurants, appealing to every taste and budget, and many establishments present nightly entertainment by local artists. The Virginia Film Festival brings new visitors and celebrities to the area each fall, along with movies, seminars, and premieres. The Virginia Festival of the Book brings poets, writers, and novelists to Charlottesville each spring.

Charlottesville is located 120 miles from Washington, D.C., and 70 miles from Richmond. The Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (CHO), a non-hub, commercial service airport, offers 50 daily non-stop flights to and from Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York/LaGuardia, Washington/Dulles, Detroit, and Atlanta. CHO is served by Delta Connection, United Express, and US Airways Express. Major highways convenient to the city include Interstate 64 and U.S. Route 29. Nationwide bus and railway service for passengers and freight is provided by Greyhound, AMTRAK, Norfolk Southern, and the CSX Corporation. The Charlottesville Transit Service and the University Transit Service provide bus service on Grounds and around the city. Visitors to the University are always welcome. On-street parking is limited, so visitors are encouraged to park at the paid hourly Central Grounds Parking Garage off Emmet Street.

Maps of the University are available for visitors at the University’s Visitor/Information Center at 2304 Ivy Road in Charlottesville (follow signs from 29N or Interstate 64 to the University Information Center). Bulk quantities can be purchased by calling the University Bookstore at (434) 924-3721. Brochures about the Rotunda are available at the Rotunda. Books about Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, and the University of Virginia may be purchased at the University Bookstore, located atop the Central Grounds Parking Garage.

A great deal of information about the University is available online at www.virginia.edu.

The Office of Admission website features electronic versions of all of the undergraduate publications, as well as a link to the Common Application and additional U.Va. admissions requirements at www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission.  Admissions information for the graduate and professional student is available at www.virginia.edu/graduateguide. 

For more information about the University, check out Facts at a Glance at www.virginia.edu/facts. U.Va. Today at www.virginia.edu/uvatoday provides daily coverage of the University’s top news. An online calendar is linked from the University’s home page,www.virginia.edu/calendar and online maps are at www.virginia.edu/map. For even more information about the University, its history, tours of the Rotunda and Gardens, and even a U.Va. trivia game, check out http://virginia.edu/aboutuva.html

In creating an Academical Village, Jefferson sought scholars who had distinguished reputations and were willing to live among their students-an unusual, but from Jefferson’s point of view, essential combination. The University of Virginia faculty, one of the most distinguished groups of scholars and researchers in the country, still exemplifies this tradition.

The University’s full-time instructional/research faculty numbers approximately 2,171, most of whom conduct research and publish their findings on a regular basis. The University has established almost 500 endowed professorships for outstanding scholars, and the Shannon Center for Advanced Studies plays a major role in attracting and retaining scholars of national and international distinction.

In 1995, the prestigious National Research Council placed U.Va.’s graduate programs in English, religious studies, German, Spanish, and physiology among the top ten programs in their fields; ratings were based in large part on the quality of the faculty.

U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks the University of Virginia as one of the nation’s top institutions. In the twelve years since U.S. News began ranking public universities as a separate category, U.Va. has ranked either number one or number two. For 2009, the University is ranked second among public universities and is tied with Georgetown University at twenty-third among all national universities. In February 2009 BusinessWeek magazine ranked the McIntire School number one. In the U.S. News graduate rankings for 2010, the University also received high marks. The School of Law ranked tenth nationally in a tie with Northwestern and Duke Universities. The Law School was also ranked eighth in international law, tied with George Washington University. The Darden School of Business tied for fifteenth with Carnegie Mellon. Darden was eighth for business management in the magazine’s specialty rankings. The School of Medicine ranked twenty-fourth among research universities and twenty-ninth among primary care programs. The Curry School of Education rose seven spots this year, moving into the number twenty four position in a tie with five other universities, and several teacher-education programs ranked in the top ten nationally: special education placed fourth, elementary education ranked fifth, secondary education sixth and curriculum and instruction tenth. The School of Engineering and Applied Science moved up one position to thirty-seventh. The magazine also ranked Ph.D. programs in several disciplines in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. English ranked tenth, tied with Duke and UCLA; History was twentieth, tied with Rutgers; Psychology, twenty-third in a six-way tie; and Economics, twenty-eigth in a three-way tie. Specialties ranked in the top ten were American Literature before 1865 (fourth); 18th- through 20th-century British Literature (sixth); Developmental Psychology (fourth); Social Psychology (tenth); Modern U.S. History (eighth) and U.S. Colonial History (sixth).

In January 2009, The Princeton Review and USA Today ranked the University first among public institutions in the list of “Best Value Colleges for 2009.” In March 2009, the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education ranked U.Va. first in graduation rates among African American students for the 15th straight year.

University faculty members receive many national and international awards. In 2008, James N. Galloway, the Sidman P. Poole Professor of Environmental Sciences, was one of two scientists to share the Tyler Environmental Prize, considered the Nobel Prize in environmental sciences, energy, and environmental health. He was cited for his pioneering analysis of the flow of reactive nitrogen through the global ecosystem and his work, undertaken on an international scale, to create approaches to manage this flow more efficiently. Professor Galloway also was elected a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, an honor that the association confers on just 0.1 percent of its 51,000 members.

John Hudson, the Wills Johnson Professor of Engineering, was elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering, among the highest distinctions awarded engineers. He is known for his work engineering complex, dynamic chemical reactions. Dr. Arthur Garson, Jr., the Robert C. Taylor Professor of Health Science and Public Policy and the University’s executive vice president and provost, received a comparable honor with his election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

The University’s faculty members are receiving recognition from foreign governments for their efforts to promote global understanding. David T. Gies, Commonwealth Professor of Spanish, received one of Spain’s highest honors, the Order of Isabella the Catholic. Professor Gies was cited for his work on the Spanish literature of the Enlightenment and Romantic periods, and contemporary Spanish cinema, and for his efforts to promote Spanish literature in Europe and the Americas. His colleague, John Lyons, Commonwealth Professor of French and chair of the Department of French Language and Literature, was inducted into the Legion of Honor, France’s highest honor. Professor Lyons was recognized for his scholarship in seventeenth-century French literature and culture and his work to strengthen ties with the French Embassy.

Richard L. Guerrant, MD, the Thomas Harrison Hunter Professor of International Medicine and an international infectious disease expert at the University of Virginia Health System, has been awarded the highest honor from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Dr. Guerrant, director of U.Va.’s Center for Global Health, received the Walter Reed Medal in recognition of his distinguished accomplishments in the field of tropical medicine.

History professor and nationally recognized civil rights leader Julian Bond received a Library of Congress Living Legend Award. Mr. Bond is chairman of the NAACP.

Marcus Martin, MD, former chairman of the University of Virginia Health System’s Department of Emergency Medicine, was the first recipient last year of an award the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine created in his honor. The Marcus L. Martin Leadership Award honors an individual who has made significant and sustained contributions to emergency medicine.
Melvyn P. Leffler, Edward R. Stettinius Professor of History, was awarded the American Historical Association’s 2008 George Louis Beer Prize for his book For the Soul of Mankind: The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War.

Rita Dove, the Commonwealth Professor of English, received the 2008 Library of Virginia Lifetime Achievement Award.

Four University of Virginia professors were named fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Election as a fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. The faculty members are Robert G. Bryant, Commonwealth Professor of Chemistry; Shu Man Fu, the Margaret M. Trolinger Professor of Rheumatology; Gabor Szabo, the Charles Slaughter Professor of Physiology; and Judith M. White, professor of cell biology.

The Virginia Press Association selected former Governor Gerald Baliles, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs, as Virginian of the Year.

Drama professor LaVahn Hoh received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Virginia Theatre Association. Best known nationally for his expertise as a circus historian, he teaches the only accredited course in America on the circus. He is also an expert on technical theater and special effects. 

Edward Berger, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Dr. John Kattwinkel, the Charles Fuller Professor of Neonatology and chief of the Division of Neonatology, received the 2008 Outstanding Faculty Award, administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

A Richmond Times-Dispatch and Library of Virginia survey included constitutional law expert A. E. Dick Howard, the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs and Earle K. Shawe Professor of Employment Law, in its list of the most influential Virginians of the twentieth century.

In the spring of 2009, five University of Virginia faculty members were among 180 recipients of Guggenheim fellowships for “stellar achievement and exceptional promise for continued accomplishment.” They are Francesca Fiorani, associate professor of art history; Risa Goluboff, law school professor; Deborah Lawrence, associate professor of environmental sciences; Charles Marsh, professor of religious studies; and Lisa Russ Spaar, associate professor of English. The successful candidates were chosen from almost 3,000 applicants.

Also in the spring of 2009. Kenneth Abraham, David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law; Judy S. DeLoache, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Psychology; Timothy Wilson, the Sherrell J. Aston Professor of Psychology; and President of the University of Virginia John T. Casteen III were named Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Despite the demands of research and writing, University faculty are remarkably attentive to the needs of their students. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, faculty members serve as academic advisors. Professors routinely post office hours, and students do not hesitate to use them. It’s not unusual to encounter students clustered in the hall outside a professor’s office, waiting for a chance to discuss papers or review class work.

The quality of the student body is evident in numerous ways, including the awards and honors many students receive. The University has graduated 45 Rhodes Scholars, the highest number for state universities nationwide. The University is attracting some of the very best students in the country through the merit-based Jefferson Scholars Program.

Four years at the University prepares students well for becoming adults who are educated citizens and contributing members of society. Whether they go directly to a job (as many do), teach English in a developing country for period of time, enroll in law or medical school (to which University of Virginia students are accepted at well above the national average), or enter graduate school to pursue the scholarly life as a profession, their undergraduate years at Virginia provide the chance to explore subjects and ideas that will lay the foundation for their future careers and lives.

The Honor System is one of the University’s oldest and most venerated traditions. Based on the fundamental assumption that anyone who enrolls at the University subscribes to a code of ethics forbidding lying, cheating, and stealing, the Honor System allows students the kind of personal freedom possible only in an environment where respect and trust are presumed. If a student violates the Honor Code, he or she cannot remain a member of the University community, and is not entitled to receive or hold a degree from the

University of Virginia

. For more than 160 years this system has been administered by students.

A member of the highly competitive Atlantic Coast Conference, U.Va. fields 12 intercollegiate sports for men and 13 for women. U.Va.’s intercollegiate athletics program ranked 17th in the final 2007-08 Division I United States Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings, which are based on the combined performance of men’s and women’s sports during the academic year. U.Va. is one of just 15 schools to finish in the Top 30 in the Directors’ Cup standings in all 15 years of the program’s existence.

U.Va. Athletics 2007-08  U.Va. had another successful year of athletic competition in 2007-08. Teams or individuals in 21 of U.Va.’s 25 sports advanced to postseason competition in 2007-08, including 19 NCAA championship events. The men’s lacrosse and men’s tennis teams highlighted U.Va.’s athletics year by reaching the semifinals in NCAA Championships, while the women’s rowing team finished fifth at the NCAA Championships. The men’s tennis team won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s National Team Indoor Championship. U.Va. teams won six conference championships in 2007-08, the most of any league member, and have won
29 ACC Championships in the last six years, the most of any school in the ACC during that period. The U.Va. women’s rowing team has won nine consecutive conference championships and the men’s swimming and diving team has won nine conference championships in the last 10 years.

In addition, men’s tennis player Somdev Devvarman repeated as NCAA individual champion and was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, while men’s tennis coach Brian Boland was named the ITA’s National Coach of the Year. Seven different U.Va. coaches won a total of eight ACC Coach of the Year awards in 2007-08. Women’s head basketball coach Debbie Ryan was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in June of 2008 and men’s head lacrosse coach Dom Starsia was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame in November of 2008.

U.Va.’s intercollegiate athletics teams won more than 61 percent of their contests in 2007-08 to win the 30th annual Virginia Sports Information Director’s Association Division I All-Sport championship. U.Va.’s 25 men’s and women’s teams compiled an overall record of 262-160-8 (.619 winning percentage).

Academics  U.Va. had 225 student-athletes named to the 2007-08 Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll. The Honor Roll comprises those student-athletes who participated in a varsity-level sport and registered a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. In addition, U.Va. had six individuals named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in their respective sports.

U.Va.’s graduation rate for student-athletes who have exhausted their eligibility remains high. In the 2007-08 academic year, those individuals who exhausted their eligibility graduated at a rate of 94 percent.

The U.Va. athletics department recognized 103 student-athletes in the spring of 2008 for either having a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.3 at the end of the fall 2007 semester or having a 3.3 grade point average or better for the spring and fall semesters of 2007.

Three U.Va. athletics teams received public recognition awards for achieving Academic Progress Rates (APR) scores in the top 10 percent of their respective sports. The teams were women’s soccer, softball, and volleyball.

The University contributes to Charlottesville’s lively arts scene with a wide range of events sponsored by academic departments and student groups. Music events include concerts by faculty and student groups and performances and master classes by visiting artists. The John Paul Jones Arena has hosted performances by Dave Matthews Band, Eric Clapton, Kenny Chesney, Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Cirque du Soleil, the Dead, and many others in just three years of operation. Dave Matthews Band, the Rolling Stones, and, in fall 2009, U2 have performed at Scott Stadium. The University’s Art Museum houses broad-ranging art collections that are supplemented by frequent visiting shows. The museum sponsors public talks and receptions and conducts an outreach program for K-12 students. Ruffin Hall, the new studio art building, features student and faculty shows, and the art department sponsors public talks as well. The drama department presents productions year-round in the Culbreth and Helms theatres, including drama, musicals, small workshop productions and dance performances. Every fall, the Virginia Film Festival sponsors movie premieres and classics and discussions by actors, directors, producers and academics, all surrounding a theme that changes annually.

The University of Virginia libraries play an integral role in the University’s ability to maintain its standing as a top-ranked public institution of higher education. Fifteen libraries serve the University’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. They house more than 5 million books and receive 97,800 periodicals and newspapers from around the world. The general library collections in the social sciences and humanities are in Alderman Library, together with the library’s depository collections of state, federal, and international documents. The University’s world-renowned collection of manuscripts and rare books is in the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. Public programs and exhibits are in the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture. The Charles L. Brown Science and Engineering Library and its satellites (Astronomy, Biology/Psychology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics) serve the research needs of the University’s scientific community. Additional subject collections and services are offered by librarians in the Curry School of Education, the Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library and the Music Library. Clemons Library provides a general collection of popular materials, reserve reading, and, in the Robertson Media Center, video and audio resources. The Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, the Camp Library in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and the Arthur J. Morris Law Library serve the University’s professional schools.

The online catalog of the collections and online access to newspaper and journal articles are available in all library locations and may also be accessed from home and office computers via the library’s website at www.lib.virginia.edu. Digital labs in Alderman, Clemons, and Brown offer library users assistance with multi-media technologies and advanced software. User education programs assist the University community in expanding its information literacy base.

Information Technology and Communication (ITC) (www.itc.virginia.edu) provides a full range of central information technology services for most sections of the University, as well as the networking backbone services and telephone system for the entire University; ITC supports UVa’s instructional, research, and administrative activities by facilitating communication and transmission of information for all University departments.

ITC provides services to faculty, staff, and students, including: access to the Internet and the UVa network; centralized email, calendaring, file storage, and other computing accounts; general-purpose UNIX servers and high-performance computing clusters for support of computational research; and Web servers supporting user-published content. Specialized academic software packages and for-fee printing are provided for students in public computing labs and a number of collaborative spaces around Grounds. Wireless access is provided in all McCormick and Alderman Road first-year residence halls, in the libraries, on the Lawn, and in most classrooms. All student housing is also hardwired for Internet access.

The ITC Help Desk (434-924-HELP; www.itc.virginia.edu/helpdesk) is the primary source of technical computing support. Training and documentation are available for most ITC services and additional information about these services may be found on ITCWeb (www.itc.virginia.edu/services).

Noted for its world-class research capabilities, the University of Virginia is engaged in a wide range of research in medicine, engineering, and the arts and sciences. Cutting-edge research and scholarship by the University’s outstanding faculty bring opportunities to learn about the latest advances in the classroom as well as the ability to become involved in research work in many fields.

Research is an integral part of the educational process at the University. Opportunities to participate in research are available for both graduates and undergraduates and may result in published papers for graduate and some undergraduate students.

Since 1946, students and faculty of the University of Virginia have benefited from its membership in Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), a consortium of colleges and universities and a management and operating contractor for the United States Department of Energy (DOE) located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, and faculty enjoy access to a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Students can participate in programs covering a wide variety of disciplines including business, earth sciences, biomedical sciences, nuclear chemistry, and mathematics.

A distinct feature of the University’s research community is the extent to which it fosters interdisciplinary research. A number of research centers and institutes have been established in recent years to facilitate collaboration among faculty from different academic units who have common research interests and objectives. One outcome of this interdisciplinary emphasis has been the growth of joint academic programs leading to joint degrees.

Exciting research is undertaken jointly by faculty from both engineering and medicine in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Program in Engineering Physics. Other engineering faculty members have research ties with faculty in environmental sciences, physics, and other fields. Faculty in medicine and biology work closely on a variety of research projects, as do those in physics and chemistry.

Research collaborations are common among non-scientists as well. Faculty members from the schools of law and business have launched a center jointly with faculty in psychology. Professors in business and various humanities departments bring their separate viewpoints and research strategies to bear on common issues. Interdisciplinary research provides opportunities for shared use of facilities and for synergism in research efforts and augmented funding.

In fiscal year 2007-2008, research at the University was supported by over 1900 separate awards totaling over $314 million dollars from federal and state agencies, industry, and foundations. This represents an increase of over 92% from ten years ago , and reflects the University’s growing research stature and prominence.

The University demonstrates its commitment to research by providing internal financial funding in certain circumstances. The University provides funding for particularly meritorious research which might otherwise have brief funding interruptions, thus maintaining continuity in important, ongoing projects. Through the Bankard Foundation endowment, year-long research grants support research in political economy. Another program provides grants for faculty research in the humanities and social sciences.

The knowledge being disseminated and the technology being developed today at the University of Virginia will play a vital role in how we live in the future. More detailed information about research and funding at the University is available online from the Office of the Vice President for Research, www.virginia.edu/vpr.

The University offers graduate and first-professional degrees through ten of its eleven schools. Of the 21,000 students enrolled at the University, more than 6,600 are students in a graduate or first-professional (law and medicine) degree program. U.Va. offers eighty-four master’s degrees in sixty-seven fields, fifty-seven doctoral degrees in fifty five fields, six education specialist degrees, and first-professional degrees in law and medicine. U.Va. is one of the top universities in the nation, ranked twenty-third overall - and second among public institutions - by U.S. News & World Report and with nine top twenty-five departments for graduate study. In 2008, the University conferred more than 1,800 master’s degrees, almost four hundred doctoral degrees, and more than five hundred first-professional degrees.

The University places a high premium on collaborative, cross-border, and inter- and multi-disciplinary inquiry, scholarship, and research. Through centers and programs like the Morphogenesis and Regenerative Medicine Institute, the Institute on Aging, the Environment, Conservation, and Culture series, and the nanoSTAR Institute, to name a few, graduate students and faculty from across the institution are bringing their respective expertise to bear on the critical questions facing society.

The University recently demonstrated its ongoing commitment to graduate studies by announcing its intention to build an endowment for graduate education as part of its current capital campaign. In addition, numerous programs have been developed to encourage an outstanding and diverse graduate student body, including the Fellowship Enhancement for Outstanding Doctoral Candidates, which offers a three-year $10,000 stipend supplement - on top of a department’s support package - to outstanding doctoral applicants. The University also recognizes superior research among graduate students with the Awards for Excellence in Scholarship.

In 2005, the University’s board of visitors allocated resources to create Graduate Student Diversity Programs within the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR). This unit exists to enhance the diversity of the graduate student population, create a culture of support, and serve as a resource for administration, faculty, staff, and graduate students on matters of diversity. In addition, the office coordinates recruitment and retention efforts across the University’s ten graduate and first professional schools, supports graduate student organizations, and serves as a liaison between U.Va. and minority-serving institutions.  In 2007, the University’s commitment to graduate student diversity was recognized when it received the Council of Graduate Schools/Peterson’s Award for Innovation in Promoting an Inclusive Graduate Community.

The University is also committed to the professional development of its graduate students. It seeks to assist graduate students with decision-making and planning for career pursuits within and beyond academe by providing advising services, workshops and other programs, and referrals to up-to-date electronic and print resources. Through the Teaching Resource Center, the University also supports Tomorrow’s Professor Today (TPT). Designed to facilitate the transition from student to academic professional, the TPT program focuses on improving preparedness in three key areas-teaching, professional development, and adjustment to a university career.

More detailed information about graduate studies at the University is available online from the Office of the Vice President for Research, www.virginia.edu/vpr/gradstudies, by e-mailing gradstudies@virginia.edu, or by calling (434) 243-4014.

The University of Virginia’s mission extends beyond the lives of its students, faculty, and staff to the surrounding community, the Commonwealth, the nation, and the world. From professional development for elementary and secondary school teachers to leadership training for local governing bodies across Virginia, the University is committed to sharing its resources of expertise and scholarship in ways that improve the well-being of individuals and communities. OutreachVirginia (www.virginia.edu/outreachvirginia), an interactive, searchable database and web site, provides extensive information on more than 480 University public service programs.

Through a bachelor’ s degree program designed specifically for part-time, adult students in Central, Northern, and Eastern Virginia and educational seminars, short courses, and graduate degree programs offered through regional centers across the state, the University continues to expand access to higher education while maintaining its tradition of academic excellence. Telemedicine programs and screening clinics provide residents in rural areas of the Commonwealth with access to both basic and specialized health care. Mentoring and tutoring programs help local area youth to acheive more through educational opportunities.  Programs in all of the schools reflect a similar dedication to enhancing the quality of public life in Virginia and beyond.

Students, faculty, and staff exemplify the institution’s commitment to service. In 2008-2009, over 3,500 students volunteered each week during the regular academic session, giving over 110,000 hours of their time, representing 2.2 million dollars of service. Over 1,200 UVa employees contributed hours of service through the 2007 United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring, a community-wide effort to foster volunteer service in Charlottesville and surrounding counties. In 2008, 3,881 staff and faculty contributed more than $930,000 to the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign to support charitable organizations in our the Commonwealth and around the world. For the past three years, the Corporation for National and Community Service has named the University of Virginia to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

Additional information about public service and outreach initiatives and community relations at the University of Virginia is available by contacting a member of the Community Engagement Network: http://www.virginia.edu/provost/public/cen.html.

The University of Virginia was chartered by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1819. The University of Virginia is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033 or call 404-679-4558 for questions about the accreditation of the University of Virginia.

The University is one of a select group of 62 American and Canadian universities chosen for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities. The Master of Landscape Architecture is accredited by the American Society of Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board. The Master of Architecture is accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board. The Urban and Environmental Planning degree program is accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. The following Curry School of Education programs are accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council: Teacher Education, Administration and Supervision, and Reading. In addition, individual program specializations within the Curry School are accredited by such organizations as the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, and the American Psychological Association. The undergraduate and graduate programs in Business and Accounting at the McIntire School of Commerce and the MBA program in the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The School of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association. The following Bachelor of Science degree programs in the School of Engineering and Applied Science are accredited by ABET: Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Systems Engineering. The School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and the Virginia State Board of Nursing. The M.D. degree in the School of Medicine is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (representing the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges). The Masters of Public Health is accredited by the Council on Education for Public Health.

Terry Belanger, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences, Honorary Curator of Special Collections

Donald Black, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences

David W. Breneman, B.A., Ph.D., Education

Robert M. Carey, B.S., M.D., M.A.C.P., Medicine, Harrison Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Dean Emeritus of the School of Medicine

Mark W. Edmundson, B.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences

K. Ian Grandison, B.S., M.L.A., Architecture and Arts and Sciences

Donald F. Hunt, B.S., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences

Anita K. Jones, B.A.., M.A., Ph.D., Engineering and Applied Science, Lawrence R. Quarles Professor of Engineering and Applied Science

Jagdish K. Kumar, B.A., M.S., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Sociology

Cato T. Laurencin, B.S.E., M.D., Ph.D., Medicine, Lillian T. Pratt Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery

Jerome J. McGann, B.S., M.A., Ph.D., Arts and Sciences, John Stewart Bryan Professor of English

David B. Morris, B.A., Ph.D., Office of the Vice President and Provost and Arts and Sciences

Larry J. Sabato, B.A., D.Phil., Arts and Sciences, Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs

Edgar A. Starke, Jr., B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Engineering and Applied Science, Ernest Jackson Oglesby Professor of Materials Science

Haydn N. G. Wadley, B.S., Ph.D., Engineering and Applied Science, Edgar A. Starke, Jr., Research Professor of Materials Science

William A. Wulf, B.S., M.S., Ph.D., Engineering and Applied Science, American Telephone and Telegraph Company Professor of Engineering and Applied Science