Virginia Commonwealth University

Public university in Richmond

Follow Virginia Commonwealth University on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!

2024 Achieved a record $506 million in sponsored research funding, reinforcing its status as an R1: Doctoral University with very high research activity.
December 31 2024 Dr. Danny Avula was sworn in as Mayor of Richmond, succeeding Levar Stoney.
2023 CoStar Group donated $18 million for an arts and innovation room in VCU's new consolidated arts building.
2023 Richmond International Airport broke its passenger record with 4.8 million passengers, surpassing the previous record of 4.4 million set in 2019.
2022 VCU received over $400 million in sponsored research, ranking in the top 50 nationally according to the National Science Foundation.
2022 The Commonwealth of Virginia awarded VCU most of the funding for a $253 million arts and innovation building.
2022 VCU receives its largest gift in university history, a $104 million donation to support the Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health.
2022 Reached a milestone of over 28,000 students pursuing 217 degree and certificate programs across 11 schools and three colleges.
December 12 2022 Richmond removes the final Confederate statue, honoring Confederate General A. P. Hill, concluding the city's systematic removal of Confederate monuments.
2021 The DePillars Building on Broad Street was named after former Dean Dr. Murry N. DePillars, previously known as the Fine Arts Building (FAB).
December 2021 Thermo Fisher Scientific acquired the contract research organization PPD, establishing its presence in the Richmond area.
2020 Local artist Hamilton Glass initiated the Mending Walls Project in response to the George Floyd protests, featuring collaborative murals by pairs of local artists.
2020 Richmond public school district reported an on-time graduation rate of 71.6%, which was the lowest in the state of Virginia.
2020 Carmenita Higginbotham was hired as the new dean of VCU's School of the Arts.
July 2020 July recorded as one of the warmest months in Richmond's climate history, averaging 82.9°F.
June 2020 Confederate statues in Richmond begin to be removed during the George Floyd protests, representing a major shift in the city's historical memorialization.
August 5 2019 VCU announced that Shawn Brixey would be stepping down from his administrative role as dean of the School of the Arts.
2018 Steven Holl designs and opens the VCU Institute for Contemporary Art.
2018 The Richmond Kickers left the USL to become founders in Division 3 Soccer.
2018 The Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), a privately funded museum and the largest undertaking by the university, was completed.
June 2018 GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit system opened, running along Broad Street from Willow Lawn to its destination, marking a significant improvement in public transportation infrastructure.
April 2018 Church president Russell M. Nelson announced a new temple to be built in Virginia.
January 7 2018 Richmond experienced its most recent subzero temperature reading on this date.
2017 Shawn Brixey became dean of the VCU School of the Arts after previously serving as dean at York University in Toronto.
December 15 2017 Most Reverend Barry C. Knestout was appointed bishop by Pope Francis.
2016 VCU School of Pharmacy was ranked 17th among pharmacy schools in the United States by U.S. News & World Report.
2016 Levar Stoney began his term as Mayor of Richmond.
2016 The gallery reopened under the name 'The Anderson', now exclusively exhibiting BFA and MFA student programming.
March 2016 VCU dedicated a 93,000-square-foot expansion of Cabell Library, adding 25 new study rooms, a graduate and faculty reading room, a silent reading room, 'The Workshop' multimedia production suite, a gaming suite, and a makerspace.
2015 VCU won their first Atlantic 10 (A10) conference championship, marking a significant milestone in the team's conference basketball history.
2015 VCUarts was ranked No. 1 public university school of arts and design in the country by U.S. News & World Report, being the first public university arts and design school to achieve such a high overall ranking.
2015 The Richmond Black Widows, the city's first women's football team, were founded by Sarah Schkeeper and joined the Women's Football Alliance.
2015 Richmond hosted the UCI Road World Championships, featuring cyclists from 76 countries and generating an estimated $158.1 million economic impact for the Greater Richmond Region.
2015 The Anderson Gallery ceased showing contemporary art, with its role being taken over by the Institute for Contemporary Art, Richmond (ICA).
July 2015 MeadWestvaco merged with Rock-Tenn Company to create WestRock Company.
2014 The theater underwent a renovation during which the underground swimming pool was filled in with concrete.
2014 U.S. Department of Transportation granted Richmond approximately $25 million for the GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit system development.
2014 James River Distillery was established in Richmond.
2013 VCU is awarded a $62 million federal grant to oversee a national research consortium studying mild traumatic brain injuries in service members and veterans.
2013 RVA Street Art Festival was held, contributing to Richmond's mural landscape with works by regional and international artists like PoseMSK, Jeff Soto, and Mark Jenkins.
2013 Belle Isle Craft Spirits was established in Richmond.
May 2013 The Rowdy Rams won the annual Naismith Student Section of the Year award, recognizing them as the most passionate student section in college basketball.
2012 The French Film Festival reached a milestone with over 22,000 participation entries for 27 films, showcasing the growth of the festival since its founding.
2012 Richmond's public schools were rated 16 of America's best high schools.
December 2012 College of Humanities and Sciences joined the VCU da Vinci Center, expanding the collaborative interdisciplinary innovation program across multiple schools.
July 2012 VCUarts Qatar's contract with Qatar Foundation was renewed, extending the partnership through July 2022.
2011 VCU men's basketball team made a historic run to the Final Four in the NCAA Championship tournament.
2011 VCU's Carnegie classification changes to 'Very High Research Activity' with over $255 million in sponsored research.
2011 Joseph H. Seipel became dean of VCUarts, serving until 2016.
September 2011 Out-of-state student population increased to 15%, marking a significant shift in the university's demographic composition, with 85% of students still coming from Virginia.

We are only showing the most recent entries for this topic.

This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Richmond, Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts & Virginia Commonwealth University, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

See Also