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University announces 2010 Undergraduate Man, Woman of the Year
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Shashank Sharma, a senior majoring in biological sciences in the College of Science, and Jennifer Nicole Lamb, a senior double-majoring in agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, are recipients of Virginia Tech's 2010 Undergraduate Man and Woman of the Year awards.
President Charles W. Steger presented the awards at the annual Founders Day student recognition banquet on April 11. The awards are the most prestigious nonacademic undergraduate awards at Virginia Tech and are given to those students who have exceptional and balanced achievement in academics, leadership, and service.
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Shashank Sharma
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Jennifer Nicole Lamb
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Steger recognized with international leadership award
Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger was among three recipients of the 2010 Michael P. Malone International Leadership Award, sponsored by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Established in 2000, the annual award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to international education at public and land-grant institutions. The award will be presented during the summer meeting of the APLU Commission on International Programs, held July 12-14, in Sedona, Ariz. In Steger's more than 10 years as president of Virginia Tech, five international centers have been established around the globe, doubling student participation in the university's study-abroad programs.
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Bucharest street named for hero of April 16 tragedy
The street in front of the new U.S. Embassy compound in Bucharest, Romania, will be named after Virginia Tech Professor Liviu Librescu, who sacrificed his life to save his students on April 16, 2007. U.S. Ambassador to Romania Mark Gitenstein said, "Professor Librescu will live on in our memory every day as we pass by this street named in his honor." Naming the street after Librescu was the initiative of former U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Taubman, who says he was profoundly moved by the professor's courage. Taubman stated: "While he was a leader in the school of engineering at Virginia Tech, Professor Liviu Librescu was first and foremost a humanitarian who put the lives of his students above his own. His name will always be a blessing and a tribute to those who perished on April 16, 2007."
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College of Engineering graduate program ranked 25th
Virginia Tech's College of Engineering now ranks among the nation's 25 best engineering schools for graduate studies, according to U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools 2011 survey, released in April. In all, graduate programs in five of Virginia Tech's colleges ranked among the nation's best in their fields, according to the annual report. Boasting some 2,000 graduate students, the College of Engineering advanced two spots from the 2010 survey, where it was ranked 27th. It ranked 28th in the 2009 survey. Tying the Virginia Tech College of Engineering program for 2011 were Johns Hopkins University and The Ohio State University. The Tech college is the highest-ranked engineering school in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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Student receives Fulbright to study tuberculosis in Africa
Bonnie Fairbanks, a doctoral student in biological sciences in the College of Science, has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright scholarship to pursue her research in Botswana studying tuberculosis in mongoose populations. The research may offer insight into the spread of the disease among humans, according to Fairbanks. She will work with the Centre for Conservation of African Resources: Communities, Animals and Land Use. Her project, titled "Behavior and Physiological Factors Affecting TB [tuberculosis] Infection in Banded Mongooses," will shed light upon the variation in TB incidences in banded mongooses.
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Student receives Fulbright to teach in Germany
Elizabeth Prisley, who received her master of arts in English in May 2010 from the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright English teaching assistantship. Prisley will teach English to high school students in the German state of Hessen beginning in September 2010 and ending June 30, 2011. She will be teaching American and British literature and conversational skills through discussion groups on politics, religion, geography, family life, sports, and general culture. The grant pays for Prisley's travel and provides a stipend to cover living expenses while abroad.
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General Federation of Women's Clubs donates ambulance
A two-year fundraising drive by the General Federation of Women's Clubs of Virginia culminated in the organization presenting Virginia Tech's student-run rescue squad with a new ambulance. The 2009 E450 Ford ambulance increases the rescue squad's fleet to four, which will help the organization meet increasing demand for its services, said Matt Johnson, who was squad captain May 2007 through May 2010. The ambulance is believed to be the largest single donation to the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad.
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University celebrates 3-millionth rider with Blacksburg Transit
As students unloaded the Tom's Creek bus along the Drillfield on the morning of Tuesday, April 27, each student was handed an envelope. Inside one was a special ticket recognizing the recipient as the honorary 3-millionth Blacksburg Transit rider for the year. Stephen Carey claimed the title, receiving a $100 gift certificate for Downtown Blacksburg Inc. Programs such as Bike, Bus, & Walk have contributed to the successes of Blacksburg Transit and collectively have garnered state and national recognition.
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VBI partners to receive $1.45 million grant for plant protection
A research collaboration led by a professor from the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) will develop methods to protect agriculturally important crops in developing countries from devastating attacks by plant pathogens. A $1.45 million award from the Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development program sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund the research. VBI and Virginia Tech plant pathology, physiology, and weed science Professor Brett Tyler, along with colleagues at other universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will develop new approaches for crop protection against a broad range of diseases caused by fungal and fungal-like pathogens. The team's research will target cacao, an economically and ecologically important crop for a number of developing countries.
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Renovation project and theatre earn LEED certification
Virginia Tech's Theatre 101 and the Henderson Hall renovation project have been awarded LEED Gold certification as established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Considered the industry standard for green buildings, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification was designed by the USGBC to encourage the development of more sustainable buildings. The Henderson Hall renovation and Theatre 101, which had its debut performance in October 2009, achieved LEED certification on Feb. 5 for energy use, lighting, water, and material use, as well as for incorporating a variety of other sustainable strategies.
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Virginia Tech history book published online
• Relive the events leading to the establishment of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in Blacksburg.
• Read biographical sketches of every Virginia Tech president, including one whose administration was so short that he is not counted among the university's top leaders.
• Find the history of the university's academic colleges and schools and the name of every academic dean since the first four were appointed in 1903-04.
• Compare the records of football coaches since E.A. Smyth was appointed the first coach in 1892, and discover how women's basketball has fared since Ruth Louise Terrett "stirred up an enthusiasm for basketball," which spurred women students to form their own team in 1923, two years after the first full-time female students were admitted.
• Learn about the life of William Addison Caldwell, the first student to register, and the wartime actions that earned the Medal of Honor for seven alumni.
The History and Historical Data of Virginia Tech, an updated and expanded edition of the Historical Data Book published in 1972, has been published ONLINE. The online book was compiled, written, and edited by Clara B. Cox (English M.A. '84), expanding on the 1972 book by Jenkins M. Robertson.
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COMMENCEMENT THEN and NOW: 1910 and 2010
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The 2010 commencement ceremonies in mid-May didn't include a Sham Battle or an Alumni Smoker, as did the 1910 commencement celebration at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, now Virginia Tech.
Spread over six days in June 1910, the events--listed in a mint-condition commencement program recently donated to the university by Dr. James M. (biological sciences '58) and Marilyn M. Porterfield--honored 62 VPI graduates listed in the program's "Class Roll."
Porterfield received the program several years ago from a friend who knew he was a Hokie. Porterfield gave it to Bob Smythers (secondary education '82), Virginia Tech Foundation associate director of gift planning, with the understanding that Smythers would deliver it to the Virginia Tech Alumni Association in time for the 2010 commencement ceremonies.
While the May 2010 commencement events looked far different than their 1910 counterparts, Virginia Tech did acknowledge some fantastic academic achievements this year:
• 4,153 bachelor's degree candidates, with biology being the most popular among graduating seniors, followed by mechanical engineering; finance; human nutrition, foods, and exercise; and a fifth-place tie between physics and marketing;
• nearly 1,270 students honored at the Graduate Commencement ceremony: 980 master's degree candidates, three education specialist degree candidates, 22 Ed.D. candidates, 53 advanced graduate certificate candidates, 213 Ph.D. candidates, and 87 doctor of veterinary medicine degree candidates;
• about 300 National Capital Region graduates; 140 students honored for graduating from the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets; and 29 associate's degree candidates.
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UNIVERSITY MARKS TRAGEDY'S THIRD ANNIVERSARY
IN DAY OF REMEMBRANCE
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The third anniversary of April 16, 2007, was commemorated by honoring the pursuit of scholarship clearly evident in the lives of those who died.
An open house on the second floor of Norris Hall showcased the Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, the Liviu Librescu Student Engagement Center, and the Norris Hall Art Gallery, while displays in Newman Library highlighted the academic achievement of the 32 victims.
A sense of community permeated the Day of Remembrance, with small groups sharing a moment of silence in the War Memorial Chapel, thousands running and walking in the 3.2-mile Run in Remembrance, a community picnic, and the candlelight vigil on the Drillfield.
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FALLEN ALUMNUS HONORED
IN PYLON DEDICATION CEREMONY
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In a Pylon Dedication Ceremony on April 9, a solemn university community paid its respects to Capt. David Seth Mitchell (English '01), a U.S. Marine helicopter pilot and cadet alumnus who was killed Oct. 26, 2009, in Afghanistan.
Mitchell's name was etched into the Ut Prosim pylon, becoming the eighth Virginia Tech graduate since military operations after Sept. 11 to make the ultimate sacrifice.
At the ceremony, President Charles W. Steger compared war veterans of the post-Sept. 11 era to WWII veterans. "I firmly believe these eight Virginia Tech alumni represent the next 'Greatest Generation,'" Steger said.
Days later, the university learned that U.S. Navy Ensign Zachary Eckhart (aerospace engineering '08) was killed in the April 12 crash of his training aircraft in Georgia. A ceremony is being planned for spring 2011.
An audio slideshow of images from Mitchell's ceremony is available HERE.
IN MEMORIAM: ZACHARY ECKHART
Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Class of 2007
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THE FUTURE STARTS HERE
Impact.
It's what you do well.
It's what Virginia Tech does well.
Innovation fosters impact in everything we do.
As alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends, the entire Virginia Tech community is transforming the lives of those we serve.
Visit ThisIsTheFuture.com and tell us what you're doing to make your community a better place to live.
Share a story, or leave a comment. Be as creative or straightforward as you like. We've redesigned the website to be more user-friendly and hope you'll share how you're making an impact.
The future is being created by all of us, every day. Let's show the world that Virginia Tech is leading the charge.
– ThisIsTheFuture.com –
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