Skip to main content

News Briefs

Bang for the Buck

The University retained its No. 3 ranking for the fifth time in six years in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine’s “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” list. The article highlighted UVA and the College of William & Mary (ranked No. 4): “Two Virginia schools deserve special Kiplinger kudos for consistently maintaining their position among our top five since our first rankings in 1998.”

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill came in at No. 1 for the 10th straight year, and the University of Florida continued to hold down its No. 2 spot. “Our faculty and staff have been committed to the delivery of quality educational and support programs in tough economic times,” says Leonard W. Sandridge, UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “However, our focus simply is to be the best university we can be every day. When we do, the rankings tend to take care of themselves.”

Darden Rising

In Bloomberg Businessweek’s ranking of the “The Best B-Schools,” the Darden School of Business rose five places, to No. 11, in the ranking of U.S. business schools. “Darden is No. 1 in student satisfaction,” Bloomberg staff editor Geoff Gloeckler wrote. “Many grads mentioned the strong alumni network and the administrative support they received during the job search. Also, students like the school’s engaging curriculum.”

The ranking of full-time MBA programs is based on a survey of newly minted MBAs, a poll of corporate recruiters and an evaluation of faculty research output.

Top Shelf

John F. Miller Dan Addison

Classics professor John F. Miller won the preeminent prize in the field of classics, the 2010 Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit, for his book Apollo, Augustus, and the Poets. The product of a decade of research and writing, the book addresses a “very important but insufficiently understood moment in the history of ancient Roman culture,” says Miller, who joined the UVA faculty in 1984 and has chaired the classics department for the past 12 years. “Apollo was a central deity in Greece, but became a major god in Roman religion only thanks to the first emperor of Rome, Augustus, who claimed him as a patron divinity.”

Jennifer Greeson

A book written by assistant professor of English Jennifer Greeson, Our South: Geographic Fantasy and the Rise of National Literature, received the C. Holman Award, given annually to the most distinguished work of scholarship in the field of Southern literature. In her book, which Greeson describes as a prehistory to the rise of Southern literature in the 20th century, she examines early American writings that consider the South as part of the process of a new nation establishing its identity.

Thomas Jefferson Awards

Dr. Richard L. Guerrant and John L. Colley Jr. Jane Haley

John L. Colley Jr., a 43-year veteran of the Darden School faculty, and Dr. Richard L. Guerrant (Med ’68), director of UVA’s Center for Global Health, received the 2010 Thomas Jefferson Awards, the highest honors the University bestows upon its faculty. Colley received the award for excellence in service, recognizing his many years as a teacher, leader, mentor and adviser, including contributions to the Raven Society, Honor Committee, Jefferson Scholars Foundation and the Athletics Department.

Guerrant was honored with the award for excellence in scholarship. His career has been dedicated to research on the causes and prevention of childhood diarrhea caused by gastrointestinal pathogens, which the World Health Organization estimates is the cause of death for 2 million children each year. Guerrant founded the Center for Global Health in 1979 and has mentored hundreds of UVA students and postdoctoral fellows who have worked in developing nations around the world.

New Leadership for UVIMCO

Lawrence E. Kochard Jane Haley

Lawrence E. Kochard became chief executive officer of the University of Virginia’s Investment Management Company on Jan. 1, taking on oversight of an endowment that totaled $4.9 billion at the end of 2010. Kochard (Grad ’96, ’99), who taught at the McIntire School of Commerce from 1997 to 2000, comes to UVA from Georgetown University, where he was the founding director of the school’s investment office. “Endowment income and private gifts provide the extra margin that takes the University of Virginia from adequacy to excellence,” says President Teresa A. Sullivan. “They also provide flexibility to meet pressing needs and support priorities as they arise during leaner times. We are entrusting Mr. Kochard with one of our most important assets.”

Grammy Nomination

Judith Shatin Peter Schaaf

Tower of the Eight Winds, a compact disc of chamber music written by music professor Judith Shatin, has been nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award. Her music has been described by the Washington Post as “highly inventive … hugely enjoyable and deeply involving” and by the San Francisco Chronicle as “exuberant and captivating.” The nomination is for Blanton Alspaugh as “Producer of the Year—Classical.”