A message from the president
It is my pleasure to welcome you to Virginia Commonwealth University.
VCU is a new kind of research university — one that puts learning at the center of all that it does. We strive to focus all activities of the university directly on the creation of learning.
With nearly 32,000 undergraduate, master’s, doctoral and professional students pursuing 205 degree and certificate programs, VCU offers a curriculum that engages students in a course of study designed to explore the nature of human reasoning, the physical and natural sciences, morality and ethics, individual and group responsibility, and the meaning and purposes of human existence. Courses in literature, mathematics, languages, the humanities, the social sciences, fine arts and the sciences are core elements of the educational experience at VCU. Sixty-five of the university’s programs are unique in Virginia. Twenty-one graduate and first-professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as among the best of their kind in the nation, with two ranked No. 1 in their discipline.
We are dedicated to excellence in education in an atmosphere of free inquiry and scholarship so that our students may realize their full potential as informed, productive citizens with a lifelong commitment to learning and service. We recognize that all the activities of the university — teaching, research, service and patient care — provide opportunities to learn. This approach allows us to prepare students to thrive in a complex, interdependent, diverse and constantly changing world.
As part of a long-range strategic plan, VCU has been enhancing its stature as one of the nation’s leading research universities. With more than $225 million in annual research funding, VCU is designated as a Research University with high research activity by the Carnegie Foundation. Strategic projects have included establishing a School of Engineering, which has been an important factor in attracting the microelectronics industry to the state, and VCU Life Sciences, a comprehensive undergraduate and graduate program involving the academic and medical faculty.
The VCU Medical Center is one of the most comprehensive in the nation. Its physician-faculty, facilities and medical-care programs receive annual recognition from local, regional and national guides and reports on the best health care.
VCU is an extraordinary institution, and we are proud that you are part of the excitement here. Best wishes with your program of study.
Sincerely,
Eugene P. Trani
President