Friends,
I can’t believe October has nearly come and gone. Fall break is behind us and the Thanksgiving holiday is looming.
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of spending a beautiful fall afternoon at the groundbreaking of the Carole Weinstein International Center. I was pleased to see so many Arts & Sciences faculty and students in attendance—eager to launch a project that will bring all of the School’s internationally-oriented disciplines under one roof alongside the Office of International Education.
Many of you may be wondering about the future now more than ever before, on the eve of an historic election and in the shadow of the country’s, and the world’s, current economic crisis. While President Ayers is confident that the University of Richmond can meet the challenges these uncertain times will bring, we remain ever mindful of them as we plot the University’s future course. Work continues on the University’s strategic plan, which will have a far reach, both across the University and the greater Richmond community. I encourage you to learn more.
Best,
Andy Newcomb
Dean, School of Arts & Sciences
Class travels to South America to volunteer in village clinic
Two years ago, political science professor Rick Mayes and his U.S. healthcare policy & politics class read a book called “Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World,” by Tracy Kidder, which deals with global heath, infectious disease and human rights. (more.)
Physics professor receives Department of Energy grant to study nuclear structures
Physics professor Con Beausang has been awarded a grant from the Department of Energy’s Office of Science for $117,000, which will support his research on nuclear structure. (more.)
NSF awards the University of Richmond a three-year grant to encourage scientific careers combining math and biology
The University of Richmond has been awarded a three-year, $134,028 grant from the National Science Foundation to increase numbers of students pursuing scientific careers that combine math and biological sciences. (more.)
Math alumna returns to her department as visiting professor
Sarah Adams, ’97, graduated from Richmond with a major in mathematics and minors in French and physics and went straight to graduate school at Cornell University for her masters degree and Ph.D. (more.)
History professor’s book Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution wins People’s Choice Award at the Library of Virginia’s Literary Awards
History professor Woody Holton won for his 2007 book Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution, which argues that the people of revolutionary America forced the power elite to craft a Constitution more favorable to underdogs than to moneyed interests. (more.)
Computer science students will compete in IBM-sponsored computer programming competition
A team of nine students and computer science professor Lewis Barnett will compete in the IBM-sponsored Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest. (more.)
NIH awards psychology professor $885,739 grant for alcohol research
The National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has awarded Kristen Lindgren, assistant professor of psychology at University of Richmond, a grant to investigate behavioral approaches related to the cause and prevention of alcohol use disorder. (more.)
Student spends half of college in Tanzania, then interns at USAID
In his senior year of high school, Will Cragin, ’09, wanted to do some traveling. At the time, he had no idea that the one-month AIDS prevention volunteer program he chose in Tanzania would spark a passion for public health in Africa. (more.)
Don Doyle, the 2008-2009 Douglas Southall Freeman Professor of History, gives two-part Freeman Lecture
Don Doyle is a historian of the United States history and has a special interest in the American South, and nationalism in the Americas and Europe. His current research involves an interpretation of the foundations of America’s national ideology from the Revolution through Reconstruction. (more.)
Bliss Broyard, American fiction writer and memoirist, to take part in Writers’ Series on Nov. 17
Daughter of New York Times literary critic Anatole Broyard and author of My Father Dancing and One Drop: My Father’s Hidden Life—A Story of Race and Family Secrets, Bliss Broyard’s work has been featured in the Best American Short Stories of 1998 and The Pushcart Anthology. (more)
