Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D.
From the Dean
Welcome to VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences 2025-26 Annual Report. I am excited to share our many successes from the year and give you a glimpse of what is ahead for CHS.
Exemplifying an R1 University
A central goal of any college is research that leads to the creation of new knowledge — by undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. We regularly see that goal realized with our undergraduates, as evidenced at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research in April. Hosted in Richmond, this conference included more than 5,000 attendees and featured research presentations by 266 CHS students, more than half of all VCU presentations at the conference. Presentation topics spanned the breadth of CHS, from the humanities to the social sciences to the natural sciences.
One reason for our students’ success is their amazing faculty mentors, who lead by example. Our faculty are some of the top researchers in their fields, and this year we celebrated a number of academic accomplishments. Anthropologist Amy Rector, Ph.D., made a discovery that changed our ancestral tree as reported in Nature. Historian Brooke Newman, Ph.D., published a groundbreaking book, “The Crown’s Silence: The Hidden History of the British Monarchy and Slavery in the Americas,” which garnered praise from The New Yorker, the Guardian, and NPR. Chemist Matthew Hartman received a prestigious Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) grant from the National Institutes of Health for his research on cancer at the molecular level. You can read more about faculty excellence on page 14.
Investing in Internships
According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), students who complete an internship are more likely to receive a full-time job offer and start a job at a higher salary compared to those who didn’t. Additionally, internship experience is the top factor employers consider when choosing between two otherwise equally qualified candidates.
To make sure that students have professional experiences, we have been piloting a program called the College-to-Career Blueprint, developed in partnership with VCU Career Services, that directly connects the knowledge students gain within their majors with career aspirations. We have also formalized an internship relationship with the Richmond Better Business Bureau. And we continue to provide financial support through the Career Pathways Fund, which enables students to hold internships, present conference papers, or conduct field research.
Richmond as a Living Learning Laboratory
CHS considers Richmond a living lab for our students and faculty. Whether a student is studying the history of this country, life sciences, or community health, Richmond is a resource for immediate, visible, and meaningful engagement, and our faculty bring unique expertise unavailable anywhere else. In the fall, CHS will pilot 40 sections of our first-year writing course with the theme “Richmond as Common Experience,” the Department of History is launching a new general education course on Richmond, and I have asked each department to create a course that can only be taught here in RVA.
Looking Ahead
Many exciting things lie in store for the upcoming year! This fall, we will launch the Baldacci Institute for Civil Discourse, a new nonpartisan initiative supported by a generous gift from Michelle and David (B.A. ‘83) Baldacci. You can read more about the Baldacci Institute on page 8.
We are introducing an AI literacy requirement for students in CHS, which teaches students the fundamentals of AI through a digital literacy framework, as well as examines the ethical, social, and cultural implications of AI. CHS will also host an AI Research Summit in October.
And, our America at 250 events continue this fall. To see the full schedule, visit go.vcu.edu/ america250.
Of course, none of this work would be possible without your ongoing partnership. Thank you for being part of our VCU community. Thank you for generously supporting our students, our faculty, and our initiatives. And thank you for representing VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences to the larger world.
Thank you,
Catherine Ingrassia, Ph.D.
Dean
College of Humanities and Sciences