Alum and Donor News

Alumni Q+A: Jeff MacDonald (B.S. ’10, M.S. ’12) is directing AI’s evolution in creative advertising

Aug. 5, 2025

The creative advertising alumnus reflects on his time at VCU and how it influenced his career path as an industry trailblazer in AI integration

Emma Cummings processes a bird as part of her responsibilities during an internship at Assateague Island National Seashore off the coast of Maryland. (National Park Service)

Recent VCU grad Emma Cummings is bonding, and banding, with the birds

July 24, 2025

In Yellowstone this season, the National Park Service staffer is powered by a lifelong interest in nature and avian ecology lessons from the Rice Rivers Center.

Fulbright recipients from VCU will travel to Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Nigeria and Taiwan during the 2025-26 academic year. (File photo)

Five recent graduates receive prestigious Fulbright awards for the 2025-26 academic year

July 23, 2025

The selections continue VCU’s upward trend of honorees in the federal cultural exchange program.

VCU alum Martin Townes has been working at Virginia’s Executive Mansion since 2019. (Photo by Rosa Woodring, a co-worker and VCU alum)

At Virginia’s Executive Mansion, Martin Townes serves the present and preserves the past as butler-historian

April 28, 2025

Longtime passions come together for the VCU alum, who also serves on the state Board of Historic Resources.

(Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Three undergraduates and one recent alum earn distinguished awards for international summer study

April 15, 2025

The four, who have ties to the Honors College, will pursue programs related to diplomacy and science.

Sam Ulmschneider, a VCU history alum, has coached three Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School teams to national titles in the annual We the People competition. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Meet-a-Ram: History Department alumni honoree was a close call – geographically

April 2, 2025

At the Maggie Walker School near VCU, teacher Sam Ulmschneider is instilling wisdom and winning titles in a national civics program.

VCU alums who won Black History in the Making Awards when they were students. Clockwise from top left: Eloise Berry, Ph.D., Fadel Allassan, Jaz-Munn Johnson, M.D., Taylor Pattie, Tonecia Brothers-Sutton and Sasha Pierre-Louis.

Checking in with VCU’s Black history makers

Feb. 26, 2025

For more than four decades, VCU has honored students with Black History in the Making Awards – and here are updates on six accomplished recipients.

Aimee Selleck, a VCU alum and graduate student, serves as student employment manager in VCU Career Services. (Thomas Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Meet-a-Ram: Aimee Selleck makes a mark in, and beyond, VCU Career Services

Feb. 18, 2025

The student employment manager and alum is continuing her own education and service while helping students ‘earn while they learn.’

Tom Robbins and his wife, Alexa D'Avalon, visit James Branch Cabell Library in 2012. (VCU Libraries Gallery)

The legacy of the singular American writer Tom Robbins lives on at VCU

Feb. 12, 2025

The 1959 graduate died this week at age 92, but VCU Libraries is home to his papers, which capture the vibrant voice and irreverent spirit reflected in ‘Even Cowgirls Get the Blues’ and other works.

Paige Dossett and Samuel Dobbs, who married in 2016, met as students near VCU’s Monroe Park Campus. (Contributed photo)

Unbreakable bonds: Their time at VCU was ‘a real blessing’ for alums Samuel Dobbs and Paige Dossett — even if their first date was a bit of a stretch

Feb. 11, 2025

The couple, who married in 2016, met by chance as students and never looked back.