Virginia Commonwealth University merged the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics and the Department of Statistical Sciences and Operations Research into a single Department of Mathematics and Statistics on July 1, 2026. The two departments, housed in the College of Humanities and Sciences, trace back to VCU's original Department of Mathematical Sciences, which also included computer science. In 1996, mathematics and statistics split into separate departments and the computer science program moved to the newly formed College of Engineering. In 2009, the two departments collaborated around a joint Ph.D. program in Systems Modeling and Analysis, a partnership that helped lay the groundwork for this merger, first proposed under the repositioning task force convened by the former provost, Fotis Sotiropoulos, Ph.D.

"The hope is that the establishment of the new department will remove the boundaries that currently exist between the two departments and allow for more unified faculty effort on the academic side," said Rebecca Segal, Ph.D., professor and chair of the new department. "While some of our faculty have previously collaborated, this will create renewed opportunities for connected course development and research activities. Especially as we move into the age of data science, artificial intelligence, and complex modeling, combining strengths from mathematics and statistics will be necessary."

The newly created Department of Mathematics and Statistics serves 175 majors and teaches roughly 8,000 students a year in general education courses.