News

Olufunke Grace Bankole’s debut novel, ‘The Edge of Water,’ is an emotionally resonant story of three generations of Nigerian women. (Tin House)

Olufunke Grace Bankole wins the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award for ‘The Edge of Water’

July 1, 2026

She will receive the prize, which is now in its 25th year, during a public event at VCU on Nov. 12.

VCU expert R. Andrew Chesnut shared his thoughts on the recent flare-up in the Catholic Church between traditionalists and the pope. (Getty Images)

Catholic Church faces flare-up this week between traditionalists and the pope

July 1, 2026

VCU expert R. Andrew Chesnut offers insight into the Society of St. Pius X and the challenge to papal authority.

Anthropology and biology major manages humanitarian work at home and abroad

June 29, 2026

Isra’a Nour (B.S.’15) serves as a program manager at Open Society Foundations, a nonprofit organization focused on human rights, equity, and justice, where she supports advocacy work.

Latino Virginia project captures untold oral history

June 25, 2026

The project, led by sociology professor Gabriela León-Pérez and history professor Daniel Morales, has collected over 140 interviews with Virginians who share a background or heritage in Latin America.

As both an undergraduate and dental student, Sara Khraibut formed close relationships at VCU and grew as a person and clinician.(School of Dentistry)

Periodontist Sara Khraibut returns to Kuwait after 11 years, 2 degrees and 1 residency at VCU

June 24, 2026

Khraibut, who will work for the Ministry of Health in her home country, said VCU has ‘helped shape me into the person I am today.’

John Jones, who is pictured stocking a Ram Fridge, is the principal investigator for a $1.04 million grant to launch a coordinated initiative to reduce food waste across VCU and VCU Health. (Thomas Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

New initiative to reduce food waste, increase composting at VCU and VCU Health

June 18, 2026

The Food Rescue and Composting initiative aims to reduce an estimated more than 120,000 pounds of food waste.

After completing her Ph.D., Milan Marsh hopes to begin a career in industry, applying mathematical modeling to real-word problems. (Contributed image)

VCU and math have long been part of the equation for systems modeling student Milan Marsh

June 16, 2026

A high school program on campus helped propel her Ph.D. studies, which touch on biology and disease.

Since the creation of his Wikipedia account in 2007, VCU professor Peter Uetz has made more than 6,000 edits – enough to put him in the top 0.1% of users. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

This VCU professor’s extracurricular gig? Wikipedia editor

June 11, 2026

School of Life Sciences professor Peter Uetz, Ph.D., uses the online encyclopedia as a teaching tool, both inside the classroom and out.

David Coogan (bottom left) co-authors Stanley Craddock upper left), Ron Fountain (upper right), Naji Mujahid (middle left), Kelvin Belton (middle right), and Dean Turner (bottom right) wrote “After Jail, Before Freedom.” (Photo of jail by John Dooley. Photos of authors by Skip Rowland)

In ‘After Jail, Before Freedom,’ VCU author David Coogan revisits his co-authors

June 4, 2026

The English professor’s new sequel to ‘Writing Our Way Out’ continues exploring incarceration, and its aftermath, through storytelling.

Award recipients of the VCU AHSS Fund are identified through a peer review process with an emphasis on projects that expand imagination, innovation, self-reflection and society as well as cultural identity. (File photo)

VCU drives societal change with 10 new Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Fund awards

June 3, 2026

Nearly $100,000 is being awarded to fund projects on teacher education, AI, environmental governance, the history of Black dentistry and more.