Reinforcing its commitment to sustainability, the University appoints Andrew J. Greene as sustainability planner for the Office of the Architect. He will work with others on the Grounds to coordinate sustainability planning, building design, carbon reduction, recycling, and utility conservation.

The University of Virginia Women’s Center presents Yvonne Hubbard, director of Student Financial Services, with this year’s Zintl Award. The award recognizes an extraordinary female employee who has shaped the lives of faculty, staff, and students. It is named for Elizabeth Zintl, chief of staff in the President’s Office until her death in 1997.

More than 1,200 University employees take part in the United Way–Thomas Jefferson Area’s Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring. They tackle a list of some 250 projects — ranging from painting to reading to schoolchildren — proposed by local schools and nonprofits.

Michelle Obama, wife of presidential candidate Barack Obama; and Jill Biden, wife of vice–presidential candidate Joe Biden, appear at a rally in the Newcomb Hall Plaza to support their husbands’ campaigns and raise awareness of women’s issues.

The Board of Visitors approves seed funding for initiatives in three priority areas identified by the President’s Commission on the Future: the student experience; science, technology, and research; and global programs. The initiatives include the Jefferson Public Citizens program, the Institute for Faculty Advancement, the Center for International Studies, and the expansion of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning.

With Aliens! as its theme, the twenty–first Virginia Film Festival weekend launches with Sissy Spacek’s new film, Lake City, produced by Mark Johnson (College ’71). Co–starring in the film is Troy Garity, son of Jane Fonda. A special film series includes the seventieth anniversary rebroadcast of the Orson Welles’ "War of the Worlds" radio program in the McCormick Observatory.

For the second straight year, admissions officers from U.Va., Harvard, and Princeton begin touring the nation to explain how qualified students from low–income backgrounds can afford to attend college, thanks to financial aid programs such as AccessUVa. As of October 21, more than 2,500 students in twenty–seven cities register for the sessions.

In a break with tradition, the University names two winners of the Thomas Jefferson Award, its highest honor for members of the University community: John A. "Jack" Blackburn, dean of admission for twenty–three years; and Dr. Sharon L. Hostler, the McLemore Birdsong Professor of Pediatrics, who has served as medical director at the Kluge Children’s Rehabilitation Center, interim dean of the Medical School, and interim vice provost for faculty advancement.

A panel of hedge fund managers at the McIntire School of Commerce Fall Forum, "Investment Strategies in Turbulent Times" draws more than 1,000 attendees. The discussion is led by John A. Griffin (McIntire ’85), president and founder of Blue Ridge Capital, and features Richard M. Gerson (McIntire ’97), managing director of Blue Ridge Capital LLC; Julian H. Robertson, co–founder of legendary hedge fund Tiger Management; Chris W. Shumway (McIntire ’88), founding partner of Shumway Capital Partners; and Paul Touradji (McIntire ’93), president and chief investment officer of Touradji Capital Management.

At the twentieth Virginia Public Procurement Forum, U.Va.’s Facilities Management Division receives a SWaM (small, women, and minority) award for its efforts to incorporate supplier diversity in the construction process. In fiscal 2008, $108.7 million, or 56.8 percent of all construction spending, was with SWaM firms.

Tony Award–winning dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones arrives on the Grounds as artist in residence. With his Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Mr. Jones gives a workshop that explores his new piece, Fondly Do We Hope — Fervently Do We Pray . . ., a dance/theater piece commemorating the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. His workshop is one of several events in U.Va.’s Inaugural Assembly for the Arts, "Opening the Door to Creativity."

Larry Sabato, the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Government and Foreign Affairs, predicts a landslide victory for Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress. His Crystal Ball
Web site at www.centerforpolitics.org/
crystalball/ scores a nearly perfect record for accuracy in predicting the 2008 election outcomes.

University Police Chief Michael A. Gibson is named Police Chief of the Year by the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ Crisis Intervention Team, a national organization assisting police officers in defusing difficult situations, particularly with the mentally ill.

Encyclopedia Virginia, a free and interactive electronic resource at www.encyclopediavirginia.org/, goes live. Created by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the digital encyclopedia features content covering twentieth–century history, literature, and the Civil War.

Several faculty members organize a teach–in on issues surrounding the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Faculty with expertise in areas related to South Asia, such as history, economics, literature, and anthropology, as well as representatives of various religious communities and Pakistani and Indian expatriates living in the community, discuss the events in Mumbai and the background and context in which they occurred.

Despite the struggling economy, U.Va. is number one in the state in giving to the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign, with approximately 3,800 University employees contributing a record $933,700 to local and national nonprofit organizations. U.Va. contributions account for more than 20 percent of the $4.2 million contributed by employees statewide.

Four area legislators attend the University’s annual Legislative Forum — Senator R. Creigh Deeds, D–Bath; Senator Emmett W. Hanger, Jr., R–Augusta; Delegate Robert B. Bell, R–Albemarle, and Delegate David Toscano, D–Charlottesville. Discussion focuses on Governor Timothy M. Kaine’s proposed 2009–10 state budget.

More than 170 people pack the Art Museum to launch the University’s new Science & Art Project. This initiative recognizes the commonality of creativity in art and science and promotes interchanges between scientists and artists.

Harry Harding, one of America’s preeminent China scholars, is appointed the first dean of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. Mr. Harding serves as the dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.

Commemorating the 200th birthday of one of its most famous students, the University presents "From Out That Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Edgar Allan Poe" featuring manuscripts, books, art, and personal effects. The exhibit is a partnership between the Mary and David Harrison Institute of American History, Literature, and Culture and the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia, and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin.

Jack Blackburn, dean of admission, dies at sixty–seven. His legacy at U.Va. is distinguished by both the quality and the diversity of its student body. A campaign to create the John A. Blackburn Endowed Scholarship for AccessUVa in his honor for low–income students draws more than $1.5 million in just three months.

For the first time in sixty–two years, the collection of French modern art assembled by T. Catesby Jones (Law 1902) is reunited, thanks to the efforts of U.Va. Art Museum curator Matthew Affron. The show, titled "Matisse, Picasso, and Modern Art in Paris," also includes works by Marc Chagall, Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, Juan Gris, and Jacques Lipchitz.

Bruce Ambler Boucher, curator of European sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, is appointed director of the University of Virginia Art Museum. He is an expert on the sixteenth–century Italian architect Andrea Palladio, whose work had a profound influence on Thomas Jefferson’s design for the Academical Village.

The University launches its Tibet Center, the culmination of more than four decades of international leadership in Tibetan Studies. The center will provide a forum for constructive analysis and action on the pressing issues confronting the country.

The Virginia Theatre Association awards drama professor LaVahn Hoh its Lifetime Achievement Award for his thirty–three years of service to the arts. Mr. Hoh is best known nationally for his expertise as a circus historian; he teaches the only accredited course in America on the circus.

Jason Franasiak (Medicine ’09) receives the American Medical Association Leadership Award. He founded the University’s chapter of Building Tomorrow: Destination Kampala, a nonprofit organization that raises funds and awareness for the construction of schools in Kampala, Uganda. In May Dr. Franasiak receives the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for service to others and the community, along with Tamira Dawn Roberson (College ’09) and Carol Wood, assistant vice president for public affairs for the University

Rahul Gorawara is named the student member of the Board of Visitors. A third–year student, Mr. Gorawara graduates in May with a triple major in electrical engineering, computer engineering, and economics. He is also working toward a master’s degree in the Batten School.

Kicking off the first exchange program tailored for U.Va. studio art students, Zhou Jin, associate professor of fine art at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, travels to the University with graduate student Tang Kwok Hin. Mr. Zhou demonstrates traditional Chinese painting techniques and shares work done by his colleagues and students. Megan Marlatt, a professor in the McIntire Department of Art; and fourth–year studio art distinguished major Sarah Dylla reciprocate the exchange and travel to Hong Kong in late May.

The University forms a new partnership with the Peace Corps as it joins its Master’s International program. The Curry School of Education will offer a master of education degree in conjunction with a Peace Corps international placement to candidates who have been accepted to both institutions.

During Earth Hour, a global event intended to create awareness of energy use and conservation, U.Va. turns off nonessential lights and electronics, achieving a savings of more than 1,000 kilowatt hours and reducing carbon emissions by about 1,200 pounds.

The Center for Politics announces an international initiative aimed at enhancing dialogue among democracies around the world and exploring avenues for improving civic engagement within democratic societies. In partnership with the U.S. Department of State and other organizations, Global Perspectives on Democracy will invite international citizens to participate in either in–country workshops or programmed citizen–exchange trips to the United States.

The Student Information System goes live, giving students and other users a more efficient way to sign up for courses, manage progress toward a degree, and access academic records. It is the latest step in the three–year Student Systems Project, designed to create a single electronic record of a student’s progress from application to graduation.

BackStory with the American History Guys, a radio show produced by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, receives a development grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The show, which links American history to current social issues, features Peter Onuf, Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor of History; Brian Balogh, associate professor of history; and Ed Ayers, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and now president of the University of Richmond.

A monumental sculpture by Alexander Calder is installed in front of Peabody Hall, inaugurating the new public sculpture program. The twelve–foot–tall work, "Tripes," is on long–term loan from the Calder Foundation in New York.

At Founder’s Day, the University presents its highest honors, the Thomas Jefferson Medals in Architecture, Civic Leadership, and Law to Robert Irwin, an American artist; Warren M. Christopher, former secretary of state; and Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld, co–founders of the Innocence Project, respectively.

The first–ever student Sustainability Project Competition, organized by the President’s Committee on Sustainability, is held in the Rotunda’s Dome Room and showcases twenty–four projects focused on creating a more sustainable future. Judges choose the top three projects for prizes: "U.Va. Bikes" by McIntire School of Commerce students, "Learning Barge" by School of Architecture and School of Engineering and Applied Science students, and "Management and Reuse of Salt–Contaminated Stormwater Runoff" from the School of Engineering.

U.Va. and the Institute for Shipboard Education announce a new Semester at Sea program focusing on China–U.S. relations. The global, comparative, study–abroad experience aboard a "floating campus," the MV Explorer, will begin in spring 2010. The program will focus on sociocultural, policy, and economic interactions between Chinese and Americans.

A two–day research symposium on links between climate change and public health is held. In the tradition of Thomas Jefferson, who held community days for the University to share knowledge with the local community, the Sustainability Symposium on Climate Change and Health is open to the public.

For the fourth time in three years, the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear a case presented by the School of Law’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. Clinic instructor Mark Stancil argues Bloate v. United States before the justices in November.

The second annual John W. and Maria T. Kluge Distinguished Lecture in Arts and Humanities is held at Morven Farm. Sponsored by the Kluge–Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum, the lecture is delivered by Dr. Howard Morphy, director of the Research School for the Humanities at Australian National University.

Dr. Bankole Johnson, the Alumni Professor of Psychiatric Medicine, receives the Solomon Carter Fuller Award from the American Psychiatric Association for his work on physiological basis of substance abuse. He leads a team with Ming D. Li, the Jean and Ronald Butcher, M.D., Eminent Scholars Professor of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, studying variants of a gene that could help account for why some people have a propensity for heavy drinking.

Dorrie Fontaine, dean of the School of Nursing and the Sadie Heath Cabaniss Professor of Nursing, rings the NASDAQ closing bell to observe National Nurses Week.

Undeterred by threatening weather, graduates walk the Lawn for the University’s 180th Final Exercises. J. Harvie Wilkinson III, federal appeals court judge and graduate of the Law School, urges them to spurn the paths that others lay out for them. The University awards the first doctorate of nursing practice and the first master’s degrees in public policy.

Kim Tanzer, a highly regarded teacher, researcher, and community advocate, is appointed dean of the School of Architecture, succeeding Karen Van Lengen, who is stepping down after ten years. Formerly a professor at the University of Florida, Ms. Tanzer has received local and national awards for her community–based architecture practice.

Governor Timothy M. Kaine delivers the keynote address during Commencement exercises at U.Va.’s College at Wise.

"Priorities for a New President," the second season of the Miller Center of Public Affairs’ National Discussion and Debate Series, features a discussion about developing a national infrastructure policy. Panelists include Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The panel moderator is Robert MacNeil, founder and former co–anchor of the "MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour."

With private support, as part of a $2 million restoration of Pavilion X and adjacent student rooms, an eight–and–a–half foot parapet, part of Jefferson’s original design, will once again define the roofline. The original was removed in the 1890s.

Fifty–two of the University’s 2009 graduates will go on to teach in urban and rural public schools across the country through the Teach for America program — the seventh–highest total among large colleges and universities. A record 35,000 students applied to the 2009 Teach for America corps, with the number of U.Va. students participating doubling from 2008.

Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Yoke San Reynolds receives the Distinguished Business Officer award from the National Association of College and University Business Officers for her work in University financial management.

Matthew Crawford’s book, Shop Class as Soulcraft, heads to the top of the bestseller lists. A meditation on the value of manual labor, it reflects his experience running a motorcycle repair shop in Richmond. Mr. Crawford is a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture.

The University opens the 102,000–square–foot Carter–Harrison Research Building, which will house nearly 240 scientists and lab personnel. It is an essential step in U.Va.’s efforts to bolster science at the University.

Sylvia Terry, associate dean of African–American affairs and director of the award–winning Peer Advisor Program, retires after twenty–nine years at the University.

U.Va. is already complying with much of Governor Timothy M. Kaine’s newly signed executive order No. 82, designed to reduce state government’s environmental impact. Among the steps the University has taken are the creation of a presidential advisory committee on sustainability and adoption of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards for new construction.

A U.Va. team heads to Congo to educate clinicians who collect evidence and provide care for the many rape victims they see daily. The team includes Sarah Anderson, a forensic nurse in the Department of Emergency Medicine; Barbara Parker, the Theresa A. Thomas Professor of Primary Care Nursing; and nursing doctoral student Jamela Martin. They are joined by a team from Johns Hopkins University.

The Curry School of Education receives a grant from Philip Morris USA, an Altria Company, to establish the Center for Positive Youth Development. The center is being created to design and evaluate school– and community–based programs intended to improve youths’ health, well–being, civic engagement, and academic achievement.

John O. "Dubby" Wynne (Law ’71) begins his term on the Board of Visitors as the University’s fortieth rector, succeeding W. Heywood Fralin (College ’85), who will remain on the board until 2012. Daniel R. Abramson (College ’70), recently named vice rector, will succeed Mr. Wynne in 2011. Governor Timothy M. Kaine names Randal J. Kirk (Law ’79) of Pulaski County to the board to replace Thomas F. Farrell II (College ’76, Law ’79) and appoints three current members to second terms: A Macdonald Caputo (College ’63, Law ’66) of Fairfield County, Connecticut; Alan A. Diamonstein (McIntire ’55, Law ’58) of Newport News; and Vincent Mastracco, Jr. (College ’61), of Norfolk.

Drama professor Michael Rasbury is selected to premier his musical about autism, "Max Understood," at the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Mr. Rasbury wrote and composed the pieces, inspired by his nine–year–old son, Max, who has autism, with director and actor Nancy Carlin of Berkeley, California.

The Semester at Sea Program departs on its 100th global voyage from Halifax, Nova Scotia. A new Web site featuring photos, interactive media, and alumni stories is produced as part of the celebration. See www.semesteratsea.org/our-100th-voyage/.

President John T. Casteen III welcomes the Class of 2013, the largest first–year class in U.Va.’s history. The class includes 3,260 students from forty–six states and the District of Columbia, and seventy–six countries. Sixty–eight percent are Virginians; half of those from Northern Virginia, and 315 transferred from Virginia’s community colleges. More than 1,000 students are supported in some measure by AccessUVa, the University’s financial aid program. Nearly a third of the students identified themselves as coming from minority backgrounds.

The University of Virginia Foundation is awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its newest building, Town Center Three, located in the U.Va. Research Park. Gold recognition requires construction and design standards such as using 95 percent Forest Stewardship Council–certified wood and a construction waste management program that recycled and/or salvaged at least 56 percent of construction waste.

The University arts community gathers on the Arts Grounds to celebrate the new academic year. A series of events called "Playing the Space" includes the Cavalier Marching Band, a faculty art show, and a dance party hosted by the School of Architecture. The marching band, part of the McIntire Department of Music, is the newest member of the University arts community to physically join the Arts Grounds. The band will move into the rehearsal hall on the Arts Grounds’ north side until its new facility, funded in part by a gift from longtime benefactor Hunter J. Smith, is constructed.

Husain Haqqani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, kicks off the University’s Ambassador Forum Lecture Series for the 2009–10 academic year. The series brings the world to the Grounds and gives students direct exposure to global affairs.

Using PrimaryAccess, a Web–based teaching tool developed at the Curry School’s Center for Technology and Teacher Education, students can create documentaries on a new educational Web site, "Picturing the 1930s," launched September 2 by the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum. Visit http://americanart.si.edu/education/picturing_the_1930s. Visitors can select images, write text, and record narration in the style of a documentary filmmaker. They can then screen their video in a virtual theater. PrimaryAccess was recognized in July as one of twenty–five "Best Web Sites for Teaching and Learning."

The University celebrates the centennial of Carr’s Hill, the president’s residence and the last of the University buildings designed by McKim, Mead & White. As part of the celebration, the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture/Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library opens "From Village to Grounds: Architecture After Jefferson at the University of Virginia" and the University of Virginia Art Museum hosts "Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village: The Creation of an Architectural Masterpiece." The Museum and the Departments of Architectural History and Art History, along with the Harrison Institute/Small Special Collections Library, present a scholarly symposium, "Jefferson, Palladio, and the Fine Arts in America."

At the fall Board of Visitors meeting, President John T. Casteen III announces reaching the $2 billion mark in the $3 billion Campaign for the University of Virginia. Launched in October 2004, the campaign’s final phase is focusing on support for strong academic programs, leading–edge research, and financial aid.