2001
October

• Dr. Hallam Hurt (Medicine '71), professor of pediatrics at the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and a much-honored neonatologist, receives the Women's Center's Distinguished Alumna Award

• Robert S. Harris, an expert on corporate finance who joined the Darden School's faculty in 1988, becomes the school's seventh dean. A former vice president and chief learning officer for United Technologies Corporation, he served as Darden's associate dean for faculty.

The Harris-Bland Computer Lab During its twenty-fifth anniversary celebration in the fall of 2001, the Office of African-American Affairs dedicated a new computer lab named in honor of William Harris, the University's first dean of African-American Affairs, and Robert Bland (Engineering '59), the first black student to earn a bachelor's degree at the University. Part of the library in the Luther P. Jackson Cultural Center, the lab is used by dozens of students each day, including participants in the office's acclaimed peer advising program. The program is a key factor in the graduation rate of African-American students at the University, now at 87 percent and consistently among the highest for a major public university.

• The Miller Center of Public Affairs publishes transcripts of secret tapes from the Kennedy White House that document the president's handling of the Cuban missile and Mississippi civil rights crises.

• The McIntire School of Commerce announces it will offer a master's degree program in Information Technology to students in Northern Virginia starting in spring 2002.

• At Fall Convocation, Larry Sabato (College '74), the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics, receives the Thomas Jefferson Award, the University's highest honor.

• The University celebrates completion of the $3.5 million restoration of Pavilion VII, the oldest building on the Lawn and home of the Colonnade Club.

• In conjunction with the fourteenth annual Virginia Film Festival, University artists present the Fringe Festival, three weeks of exhibitions and performances at a downtown warehouse. Marc L. Abraham (College '71) speaks at the first Darden Producers Forum on the financing of his blockbuster film The Spy Game.

Law School Takes Care of Business When the legal profession gives advice, the Law School listens. The School of Law has introduced a business track curriculum in response to suggestions from leaders in business and law who took part in the school's 175th anniversary conference in October 2001. The conference examined the future needs of the law and lawyers and how legal education should be reshaped to meet them. Using existing connections with the McIntire School of Commerce and the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, the Law School business track offers new courses in finance and advanced accounting, as well as classes on mergers and acquisitions and venture capital. Specialty short courses will be offered by visiting lawyers and business executives. Practitioners of business law "need to be able to work with numbers as well as words," said Law School Dean John C. Jeffries, Jr. (Law '73). The conference's keynote speaker was United States Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who discussed strategies for coping with the ongoing growth of caseloads in the federal appeals courts. Chief Justice Rehnquist, who has chosen more clerks from Virginia than from any other law school, is the father of alumna Janet Rehnquist (College '79, Law '85).

November

• Dr. Francis S. Collins (College '70), head of the National Human Genome Research Institute, speaks to a full house of students and faculty at the Newcomb Hall Theater.

• Alice Goodwin and William H. Goodwin, Jr. (Darden '66), make the first of two gifts totaling nearly $10 million to accelerate clinical trials of promising cancer treatments.

• R. Edward Freeman receives the Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2001 Faculty Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Aspen Institute Initiative for Social Innovation and the World Resources Institute. Mr. Freeman is the Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration and director of the Darden School's Olsson Center for Applied Ethics.

December

• Thousands of students gather for the first-ever Lighting of the Lawn. More than 21,000 white lights outline the Lawn's columns, balconies, and balustrades.

• The University of Virginia Art Museum wins accreditation from the American Association of Museums.

 

2002

Saluting Great Teachers At the University's eleventh annual "In Celebration of Teaching" banquet in April, Barbara M. Brodie, the Madge M. Jones Professor of Nursing, received the Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award. Eugene Kolomeisky, assistant professor of physics, received the Alumni Board of Trustees Teaching Award, which recognizes an assistant professor for outstanding skill in the classroom. All-University Teaching Awards were conferred on Robert E. Davis, associate professor of environmental sciences; Sherwood C. Frey, Jr., Ethyl Corporation Professor of Business Administration; Adria LaViolette, associate professor of anthropology; J. E. "Ted" Lendon, associate professor of history; Michael J. Smith, the Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of Political and Social Thought; John Sullivan, associate professor of English; Peter D. Waldman, the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Architecture; and Barbara H. Wixom, assistant professor of commerce. Brad Brown, professor of commerce, was named winner of the USEMS Outstanding Teaching Award, which salutes excellent teaching in the intensive University Seminars program for first-year students. Daniel P. Hallahan, professor of education, received the Cavaliers' Distinguished Teaching Professorship, a rotating professorship partly supported by football bowl earnings. Cristina Della Coletta, associate professor of Italian, was awarded the National Endowment for the Humanities/Horace W. Goldsmith Distinguished Teaching Professorship, which recognizes superior teaching in the humanities.

January

• Civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks speaks on Grounds as part of the celebration of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

• The University Library receives a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop a system to provide streamlined access to digital information.

• U.Va. swimmer Ed Moses breaks four world records in the FINA World Cup in Europe.

• The spring semester begins with a reading by internationally acclaimed novelist Isabel Allende.

• Shirley Menaker, associate provost for academic support, receives the University Women's Center's Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award.

• The University Arts Board brings vocalist Bobby McFerrin to the Grounds for three days of performances, master classes, and workshops.

New Members of the Board In April 2002, Governor Mark R. Warner appointed four new members of the Board of Visitors. They are • Mark J. Kington (Darden '88) of Alexandria, chairman of Kington Management Corporation. He chairs the Darden School's Progressive Incubator Visiting Committee and is a member of the University's Council for the Arts. • Don R. Pippin (Law '63), an attorney in Norton. A 1960 graduate of the University's College at Wise, he has served on the college's board and executive committee. • Warren M. Thompson (Darden '83) of Herndon. He is president and CEO of Thompson Hospitality Corporation, one of the nation's largest minority-owned businesses. • Edwin Darracott Vaughan, Jr., M.D. (Medicine '65), of New York, a former member of the University's medical faculty and now chair emeritus of the urology department at Weill Cornell University Medical Center. • Fourth-year College student Herbert Timothy Lovelace, Jr., of Roanoke is the 2002-2003 student member of the board.

February

• The presidents of the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities announce the formation of a collaborative center aimed at studying and preserving the South Atlantic region's distinctive cultural heritage.

• The Virginia baseball team kicks off the 2002 season in its newly expanded stadium.

• For $5.3 million, musician Dave Matthews buys five of the Albemarle County farms given by John W. Kluge to the University of Virginia Foundation.

• The College of Arts and Sciences expands its Fellowship Office to help undergraduates pursue independent research projects.

March

• The University names Dr. Arthur "Tim" Garson, Jr., of the Baylor College of Medicine vice president and dean of the School of Medicine.

• A gift of more than $3 million from the estate of Paul Mellon creates a scholarship fund for needy students from Fauquier County, Virginia.

• The University learns it will receive $600,000 from Virginia's Commonwealth Technology Research Fund as part of a $3.6 million initiative to research edible vaccines and treatments.

April

• As a result of estate plans made more than sixty years ago, the University receives $52.6 million from the late Ward Buchanan, a 1914 graduate of the School of Law. The gift creates an unrestricted endowment fund for the Medical Center.

• The University of Virginia Patent Foundation names Dr. Joel Linden of the medical faculty the Edlich-Henderson Inventor of the Year for his work in developing a family of anti-inflammatory compounds that may avert paralysis in some patients with spinal cord injuries.

• The Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation makes a four-year, $400,000 challenge grant to the Department of Environmental Sciences to endow educational outreach at its Eastern Shore research center.

• On Founder's Day, former United States Solicitor General Seth Waxman, left, receives the 2002 Thomas Jefferson Medal in Law, and artist James Turrell receives the 2002 Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture.

Forty-three doctors in the University Health System are listed in the 2002 edition of America's Top Doctors.

• At a conference presented by the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the Miller Center of Public Affairs, former U.S. Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger and other government leaders explore ways to combat terrorism.

• Former Board of Visitors member Carl W. Smith (College '51), founder of AMVEST Corporation and a native of Wise, Virginia, gives $3 million to complete the first football stadium at the University's College at Wise.

• The University Press of Virginia changes its name to the University of Virginia Press. The name will be on the press's forthcoming electronic imprint, made possible by a $635,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a matching amount from the University.

May

• Top officials from four universities in southern Africa come to the University to form a consortium to encourage collaborative work in environmental sciences, distance learning, international studies, and HIV prevention.

• Governor Mark Warner delivers the commencement address to an audience of 35,000 assembled on the Lawn.

• Best-selling author David Baldacci (Law '86), below, speaks at Class Valediction.

• The University grants degrees to the first three graduates of the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies Program, a part-time adult degree program offered through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.

 

2002

A Case of Recovered History After breaking a hole in the roof of Miller Hall, a work crew removes one of two oak and glass display cases from the attic, where they had been stored for decades. Made in 1876 by Henry Ward in Rochester, New York, the cases held specimens for the exhibits in Brooks Hall, originally a natural history museum. Today Brooks Hall houses the Department of Anthropology and studios and faculty offices for the McIntire Department of Art. Archaeologist Jeffrey Hantman of the Anthropology Department and American decorative arts specialist Maurie McInnis (College '88) of the Art Department are leading efforts to have the cases restored and returned to Brooks Hall, where they could be used for exhibits on University history. Miller Hall was removed to make way for a new facility housing the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library and the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture

June

• The Board of Visitors adopts a $1.44 billion operating budget for 2002-2003, up 1.9 percent from the previous year. The figure includes $835.8 million for the Academic Division, $597.6 million for the Medical Center, and $19.7 million for the University's College at Wise.

• The University and the World Wildlife Fund sign a memorandum of understanding to work together on critical environmental management issues and research in Africa, Latin America, and other rapidly developing regions.

July

• The University announces a $1.3 million gift from the estate of educator and Curry School graduate Edward Cooke to fund scholarships for needy students.

• Virginia soccer coach George Gelnovatch (College '87) travels to Seoul to help his mentor and former U.Va. coach Bruce Arena lead the U.S. team to the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

• Actor Ethan Hawke visits the University to screen his film Chelsea Walls, his debut as a director, and to give a reading from his second novel.

August

• Some 3,000 first-year students move into residence halls on Grounds and begin their careers at the University.

September

• The College offers a new interdisciplinary Common Course titled "Twenty-First Century Choices: War, Justice, and Human Rights," team-taught by James Childress, the James Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics; and Michael Smith, the Thomas C. Sorensen Professor of Political and Social Thought. Made possible by a gift from John A. Griffin (McIntire '85) of New York, the Common Course will continue in the spring semester with a class titled "Environmental Choices."

• Steven H. Kaplan is installed as the fifth chancellor of the University's College at Wise. He is former dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Butler University in Indianapolis.

• The University wins a $5 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation to improve the preparation of K-12 teachers through collaborative partnerships among the Curry School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences, and K-12 school systems.

• NASA chooses the University as one of seven institutions that will oversee the new National Institute of Aerospace, to be based near NASA's Langley Research Center.

October

• The Women's Center at the University, directed by Sharon Davie receives the American Association of University Women's annual Progress in Equity Award.

• Julian Bond, a member of the history faculty and national chairman of the NAACP, receives the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum. Past recipients include Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Nelson Mandela, and Colin Powell.

• Patricia Lampkin (Curry '86), a student-life administrator at the University since 1979, is named vice president for student affairs. She had been interim vice president since July 2001.

​ The Harrison Legacy: Focus on Faculty Excellence One late David A. Harrison III (College '39, Law '41) was one of the University's most loyal and generous alumni during his lifetime. Now he has made an even greater impact on the institution through his estate. Owner of historic Flowerdew Hundred Farm in Hopewell, Mr. Harrison died June 8 at the age of 85. Distributions from his estate and a previously established trust have provided the University with $64 million, most of it directed toward endowed professorships in the schools of Law and Medicine. In addition, Mr. Harrison created an irrevocable trust in excess of $50 million, which will come to the University in twenty-five years. With these new gifts, contributions made by Mr. Harrison and his late wife, Mary, total more than $150 million. In the Law School, $34.8 million of the gift will endow new professorships at a level competitive with the most prestigious academic positions in the nation. The School of Medicine received $20.3 million, which will create new professorships and a fund to reward superb teachers. Over the years, Mary and David Harrison established a number of professorships in law, medicine, and archaeology. David Harrison also made possible the Harrison Research Awards for undergraduates. He supported expansion and renovation of the Law School's facilities, named the David A. Harrison III Law Grounds, and his gifts to athletics funded such improvements as David A. Harrison III Field, the grass playing surface at Scott Stadium. The new Harrison gift includes $5.8 million for athletics, which will be used to upgrade facilities for academic services, dining operations, and other programs. An additional $3.1 million will complete Mr. Harrison's $10 million pledge for the Mary and David Harrison Institute for American History, Literature, and Culture, part of a complex now under construction that also will contain the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library. The institute will include an exhibition gallery, research space, multimedia classrooms, and other facilities for scholarship and public outreach.​