November 1996

The University officially names the new Spanish language-and-culture residential house "Casa Bolivar" in honor of Fernando Bolivar who came to the University to study in 1827.

The Darden School is ranked 5th nationally by Business Week magazine, with high marks given from students and corporate recruiters.

The University is selected as a "Best Practice Institution" for institutional budgeting by the American Productivity and Quality Center, a nonprofit organization managed in conjunction with the Pew Charitable Trusts.

The University begins a five-year partnership with Ecole des Hautes Etudes on Sciences Sociales, initiating a formal scholarly exchange with the French school.

A sapling from the 170-year-old McGuffey Ash tree, which was cut down in 1990, is transplanted to the Pavilion IX garden.

December 1996

The Board of Visitors approves names for the following buildings: the Darden School's central building becomes Saunders Hall; the new law school complex is named the David A. Harrison III Law Grounds; and three law buildings are named in honor of James C. Slaughter, Buckner Clay, Sr., and the law firm Hunton and Williams.

The University receives 2,325 applications from students asking to be considered for early admission -- a 6 percent increase over the previous year.

With the aid of an investment by IBM valued at $1 million, the School of Engineering and Applied Science launches the Institute for Micro-electronics, designed to build partnerships between industry and higher education.

Paula D. McClain, professor of government and foreign affairs, received a human rights award for her book on racial and ethnic minorities in American politics.

The Board of Visitors' finance Committee unveils its plan to fund supplementary faculty salary raises by increasing distribution from unrestricted endowments, raising more private money, and asking individual schools to draw on discretionary funds.

January 1997

The Worrell Foundation of Boca Raton pledges $4 million to support international and minority students entering the Darden School's MBA program.

Alderman Library opens "The Most of Special Collections," an eclectic exhibit from its special collections, with items ranging from a recipe by Eudora Welty to one of Winston Churchill's cigars.

History Professor Joseph C. Miller is named president-elect of the American Historical Association, the main professional organization of the country's historians.

February 1997

Filmmaker Ken Burns previews his newest documentary, Thomas Jefferson, at the Newcomb Hall Theatre.

Nine junior diplomats arrive at the University to begin a Kuwaiti Diplomacy Institute, a joint program developed by the Division of Continuing Education and the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies Program.

Senior government officials from Brazil, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa participate in a World Health Organization/University of Virginia collaborative meeting to establish a health care networking system.

The University's celebration of African-American History month kicks off with a performance by the Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble.

William A. Wulf is given the 1997 Virginia Engineering Foundation's Achievement Award.

The Board of Visitors renames Brandon Avenue dormitory Bice House, honoring University historian and professor emeritus of psychology Raymond Bice, Jr., and his late wife, Zula Mae Baber Bice, former acting dean of the nursing school.

March 1997

The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech dedicate a new $16.8 million building as a shared continuing education center in Northern Virginia.

The School of Law increases its capital campaign goal from $75 million to $100 million, announcing that it has already raised $77 million.

Carl P. Zeithaml, business professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is named dean of the McIntire School of Commerce, succeeding Bonnie Guiton Hill.

Book lovers attending the third annual Virginia Festival of the Book hear works from English professor and former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove, creative writing professor George Garrett, novelist John Grisham, and professor and poet Charles Wright.

Faculty and staff representing the schools of education, engineering, architecture, and graduate business travel to Brazil to bring back model planning and sustainable design processes to apply to the Piedmont Region of Virginia.

Governor Allen names William G. Crutchfield, Jr., Terence P. Ross, Walter F. Walker, and James C. Wheat, III, to the Board of Visitors, replacing Mortimer M. Caplin, Warner N. Dalhouse, Evans B. Jessee, and Arnold H. Leon.

U.S. News & World Report includes the University's graduate programs among its top national rankings: the creative writing program ranks 4th; the architecture school's master's program, 6th; the law school, 8th; and the Darden School, 11th.

April 1997

"Beyond Green: Ethical Values in Environmental Conflicts," a University-wide conference sponsored by the President's Office and the Elis Olsson Memorial Foundation, includes participation from all 10 schools.

Faculty/staff campaign leaders report that each University school and division is exceeding expected participation rates.

Founder's Day is celebrated with the bestowal of Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation Awards on Brazilian environmental leader Jaime Lerner and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The University mails letters offering admission to 4,757 prospective students, approximately one-third of the 16,692 students who applied.

The Faculty Senate presents the results of a University-wide dialogue to improve teaching. The semester-long conversations involving all 10 schools focused on teaching evaluation, skills development, and incentives.

Concerned about marked declines in University faculty salaries compared to its peers, the Alumni Association pledges $1 million to help attract and keep the best professors.

14 faculty members and 4 graduate teaching assistants who were named outstanding teachers in 1997 are recognized at the 6th annual "In Celebration of Teaching" banquet.

The School of Nursing is awarded a $104,000 grant from the Virginia Health Care Foundation to improve mental health services for rural central Virginians.

May 1997

More than 4,400 degrees -- including 2,691 undergraduate, 881 graduate, and 777 professional -- are awarded at the University's 168th graduation ceremony. Former state senator Hunter B. Andrews delivers the Commencement address.

Tragedy strikes Final Exercises as the balcony of Pavilion I collapses, killing one visitor and injuring twenty others.

A research team lead by Dr. W. Davis Parker published findings that link Alzheimer's disease with a set of genetic mutations.

In a joint venture with the HealthSouth Corporation, the Health Sciences Center begins constructing a 50-bed rehabilitation hospital for patients with multiple trauma, spinal cord injuries, and brain injuries.

History professor Melvyn P. Leffler is named dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He succeeds Raymond J. Nelson, who returned to full-time teaching and research in the English department.

The American Institute of Architects selects the architecture school's graduate program in Venice as one of three programs nationally to receive the 1997 Education Honors Award.

The University Capital Campaign passes the $500 million milestone nearly two years ahead of schedule.

June 1997

The Board of Visitors approves a record $1.04 billion operating budget, the largest in the University's history.

The five-week Bunche Summer Institute brings top African-American undergraduates to Charlottesville to explore political science careers.

The William R. Kenan, Jr., Charitable Trust makes a challenge gift of $1 million to support restoration of the academical village and another $500,000 challenge for related educational programs.

The University announces a $25 million pledge to the athletics department from alumnus Carl Smith. It will be used to expand Scott Stadium at Clinch Valley College.

Thomas A. Saunders, III, of New York and Edward C. Mitchell, Jr., of Atlanta are appointed new co-chairs of the capital campaign, taking over from Joshua P. Darden, Jr.

2,700 former students attend Reunions Weekend. Members of the class of 1952 who missed Final Exercises because of the Korean War have their degrees reconferred during the annual alumni convocation.

July 1997

The University's endowment reaches $1 billion.

Archaeologist digging near Alderman Library expose a wall fragment of Thomas Jefferson's Anatomical Theatre, the only University building designed by Jefferson that has not survived to the present day.

Dr. Frederick Hayden reports U.Va.'s participation in a large-scale trial of a nasal-spray flu vaccine, which proved more than 90 percent effective in healthy young children.

The Division of Continuing Education establishes a new Center for Executive Development to assist corporations, professional associations, and governmental agencies with their training needs.

Timothy B. Robertson (Col '77) and Lisa Nelson Robertson pledge $1.2 million to develop a modern media studies program at the University.

The School of Nursing adds two new sites to its distance learning Primary Care Nurse Practitioner training program thanks to a $950,000 grant from the federal government.

Seven University medical departments -- endocrinology, cancer, neurology, otolaryngology, urology, rheumatology, and orthopedics -- are listed in U.S. News & World Report's 1997 America's Best Hospitals Guide.

August

Newcomb Hall, the center of student life at the University, reopens after a $16.4 million renovation an modernization project.

Money magazine's 1997 College Guide names the University of Virginia the 7th best education buy in the Mid-Atlantic region and the 23rd best nationally.

The University's Young Writers Workshop celebrates its 16th anniversary with a 5-day reunion attended by 100 workshop graduates.

Clinch Valley College completes its most successful fund-raising year ever, having raised $4.1 million in fiscal year 1996-97.

The New York-based Standard and Poor's Corporation gives the University the highest possible bond rating for a public institution -- "AA+" -- due to its success in fund-raising and large number of education endowments.

The University announces that Heery International, Inc. of Atlanta, the architectural firm that designed the Centennial Olympic Stadium, has been selected as project architect for the Scott Stadium Expansion.

History professor Edward Ayers is awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to create a 3-volume CD-ROM Civil War textbook.

The Slemp Foundation pledges a half million dollar gift to Clinch Valley College to furnish and equip the new addition of the John Cook Wyllie Library.

September

The University welcomes the class of 2001, the largest and strongest in its history, with approximately 2,900 members chosen from more than 16,690 applicants.

AlliedSignal donates 17 patents worth $7 million to the engineering school, marking the first time that the University will manage patents created by inventors outside the University community.

PBS airs "Planet Neighborhood," a 3-hour special featuring as host architecture school dean and noted environmental architect William McDonough.

The 1997 football season sells out before the first game, demonstrating widespread enthusiasm for Cavalier sports.

The University celebrates the 100th birthday of William Faulkner, the University's first writer-in-residence.

U.Va. is named the nation's top-ranked public university in U.S. News & World Report for the 4th year in a row. It also ties for 9th place in the "best values" category.

The provost's office announces funding of a $100,000 3-year Faculty Senate pilot project to improve teaching.

The Curry School receives a $1 million grant to integrate curricular materials and high technology.

October

Val Ackerman, University alumna and president of the Women's National Basketball Association, received the Women's Center's 1997 Distinguished Alumna Award.

The Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy Commemorates its 20th anniversary with a 2-day conference on mental health and the law.

The Tenth Annual Virginia Film Festival, "Caged," explores film representations of imprisonment and freedom and features Oscar-winning actor Jason Robards.

Encouraged by the campaign's progress to date, the School of Nursing doubles its campaign goal to $10.2 million.

 November

The University holds a memorial service in honor of its fourth president, Edgar F. Shannon, Jr., who died in August.

The Rotunda's lower east oval room opens a newly refurbished exhibit space, featuring the Houdon bust of Jefferson and new wall panels with drawings and narrative.

Dr. B. Lewis Barnett, Jr., former chairman of the Department of Family Medicine, is given the Thomas Jefferson Award at fall convocation ceremonies.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist gives the keynote address at the dedication of the David A. Harrison Law Grounds.

Edward A. Snyder, senior associate dean at the University of Michigan Business School, is named dean of the Darden School, effective July 1.