On Campus

The UMW family, across the country and around the world, came together to make history on Mary Wash Giving Day, March 19. During the 24-hour online fundraising marathon, donors in 45 states and nine countries made 4,000-plus gifts totaling more than $600,000 to benefit students and programs across the university, including the arts, academics, athletics, student life, and scholarships. Each gift helps to ensure a strong future for Mary Washington and its students, continuing a tradition of dynamic donor support for the 111-year-old institution. Donors exceeded the day’s lofty goal of 3,500 gifts and topped last year’s results, breaking the record for the largest day of giving in UMW history. On Giving Day in March 2018, supporters made 2,987 gifts totaling $449,631. Challenges and matches, unlocking extra funding when milestones were met throughout the day – themed “All In” – also grew this year. Challenges sponsored by alumni, faculty, staff, parents, and friends of the … [Read more...]

UMW has long welcomed transfer students from nearby Germanna Community College, but a new agreement enhances the relationship between the two institutions and gives the transfer students a better chance of success. President Troy D. Paino and GCC President Janet Gullickson signed the Guaranteed Transfer Partnership Agreement in February. The agreement creates curricular pathways that will smooth the transition from two- to four-year programs, making it easier for transfer students to graduate on time. The enhanced transfer pathway is similar to an agreement forged between Northern Virginia Community College and Mary Washington last June. Presidents Paino and Gullickson said the agreement also will enable students transferring from Germanna to UMW to earn bachelor’s degrees sooner, with less student debt. The collaboration will bring the degrees into reach for a broader group of students. “It’s imperative that we bring together students from varied backgrounds and diverse … [Read more...]

UMW will launch a new cybersecurity certification program – the only one of its kind in the Fredericksburg region – thanks to a $110,000 grant recently announced by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Slated to begin in the spring of 2020, the program will target the area’s shortage of certified cybersecurity professionals, helping to fill existing positions and to create entrepreneurial opportunities. It will enable UMW to offer a 12-week, 40-hour noncredit program to prepare certified information systems security professionals for successful CISSP exam completion. The UMW grant was part of more than $6.7 million in funding announced by Gov. Northam for seven regional projects in support of entrepreneurship, workforce, and talent-development initiatives. … [Read more...]

The College of Business has joined elite company with its accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. Mary Washington is one of only five U.S. schools to receive accreditation in 2018. Just 5 percent of the world’s business degree-granting institutions achieve the status. UMW set a goal for AACSB accreditation soon after establishing its College of Business in 2010. Led by Dean Lynne Richardson and Associate Dean Ken Machande, the college strategically shaped its curriculum, programs, and faculty to meet the 15 international standards required for accreditation. Before receiving AACSB accreditation, institutions undergo a rigorous peer review process to ensure that they provide students a first-rate, future-focused business education. “This distinction is testimony to the diligent efforts over a number of years on the part of dozens of people across campus, most especially the College of Business faculty and staff,” said … [Read more...]

With 10 alumni volunteering around the world, UMW is once again a Peace Corps top-producing institution. Mary Washington took the 15th spot among U.S. schools with fewer than 5,000 students. The distinction marks the 11th consecutive year UMW has made the Top 25. More than 260 Mary Washington alumni have served the Peace Corps since its 1961 inception. “There is a longstanding tradition of Mary Washington students involving themselves in public service and in their local communities,” said Center for International Studies Director José Sainz, who helped launch UMW’s Peace Corps Prep program in fall 2017. “Serving in the Peace Corps is the next logical pathway for those who seek to make a difference in the world.” … [Read more...]

With three alumni receiving prestigious Fulbright grants for 2018-19, Mary Washington is Virginia’s top producer of Fulbright U.S. Students among institutions that grant master’s degrees. It’s also one of the top producers nationwide. The “top producer” honor recognizes the success of current students and alumni in receiving grants for study, teaching, and research in foreign countries. Last spring, three Mary Washington alumni were awarded English teaching assistant grants through the Fulbright program. Molly Bernhard ’14 spent the 2018-19 academic year in Bulgaria; Destiny Williams ’18 was in Taiwan; and Molly Garthwaite ’17, M.Ed. ’18 was in India. The awards highlight Mary Washington’s continued success in student Fulbright awards, bringing the total to 22 scholarships since 2006. UMW also was named a top producer of student Fulbright awards in 2013-14 and 2016-17. … [Read more...]

Political science professors Elizabeth Freund Larus and Stephen J. Farnsworth are the latest faculty to receive U.S. Fulbright grants to research and teach abroad. Larus has been named a Fulbright Scholar and will conduct field research throughout Eastern Europe during spring semester 2020. Hosted by the Marie Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, Poland, she will research the impact of the new Silk Road – China’s Belt and Road Initiative – on the European Union. Farnsworth, a previous Fulbright award recipient, has been named a Fulbright Specialist and will spend this summer teaching American government to students of Methodist College in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As the U.S. approaches the 2020 presidential election, Farnsworth said, “now is a great time to be talking with Malaysian students about American government and politics.” In all, UMW faculty have received 12 Fulbright grants since 2007. … [Read more...]

Jon McMillan, associate professor and chair of the Department of Art and Art History, has received a prestigious Virginia Museum of Fine Arts fellowship for 2019-20. McMillan, a ceramic artist who has taught at Mary Washington since 2011, was among 12 professional artists selected. The statewide honor includes a monetary award and opportunities for fellowship recipients to exhibit their work at VMFA. Because the fellowship coincides with McMillan’s fall 2019 sabbatical, he may use some of the award to fund an artist residency. … [Read more...]

Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry Charlie Sharpless received the Distinguished Research Award from the Virginia section of the American Chemical Society at a March ceremony in Richmond. The award recognizes Sharpless’ two decades of research in environmental aquatic photochemistry, exploring the chemical reactions that happen when sunlight is absorbed by dissolved organic matter in lakes, rivers, and coastal marine systems. Among other things, he’s studied the effects of sunlight on pharmaceutical compounds in a river downstream from a wastewater plant and on oil from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Sharpless frequently involves his students in the research, providing mentorship and practical experience. … [Read more...]

Associate Professor of Physics Hai Nguyen is undertaking a yearlong fellowship with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as a science advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington, D.C. As an AAAS fellow, Nguyen breaks complex concepts into digestible information for military leaders, consultants, and lawmakers. In return, he’s getting a firsthand look at how national policy is made and making high-powered contacts that will ultimately benefit his students. One immediate effect will be to enhance his freshman seminar, Physics for Future Presidents and World Leaders. “There’s a lot to learn, and it’s sometimes overwhelming,” Nguyen said of his work in Washington. “But I can see that there’s a critical need for more scientists and engineers to step out of their comfort zone and come out of school more suited to serve in this capacity.” … [Read more...]