To the Virginia Tech community,

We end our fall semester with a note of sadness as we mourn the passing of Nikki Giovanni. She was a world renowned poet, activist, and a Virginia Tech University Distinguished Professor Emerita who spent 35 years teaching us about the power of words and the strength of Hokie Nation. She will be deeply missed. You can read more about her remarkable life and career in this memorial message.

As the beginning of a new year approaches, thank you for all your efforts and contributions to Virginia Tech in 2024.

Together we are successfully advancing our strategic priorities, raising nearly $50 million to support Virginia Tech Advantage and making great progress toward our Virginia Tech Global Distinction goals.

We tied for 15th among U.S. land-grant research universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, ranked sixth among all U.S. public schools in the new Wall Street Journal/College Pulse survey, and celebrated more than 80 faculty members for their prestigious scholarly achievements. Last month we were honored to be one of five organizations (out of more than 12,000 eligible) to receive Department of Defense Jack Donnelly Award for Excellence in Counterintelligence.

This semester we brought the North Academic District to life and took steps to make our Blacksburg campus more accessible. We established the Partnership for Progress initiative that soon will launch a community survey to support our efforts to address shared challenges and opportunities in parts of the New River Valley.

Excitement is building for the opening of our new academic building in Alexandria. This 11-story center will support new outreach and partnerships that advance research and education in artificial intelligence (AI), quantum science, and next generation technology. It will be an important link in a Virginia Tech network of innovation that is growing across the commonwealth and beyond.

We had an opportunity to explore the impact of AI on higher education in a fireside chat with Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun last month, setting the stage for a conversation about Virginia Tech’s vision for the future. I will have more to say in my State of the University address on Feb. 5, 2025, at the Moss Arts Center. I encourage you to join me in person or online.

Congratulations to our December graduates who will receive their well-earned degrees at our commencement ceremonies next week.

And cheers to our women’s soccer team for making the elite eight this year, and to our football team for successfully defending the Commonwealth Cup with a great win that earned an invitation to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte on Jan. 3. We look forward to another Hokie victory!

Please take time to rest, relax, and enjoy your winter break, and prepare for an exciting new year.

Go Hokies!

Tim Sands,
President

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