JULY
Contributors set new mark
Virginia Tech officials announce that university supporters set a record for donations in 1998-99. The university raised almost $71.4 million, 45 percent more than the previous record, which was set in 1997-98. Among the donations was the largest contribution ever made to Tech, $23 million in gifts and patents from Dupont to the College of Engineering.
Tech responds to technology needs
The Pamplin College of Business establishes a new research center for information technology at the Northern Virginia Center. The Systems Integration Center is a collaboration with the Center for Innovative Technology and the global professional consulting firms EDS and KPMG. Formation of the center is in response to the explosive growth in systems-integration businesses in Northern Virginia.
AUGUST
University's national ranking improves
Virginia Tech moves from 40th to 28th among national public universities in U.S. News & World Report's latest rankings of undergraduate programs. The College of Engineering is 18th among schools with Ph.D. programs, and the Pamplin College of Business ranks 45th among undergraduate business schools.
Cuba easier for academic travel
The College of Architecture and Urban Studies' Department of Urban Affairs and Planning obtains a site license that will make academic travel to Cuba easier. Previously, students, staff, and faculty members wishing to travel to Cuba had to submit a program and curriculum vita to a professor, who then passed it on to federal officials, creating delays.
SEPTEMBER
Barrett to lead Extension
J. David Barrett is named director of Virginia Cooperative Extension following several months as interim director. He succeeds C. Clark Jones, who became Tech's vice provost for outreach. Barrett is a Virginia Tech graduate who has been with the agency for 26 years.
Wireless system test successful
Virginia Tech, the only university in the nation to own broadband local multipoint distribution service (LMDS) licenses; and Wavtrace, a pioneering developer of advanced LMDS equipment, successfully test the first university LMDS network. The network allows two-way data, voice, and video traffic in a broader band and at higher speeds than was possible before. LMDS technology should help bring wireless technologies to rural areas.
Hollywood comes to campus
The university's Blacksburg campus becomes a movie set as the Tyee Group, a film production company from Portland, Ore., arrives on campus to film scenes for a movie about the life of Robert B. Pamplin Jr. The Pamplin family has a long history of supporting Virginia Tech. The Pamplin College of Business is named in their honor.
OCTOBER
Foundation recognizes Tech for character development
The John Templeton Foundation recognizes Virginia Tech for its leadership in the field of student character development. The Templeton Guide: Colleges that Encourage Character Development publication names Tech for its WING program, which helps first-year students acclimate to the university environment; and for its Service Learning Center, which integrates community service with academic work to enhance student learning and deepen civic responsibility.
NOVEMBER
Tech joins Big East for all sports
Presidents of the universities comprising the Big East Conference vote unanimously to accept Tech as a member in all sports except wrestling, which is not a conference sport in the Big East. The affiliation starts in July 2000. Tech had previously been a member of the conference only in football.
Steger steps in as 15th president
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors names Charles W. Steger, vice president of development and university relations and a member of the university community since 1965, as Tech's 15th president. Steger earned his bachelor's degree from Tech in 1969, and in 1981 was named dean of the college of Architecture and Urban Studies, the youngest dean of architecture in the nation at the time. While dean, he established the European studies program in Switzerland and the Washington-Alexandria Center in Old Town Alexandria. The college's research program tripled during his tenure. Steger also led the university's recent capital campaign that raised $337.4 million, 35 percent more than the goal of $250 million.
Nephew of Tech's first student dies
William Addison "Bill" Caldwell, nephew and namesake of Virginia Tech's first student, dies in Salem, Va., at the age of 90. Caldwell spurred research into the life of William Addison "Add" Caldwell when he donated his uncle's Bible to Tech. Bill Caldwell also worked to have a lounge in the Johnston Student Center named after Add.
DECEMBER
Biomedical research advances
Carilion Health Systems of Roanoke announces it will contribute $20 million to help establish the Carilion Biomedical Institute in partnership with Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia. The program establishes the Optical Sciences and Engineering Research Center at Tech and the Medical Automation Research Center at U.Va. In May, Roanoke City announces that the institute will be the first tenant in the city's new Riverside Centre for Research and Technology.
College leads nation in theses and dissertations
The Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal ranks Virginia Tech's College of Human Resources and Education No. 1 in the nation in the number of theses and dissertations in family and consumer sciences.
JANUARY
Football team earns the national spotlight
The Virginia Tech football team ends a historic season by playing Florida State for the national championship at the Nokia Sugar Bowl. The team went 11-0 during the regular season to finish second in the polls, and Coach Frank Beamer and several players swept all the major national awards. In the championship game, Tech fell behind early, rallied to lead FSU at 29-28, but ended up losing 46-29.
FEBRUARY
Tech researchers help mitigate disaster damage
Virginia Tech, the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, and the World Bank Disaster Management Facility form the World Institute for Disaster Risk Management. The institute will work with governments, international agencies, private enterprises, and nongovernment organizations to help countries use applied research to prevent and mitigate loss of life and property from natural disasters. Several other universities from around the world are also involved.
SCHEV honors two professors
Two Virginia Tech professors are among 11 statewide to earn the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia's Outstanding Faculty Award. Wayne Purcell is an alumni distinguished professor of agricultural and applied economics, director of the Research Institute on Livestock Pricing, and coordinator of the Rural Economic Analysis Program. Y.A. Liu, the Frank C. Vilbrandt professor of chemical engineering, has achieved international acclaim for his work in magnetochemical engineering, coal cleaning, engineering design, and artificial intelligence.
University ends Brzonkala case
The university agrees to pay $75,000 to Christy Brzonkala, a former student who sued Tech for discrimination based on her alleged rape by two football players in 1994. The university continues to deny any wrongdoing in the matter, but pays the settlement to end the case. Two months later, the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Brzonkala in a discrimination lawsuit she filed against the two men she claimed raped her.
MARCH
Economic development efforts gain recognition
The Southern Growth Policies Board's Southern Technology Council recognizes Tech as one of the 16 best universities in the nation in its efforts to help state and local agencies with economic development, according to an interim report of the group. The council polled practitioners, researchers, and economic development experts to come up with the list of 16.
Smart Road making concrete progress
Transportation leaders, researchers, and federal, state, and local officials get a close look at Virginia's Smart Road. The Smart Road, a joint project of the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, and the Federal Highway Administration, is currently a 1.7-mile two-lane road where researchers can simulate realistic driving conditions. Eventually it will be 5.7 miles long and will connect Interstate 81 to Blacksburg. More than 100 research projects have begun on the road.
Applications soar to record high
Applications to Tech hit a record-high 18,300, 12 percent more than in 1999. Officials believe the increase in interest is due to innovative recruiting efforts, the university's emphasis on technology, and Tech's jump in national rankings (28th highest in quality among public institutions, according to U.S. News & World Report).
Outstanding scientist award goes to Castagnoli
Neal Castagnoli Jr., the Harvey W. Peters professor of chemistry, is named one of Virginia's two outstanding scientists of 2000. The award is made by the state and the Science Museum of Virginia. The museum says Castagnoli helped pinpoint an underlying chemical mechanism by which a compound found in street heroin causes an irreversible Parkinsonian syndrome. His work eventually could lead to therapeutic agents that would protect people from the age-related loss of central nervous system function.
APRIL
Steger outlines vision for Tech
Charles W. Steger is formally installed as Virginia Tech's 15th president during the university's Founders Day celebration. In his speech, Steger says he envisions Tech becoming one of the nation's top 30 research universities. He also wants to bolster the honors program and expand facilities for the fine and performing arts.
Founders Day festivities undergo change
The university changes its traditional Founders Day format. The Founders Day convocation will include a keynote speaker and presentation of Tech's top three awards. A separate Student Honors Banquet will recognize recipients of the university's top student awards, and a fall ceremony will highlight faculty and staff award winners. In this year's ceremony, former Tech provost John Wilson, who left the university to become president of Washington and Lee University, receives the Ruffner Medal.
MAY
U.Va. fundraiser succeeds Steger
Elizabeth "Betsy" Flanagan is named to replace Charles Steger as vice president for development and university relations. Most recently, Flanagan served at the University of Virginia as assistant vice president for development and director of individual, major, and planned gifts. She played a key role in Virginia's $1-billion capital campaign.
JUNE
Board names ACITC for Torgersen
The Virginia Tech Board of Visitors honors former Tech President Paul E. Torgersen by naming the facility housing the Advanced Communications and Technology Center (ACITC) Torgersen Hall. The hall opens during the summer of 2000.
Transportation Institute to lead consortium
The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute will lead a consortium of traffic-safety research organizations in a multimillion-dollar National Highway Traffic Safety Administration contract. The contract, which is not to exceed $15 million during the next three years, calls for research into such areas as antilock brakes, vehicle visibility, consumer acceptance, and rollover.
Steger named Tech's 15th President
http://www.reports.president.vt.edu/pres9900/00yearglance.html