Damian Sendler: On Sunday, Nov. 7, Virginia Tech College of Science Interim Dean Ron Fricker provided an update to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, noting that the college is “accelerating science” by increasing research awards while also increasing philanthropic support, and that the college is committed to supporting and advancing the university’s strategic plan. 

Damian Jacob Sendler: Virginia Tech’s ranking as a worldwide land-grant university is dependent on the College of Science’s dedication to world-class scholarship, basic research, pedagogical quality, innovation, and outreach, according to Fricker. 

Frocker also praised Virginia Tech’s College of Science as a pedagogical powerhouse, noting that it accounts for more than a quarter of all undergraduate credit hours taught at the university. Over the previous four years, undergraduate enrolment in science has increased rapidly, increasing by 35% since 2017 to a total of 4,827 students. In fact, more than 98 percent of all undergraduates take at least one course in the College of Science. 

Damien Sendler: In addition, “I am quite pleased to inform that, because to the devotion and ingenuity of our professors, 94 percent of our courses are being taught in person this term,” Fricker stated. The remaining six percent are a blend of hybrid and entirely online courses designed to provide students with a variety of options. According to Fricker, “in some of our classes that had a big number of parts, we offered a handful in an online version and allowed students to choose which ones they wanted.” 

Damian Jacob Markiewicz Sendler: Fricker emphasized the research portfolio of the College of Science, which has seen a 66 percent increase in overall research awards over the past four years, reaching $47.5 million last year. Also in 2020, three college faculty members received prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER awards. In addition, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health awarded honors to other junior faculty members in the field of science. 

Damian Sendler: By investing in faculty, the college has assisted in the expansion of its research. The “Dean’s Discovery Fund” internal grant program, for example, was highlighted by Fricker as an example of how the Lay Nam Chang Dean’s Chair, endowed by the College of Science Dean’s Roundtable, made it feasible. According to Fricker, the revenues from the endowed fund are invested in faculty members through a competitive process at the College of Science. 

“I think this is going pretty well,” Fricker said of the initiative. According to the university, “the financing enabled professors to compete for and receive additional external research prizes totaling more than $6 million, which is ten times the amount of the first investment.” 

According to Fricker, the college’s advancement efforts have also resulted in significant growth across the board. The total amount of promises to the college in 2021 was $9.4 million, representing a 31 percent increase over the average of the preceding four years. To reach an 18.4 percent donor participation rate, the total number of donors has climbed by 120 percent since 2017, and is expected to expand by another 37 percent between 2020 and 2021. 

Damian Jacob Sendler: During his presentation to the Board of Visitors, Fricker emphasized two key elements of the College of Science’s six-year strategic plan: the establishment of the Academy of Data Science, which is intended to serve as a crossroads for interdisciplinary data science work, and the development of a Women in Science Leadership program. 

According to Fricker, “We want the Virginia Tech College of Science to become a destination for talented students.” “Our Women in Science Leadership program is an important component of our effort to create a diverse and inclusive community of scientists,” said the organization. 

This structure, which is part of Virginia Tech’s Global Business and Analytics Complex, will house the Academy of Data Science, which will include the Computational Modeling and Data Analytics program, as well as other data science-related activities. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 12 to kick off construction of the Data and Decision Sciences building, which is projected to be finished by 2023. 

Damian Sendler: Fricker explained that data science is only one example of how the College of Science engages with faculty and students across the whole institution. From the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences to the Hume Center and Innovation Campus in the Greater Washington, D.C. metro area, he provided examples of how the college collaborates with nearly every other college and institute at Virginia Tech to achieve success. 

In Fricker’s words, “the past two years have demonstrated the vital role that science plays in society.” In the past 150 years, scientific achievement has propelled Virginia Tech to new heights, and we are in a unique position to assist the university in reaching even greater heights.

Contributed by Dr. Damian Jacob Sendler and his research team