Dean's Message
Evolution of a College
When Old Dominion University was founded as an extension of William and Mary in1930, the entire science department was housed in a small portion of the Old Larchmont School, which then stood at the corner of Hampton Boulevard and Bolling Avenue.In 1960, the total Old Dominion College student population had grown to 2,000 with many students beginning to concentrate their academic efforts in the sciences.By 1970, faculty in the School of Sciences and Health Professions at Old Dominion University had been born and its faculty were writing interdisciplinary research grant proposals that were beginning to be funded at increasingly larger dollar amounts that were competitive with other research based universities.In 1986, the School split along the lines of applied health sciences and fundamental science to form the College of Health Sciences and today’s College of Sciences– thus, the College of Sciences in its present iteration was born.
Today, the College of Sciences alone is the home of seven departments with 160 faculty members in nearly 30 programs with 2,514 majors (2,116 undergraduate and 498 graduate). Degrees are offered from the bachelors through the doctoral with five graduate degrees offered jointly with other colleges or institutions.Our majors gain additional education through field trips, including caving, the Dismal Swamp, or out on the Colleges’ 55-foot high-speed, custom-built research vessel, which enhances our research capability for Chesapeake Bay and near-shore investigations.Undergraduates are encouraged to participate in innovative internship programs that also increase their overall research experience.
The College not only physically encompasses many different buildings on campus, its breadth of research covers the globe and ranges from sub-cellular to whole Earth in scale.In 1974 funded research totaled $1.5 million per annum, today our figures exceed $12 million with the top two funded departments being Biological Sciences and Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.Our programs in Nuclear Physics and Oceanography are among those nationally ranked.The College houses multi-departmental programs in Biogeochemistry, directs the Theory Group at the Jefferson National Laboratory in Newport News, and plays leadership roles in numerous other areas through our research centers.In the last ten years, the College has won four Virginia Scientist of the Year awards.
The College of Sciences is moving aggressively into the future with its successful merging of interdisciplinary curricula and activities. Examples of interdepartmental cooperation include biogeochemistry (Biological Sciences, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences), bioinformatics (Biological Sciences, Computer Science, Mathematics & Statistics), remote sensing and GIS (Biological Sciences, Ocean, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Geography (College of Arts and Letters), Engineering Technology (College of Engineering & Technology), medical modeling and simulation (Psychology and VMASC).Faculty and students alike will soon have use of a brand new instrument core facility with specialized spectroscopy equipment that is at the cutting edge of modern science and unparalleled on the East Coast.
Although the Colleges evolution has been marked by sustained growth and success, our progression and development is continues its journey towards a very bright future as a major and nationally recognized center of excellence in the sciences.As we continue to hire new scientists at all career levels we also attract the brightest students from near and far, and we persistently look for and incorporate new ways to bring science into our classrooms.The future rests on bringing the best education to the best minds – the College of Sciences is doing that and so much more.
Richard V. Gregory, Dean
College of Sciences
