Students from around the world stand on campus with their luggage in Radford’s early years.
In March 2020, Radford University marked a historic milestone by reaching 110 years of Highlanders transforming the world.
Since its founding charter in 1910, the institution has focused on a bright future based on excellence, innovation and service to students and the community while maintaining a tradition of teaching and a commitment to change.
This semester, in Radford University’s 11th decade, is historic in its own right. But, Highlanders have proven time and time again they are responsive to change, resilient when times get tough and real through it all. Radford University’s students have been rising for 110 years.
The university’s commitment to producing changemakers started with founding president John Preston McConnell. His advocacy for women’s education set him apart from his scholarly peers and carved the institution’s influence in Virginia’s emerging public school system.
Much has changed and grown since Dr. McConnell laid the foundation for a university that would expand his vision of becoming a strong, steadfast and proven institution. What started as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women has grown exponentially ever since.
From 1938 through 1951, President David Wilbur Peters oversaw the transition of Radford to the women’s division of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and guided the school through tremendous post-World War II growth. Between 1952 and 1972, during the presidency of Dr. Charles Knox Martin, Radford became the largest women’s college on the East Coast. Enrollment increased from 823 to 3,670 students and 19 buildings were constructed.
President Donald Newton Dedmon followed suit by embracing change and leading efforts to double the institution’s recruitment with the admission of male undergraduates in the fall of 1972. He instituted a groundbreaking university governance system that embodied student representation. During Dr. Dedmon’s presidency, the Radford University Foundation, Inc., was established to advance and further the purpose and reach of the institution.
Dr. Douglas Covington, RU’s fifth president and first African-American leader, broke racial barriers when he was named to head up the university in 1995. He led efforts to raise $71 million and provide more financial support to increased numbers of students each year.
Since the university’s centennial in 2010, the campus has changed academically and physically. That important work was led by Penelope Ward Kyle, J.D. during her tenure as the sixth president from 2005 through 2016.
In the fall of 2012, the 116,000-square-foot Davis College of Business and Economics became home for students to adapt to a rapidly changing global economy with new educational technology, including a signature trading room. This building embraced Radford University’s historical architecture and set the bar high for future construction.
In 2014, Radford University opened the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, a 110,000-square-foot space that promotes student health and wellbeing. The center features an indoor graded track, a multi-use court, racquetball courts and classrooms.
Classes began in 2016 in the 114,000-square-foot Center for the Sciences, which has become a premier science destination for students and the community with new learning spaces like the Planetarium, the Museum of Earth Sciences and the Forensic Science Institute.
In 2016, the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences moved into a 144,000-square-foot new home, the largest academic building on campus. The modern facility houses a courtroom for mock trials, a forensic laboratory, an Emergency Management Center and a television studio.
Under the leadership of Radford University’s seventh president, Dr. Brian O. Hemphill, the institution has embraced the mission of teaching and learning while providing adequate space for a forward-focused and innovation-driven education. In 2017, the university launched IMPACT, a competency-based program with a spotlight on cybersecurity, geospatial intelligence and education. Radford University was the first public university in the commonwealth to launch this program and secured a historic $13.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support it.
President Hemphill was instrumental in securing significant resources for Radford University’s students of today and tomorrow. In 2017, Nancy E. Artis ’73 and H. Pat Artis, Ph.D., contributed $5 million to establish the Artis Endowed Scholarship Fund, thereby providing scholarship support for students known as Artis Scholars. Due to their steadfast support and as a tribute to the largest gift from graduates in the institution’s history, Radford University named the Artis College of Science and Technology in honor of Nancy and Pat. And, in 2018, Jack and Sandy Davis donated $8 million to the university, representing the largest gift from individuals in the institution’s history and resulting in the naming of the Davis College of Business and Economics and the Davis Performance Hall located in the Covington Center.
The recent growth of Radford University is felt and seen beyond the New River Valley. In 2019, Carilion Clinic, the Jefferson College of Health Sciences and Radford University joined forces to create Radford University Carilion, located in downtown Roanoke. The merger provides a rigorous real-world learning experience for students pursuing degrees in the health sciences as students learn first-hand how to care for patients, conduct research and explore organizational management.
As Radford University’s alma mater says, “Praise her broad and her lofty aim, Her purpose ne’er will fail.” Highlanders continue to broaden Radford University’s reach globally and build a strong-willed and proven alumni body. Highlanders are responsive, resilient and real.
More than 80,000 students through 110 years have committed to making a difference here on campus, online and in their chosen fields. Our faculty have encouraged forward momentum in scholarship that has transformed the world. Our staff have dedicated their careers and themselves to being fierce advocates for Highlander success. Our alumni have established meaningful careers, connections and support that carry the Highlander spirit around the globe.
Justin Ward
