UR Now: University News
UR scholars have been honored with national awards
Richmond students receive Fulbright, Gilman, and other prestigious scholarships.
School of Arts & Sciences Dean’s Annual Report
2023-24 Now Available!
Meet the 2025-26 Beckman Scholars
A&S students Brice Di Carlo, ’27, and Eric Zhou, ’27, have each been awarded a prestigious Beckman Foundation Scholarship to support faculty-mentored student research in the sciences.
Beckman Scholars are selected among undergraduate biology and chemistry students based on commitment to research, strong academics, and potential to become scientific leaders. UR has had 28 Beckman Scholars since 2006.
Chemistry major Brice Di Carlo is studying chemical bonding using various computational methods. This work of studying chemical structures and reactions has implications in developing new medicines and improving existing ones. His faculty mentor is chemistry professor Kelling Donald. Di Carlo plans to pursue a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry and aspires to research drug development, including treatments for cardiovascular disease.
Eric Zhou is majoring in chemistry and minoring in physics. Under the mentorship of chemistry professor Wade Downey, he is studying organic chemistry — specifically indole synthesis, which has implications in the pharmaceutical industry. Zhou aspires to become a physician-scientist at an academic institution and hopes to open a lab researching targeted drug treatments for cancer.
A&S Award Winners
Each April, the School of Arts & Sciences awards the David C. Evans Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship and Artistic & Creative Works at the A&S Honors Convocation. During the A&S Honors Convocation, department honor societies, winners of the A&S Student Symposium paper and art competitions, John R. Rilling Award for First-Year Seminar Writing, and the outstanding faculty mentor are also recognized.
2025 Recipients
DAVID C. EVANS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING SCHOLARSHIP
Holly Wemple and Maya Casillas
DAVID C. EVANS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC & CREATIVE WORK
Adam Huffman
A&S STUDENT SYMPOSIUM AWARDS
Paper Competition
Maria Byrnes and Maria Zambrano Davila
Art Competition
Hannah Zaheer
Outstanding Mentor
Elena Calvillo, associate professor of art history, and Laura Knouse, professor of psychology
A&S Symposium Sustainability Awards
Oral Presentation
Sophie Tanner
Poster Presentation
Megan Montoya and Julia Norton
A&S OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARD
Doro and Bella Stevens
John R. Rilling Award for First-Year Seminar Writing
Owen Hoover and Hallie Muniz
Bridge to Success
"Discovering the Power of Your Voice."
June 22 to July 26, 2025
The Bridge to Success (BTS) program offers an immersive summer experience tailored to facilitate your transition from high school to college. Participants in the BTS program will engage in a comprehensive academic course, fulfilling one (1 Unit) of the University’s General Education graduation requirements. These small, student-centered liberal arts courses are complemented through study sessions, community excursions, and practical workshops aimed at equipping students to embrace the academic, social, and cultural opportunities of both the University of Richmond and its neighboring community.
Students participating in the BTS program reside in one of the University’s residence halls for a duration of five weeks. During this time, they familiarize themselves with the campus, establish enduring connections with mentors, peers, and University personnel, and initiate the cultivation of essential time management competencies.
A&S Feature Stories
UR Now: Alumni
Richmond alum’s creative leap from a legal career to filmmaking
Caroline McNamara discovered her calling when she started working behind the camera lens and gained international attention.
Rankings News
University of Richmond Named ‘Best Value College’ by Princeton Review; Ranked as a Top 10 School for Internships
Richmond has once again been named to The Princeton Review’s list of “Best Value Colleges” for 2025. Richmond has been included on this list since 2013.
UR Now: Alumni
Richmond grad builds plans that drive NASA’s rover and its scientific mission
Amy Snyder Hale went from physics major to driving a robot on Mars.
A&S Faculty in the News
On the streets with New York’s ‘rat tsar’
Biology professor Jonathan Richardson is quoted.
Patch AM: Richmond's new project tackles flooding issues
Geography, environment, and sustainability professor Stephanie Spera is quoted.
Where the Water Goes
Geography, environment, and sustainability professor Stephanie Spera is quoted.
‘You open the fridge – nothing’: renewed threat of US hunger as Trump seeks to cut food aid
Political science professor Tracy Roof is quoted.
Events
Faculty Expertise
Do you envision college as a place where your professor’s office hours are spent in deep conversation about topics beyond this week’s assignment? Where you can work side-by-side with a faculty member on cutting-edge research that is published in a professional journal?
In A&S, our faculty are experts on the cutting edge of their fields. While they could work in some of the top research institutions in the world, our faculty chose Richmond because they believe in educating tomorrow's leaders and are passionate about mentoring and sharing their knowledge with students.
A&S Faculty Highlights
Martin presents on human-robot dance performances
Patrick Martin, assistant professor of computer science, presented “On the Design and Implementation of a Live Human-Robot Coding Platform for Contemporary Dance Performances” at the International Conference on Live Coding.
Wong Medina presents on Homer
Jorge Wong Medina, assistant professor of classics presented “The Formulaic Template and Linguistic Innovation in Homer” at the Formulaic Language in Historical Linguistics: Data, Methods, Tools, and Theory conference at the Finnish House of Learned Societies.
Redican and student publish on AI in education
Kyle Redican, teaching faculty of geography, environment, & sustainability and director of the Spatial Analysis Lab, along with undergraduate Matteo Gonzalez, ‘24, published “Generative AI in Undergraduate Education: An Early View of Developments, Prospects, and Challenges of the AI Revolution” in The Professional Geographer.
Wong Medina presents at ancient greek linguistics conference
Jorge Wong Medina, assistant professor of classics presented "Homeric Diectasis" at the 11th International Colloquium of Ancient Greek Linguistics.