L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

 Menu

News and events

Winners of the Metro Richmond Exports Initiatives and representatives of the Virginia Gateway Region and Greater Richmond Partnership gather after the competition.
News / January 30, 2018

Five Area Businesses Win $5,000 Awards at MREI Pitch Panel

Five Richmond-area businesses each won $5,000 in the Metro Richmond Exports Initiative’s pitch panel competition at the group’s annual meeting on Thursday, Jan 25.

Read more
News / April 16, 2018

VCU Wilder School, Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to Host School Safety Forum

The VCU Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy and the Virginia Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security are sponsoring a forum on school safety on Monday, April 23, that will examine how officials can best assess, investigate and resolve potential threats as well as the evolving role of school resource officers.

Read more
(Top) Joseph Costello, president of Friends of the Pump House and a 2017 graduate of the Wilder School's Master of Urban and Regional Planning program, coordinates volunteers at a recent cleanup. (Middle) The Pump House is a grand example of Gothic Revival architecture. (Bottom) Lyn Lanier,
News / April 4, 2018

Wilder School Students, Graduates Leading Effort to Restore Pump House

The granite gables of the Pump House stretch toward the skies like spires on a cathedral, a Richmond landmark on the north bank of the James River that’s sat unused for nearly 80 years — and Wilder School students and alumni are helping to change that.

Read more
Image of five gold stars.
News / March 21, 2018

Wilder School Moves Up in National Rankings

The Wilder School moved up 12 places in the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings, released March 20, for best graduate public affairs program, ranking 44th in the nation.

Read more
Top right: Zach Villegas with Del. R. Steven Landes. Bottom right: Elizabeth Dexter with legislative assistant Janet Muldoon. Dexter, a junior majoring in criminal justice and homeland security and emergency preparedness, interned in the office of Senate Democratic Leader Dick Saslaw.
News / March 22, 2018

Legislative Program Gives Students a Leg-up on the Future

Eight-week internship provides unrivaled access to the Virginia General Assembly and career-making experience for diverse majors.

Read more
(Top) Wilder School students study a tombstone. (Middle) Assistant Professor Kathryn Howell, Ph.D., and students look to see what Evergreen Cemetery Caretaker Ted Maris-Wolf is uncovering. (Below) Wilder School students watch their steps as they walk through the cemetery's vine-clogged paths.
News / March 7, 2018

Wilder School Students Help Restore the Past, Plan for Future

A monstrous tangle of ivy and kudzu vines clog many pathways and bury much of Historic Evergreen Cemetery under a blanket of neglect. Some tombstones are so worn their names are illegible. Others lay crumbled, shrouded by a towering canopy of trees.

Read more
L. Douglas Wilder, the 66th Governor of Virginia and a Distinguished Professor was the featured guest of the Wilder School’s Lunch and Learn Zoom presentation on May 19.
News / March 2, 2018

Wilder School to Mount Impressive Showing at National Conference

Thirteen Wilder School faculty and students—including Governor L. Douglas Wilder and ASPA Immediate Past President and Professor, Susan Gooden, Ph.D.—will present more than 20 presentations during the 2018 American Society for Public Administration Conference to be held in Denver, March 9-13. With more than 7,500 members representing every level and function of government and nonprofits, ASPA is the nation's preeminent association for public management.

Read more
News / February 22, 2018

Criminal Justice Program Represented at Academy Meeting

The Wilder School was well represented at the 55th annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, held Feb. 13-17 in New Orleans and that drew 1,500 participants.

Read more
News / February 19, 2018

ASPA to Honor Governor Wilder with Social Equity Award

L. Douglas Wilder, distinguished professor at the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia’s 66th governor, will receive the American Society for Public Administration Gloria Hobson Nordin Social Equity Award at ASPA’s upcoming annual conference in Denver, Colorado.

Read more
Dr. Grace Harris, who retired as a distinguished professor at the Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy and was the first African-American woman to serve as the chief academic officer of a four-year public university in Virginia, died on Monday, February 12.
News / February 13, 2018

Grace E. Harris, Trailblazer and Breaker of Glass Ceilings, Dies at 84

Dr. Grace E. Harris, who retired as a distinguished professor at the Wilder School’s Center for Public Policy and was the first African-American woman to serve as the chief academic officer of a four-year public university in Virginia, died on Monday, February 12.

Read more