Undergraduate scholarships help provide higher education opportunities for the most promising and talented students, which in turn enhances the College’s overall learning environment. More endowed scholarships are vital if Virginia Tech is to continue to attract and to retain the most talented students .Endowing a scholarship is one of the most satisfying ways alumni and friends can advance the mission of the College of Science at Virginia Tech. Such gifts are a permanent investment in the future of outstanding students and the future of the college. At the same time, they are often a wonderful way to honor or memorialize a loved one.
The graduate education program is essential to Virginia Tech's identity as a world-class university. Today’s graduate students are tomorrow’s scientific, business, and professional leaders. Competition for these advanced-degree students is intense. The primary recruiting tool is the graduate fellowship, which typically covers tuition and provides a living stipend. Increased endowments for graduate fellowships can provide more financial awards that will convince gifted students to choose Virginia Tech's graduate programs in the College of Science.
Endowed chairs and professorships are among the most important resources a university can have in assembling and maintaining a distinguished faculty. Such positions bestow honor and recognition on those that hold them. They also help to establish a stable, dependable source of income for special teaching and research materials, library acquisitions, and travel assistance. Thus the additional support and recognition that accompanies an endowed chair or professorship in the College of Science makes a significant difference in the College's ability to recruit distinguished scholars and to retain scholars.
Finally, since the best teachers and researchers inevitably attract the most capable students, increasing the number of endowed chairs and professorships raises the caliber of students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Over the years, gifts to build and renovate facilities have helped the Virginia Tech campus keep pace with the changing needs of faculty and students. From Henderson Hall, the oldest building standing on campus, to the Advanced Communications and Technology Building Virginia Tech buildings owe their origin or their improvement to the generosity of donors.