VCU news

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley
Division of University Relations

Virginia Commonwealth University President Eugene P. Trani and L. Douglas Wilder, Richmond mayor and former Virginia Governor, have returned from meetings with four universities in England and Russia with strengthened partnerships, including a formal agreement with Harris Manchester College of the University of Oxford.

Trani and Wilder met with university officials last week at Cambridge, Oxford, St. Petersburg State University and Moscow State University.

A formal partnership agreement between VCU and Harris Manchester College, Oxford, was signed during a meeting between Trani and Ralph Waller, Principal of Harris Manchester, last week. Harris Manchester College and St. Petersburg State University are two of the 15 international partnerships that VCU has been developing over the past few years. The formal partnership with St. Petersburg State University already has been established, and meetings there with the rector, administration and faculty focused on joint programs and research between the universities' medical centers and other key areas.

"These international agreements go way beyond the usual study abroad opportunities arranged by a particular faculty member.They are institutional, long-term, learning and research intensive agreements whereby participating universities send their faculty and students here, and we do the same," Trani said. "In this way our university and the greater Richmond area are internationalized and ready to live, work and compete in the global marketplace."

Trani reported that during meetings at Moscow State University, VCU's relationship was expanded from programs with the VCU Wilder School for Government and Public Affairs and Moscow State's Department of Political History to the rest of Moscow State University, including medicine and history. The trip also resulted in plans to establish a partnership between Clare College, Cambridge University and VCU's Wilder School.

Wilder, who is a VCU distinguished professor, presented a lecture at the four universities titled "My reflections on American politics: past, present and portends for the future." Wilder was the first African American elected governor in U.S. history. He has taught at VCU for more than a dozen years, and the university's L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs is named after him.

Wilder and Trani also met with Marc Cranfield-Adams, the mayor of the London borough of Richmond upon Thames.

Trani's international partnership initiative has established significant collaborations with universities in the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. The partnerships have been established to internationalize VCU's campuses and include universities in Qatar, India, Mexico, England, Russia, China, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Ireland, Australia and South Africa.