In State of the University, Michael Rao tells VCU community: ‘Let’s be bold together’

By VCU News staff

In his annual State of the University Address today, Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao, Ph.D., said that VCU now, more than ever, has both the opportunity and obligation to meet the rapidly changing needs of the world.

“We are called upon to envision a society where people get better and better with every passing generation. Our role in that is essential,” said Rao, who spoke to an audience at James Branch Cabell Library and to online viewers via livestream. “That means this is an important moment for all of us. But moments don’t change the world. Movements do. And to make this moment a movement, we’ve got to think bigger and act more boldly.”

Throughout his speech, Rao emphasized the importance of VCU anticipating the future and rising to adapt and meet the needs that lie ahead. Using basketball terms, Rao noted that the best teams do not simply chase the ball where it is – they focus on where it’s going. In that way, Rao said, “we will help shape what comes next.”

To do that, Rao said VCU will need to continue to focus on interdisciplinary learning that avoids siloed approaches and limited perspectives. VCU’s graduates are expected to solve complex problems such as creating healthier communities, a stronger economy, a more resilient environment, a safer society, faster cures and smarter and more ethical technologies. 

“These are big human and societal problems,” Rao said. “What they are not is ‘one department’ problems.”

The world, he continued, needs graduates who connect ideas across disciplines, translate across boundaries and lead teams where varied experiences are an advantage. The next chapter of VCU will be defined by how it addresses the questions: What are the human and societal problems we want VCU to help solve, and how do we bring disciplines together to do it?

Rao noted VCU’s students are not just students but “global citizens and professionals of the future.”

“The world has got to have more graduates from colleges who are thought-provoking leaders, who are creative critical thinkers who can work in teams with people who are nothing like themselves and appreciate all of those people and the value that they all bring,” Rao said. “The world needs people who can move across big boundaries. They have got to be able to solve problems at scale. … This is the kind of bold learning that students want and the bold discovery that the world needs. It's the kind of university that you all have built at VCU.”

‘Where excellence meets opportunity’

In building the case that VCU is uniquely positioned to tackle the challenges of the future, Rao called VCU “the place where excellence meets opportunity in support of the American dream,” noting that 38.3% of VCU’s freshman class this year are first-generation college students and 41.2% are from Pell-eligible families. 

“In true American spirit, this university that you have created clears pathways to higher education for really hardworking people from every background, every perspective and a ton of different experiences,” Rao said. “As we go forward, we will endeavor to find every way possible to further strengthen the student experience at VCU and shorten their time to graduation.”  

Among VCU’s successes, Rao said the university can boast its highest four-year graduation rate on record, its highest doctoral enrollment on record and an all-time high of online-only students. Rao revealed that most recently Time magazine ranked VCU among the 250 top universities in the world.

In addition, VCU is well above the $500 million mark for both sponsored funding and research expenditures, putting it in the top 10% of research universities in the country. This year, the National Science Foundation ranked VCU 46th in the country among public universities for research expenditures. 

Rao now wants VCU to aim to surpass $1 billion a year in research and innovation funding, which would mean “more impact, more discoveries, and most importantly it's going to mean more lives that we can save.”

Rao said that VCU Health is a powerful part of the university’s story. Rao shared that VCU Health set records for inpatient discharges and outpatient visits this past year. Each of the health system’s hospitals earned an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from Leapfrog, an independent national nonprofit watchdog focused on patient safety – the only health system in Virginia to achieve all “A’s” for each hospital for fall 2025. VCU Health also received its highest patient experience scores ever in 2025.

“Our people do what they do with unbelievable skill, but really importantly with compassion and urgency,” Rao said. 

Being a university-based health system means that new research creates emerging care such as clinical trials, new treatments, new technologies and new hope for patients and families. 

“And our communities know this,” he said. “When we work as a university and health system that combines all of our strengths, it makes an enormous difference here in Virginia.”

A remarkable breadth and depth of impact

A new, independent report shows exactly how much value VCU and VCU Health create for Virginia. The study found that VCU and VCU Health have a total economic impact of $18.5 billion to the state. “That speaks to the breadth and the depth of the work that you are doing and the impact that you have,” Rao said. The report found that VCU and VCU Health support almost 96,000 jobs throughout Virginia – one out of every 61 jobs in the state.

As part of his address, Rao spoke on stage with Amy Rector, Ph.D., an associate professor of anthropology in VCU’s School of World Studies, and Aaron Anderson, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Theatre in the School of the Arts, to spotlight the types of innovative work being done by VCU’s faculty. Rector is a paleoecologist in anthropology who received worldwide attention last year for research in Ethiopia that helped identify a new human ancestor. Anderson, an affiliate professor in both the School of Business and the School of Business, is founding director of the Standardized Patient Program at the Center for Human Simulation and Patient Safety and serves as faculty lead in the Center for Arts Research. Anderson’s work uses applied art, specifically theater, as a communication tool to help us better understand one another. 

As a parting thought, Rao urged his audience to continue to consider a key question in their efforts: How does our work strengthen Virginia, the nation and the world? Rao asked the VCU community to act with a sense of urgency. “Let’s be bold together,” he said.

“How do we move beyond everything that we learned?” Rao said. “Aren't we powerful human beings? Can't we do so much more? And can't we pay closer attention to the generations that are coming and what they are trying to tell us? I know that we will make impacts at scale that will really cross traditional academic boundaries. And I am very excited about this. I’m very excited about all of you.”