VCU School of Nursing receives leadership gift for new building

By Michael Ford
University News Services

RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Nursing has received a $500,000 leadership gift from the Theresa A. Thomas Foundation, donated specifically for a new comprehensive nursing building and center for nursing.

The Thomas Foundation gift is the largest leadership gift earmarked for the School of Nursing construction project. Construction costs are estimated at $14.6 million for the new building that will be built along East Leigh Street, adjacent to the VCU Medical Center Bookstore. To fund part of the construction, nearly $11.6 million from the state’s General Obligation Bond package approved by voters in November 2002 is expected to be available to VCU. The School of Nursing Advancement Council has pledged to raise the remainder of the costs – $3 million – as part of its Capital Campaign.

“The Theresa A. Thomas Foundation has been supportive of the VCU School of Nursing for many years,” said Nancy F. Langston, Ph.D., R.N., dean of the VCU School of Nursing. “We are extremely grateful for its enduring commitment to the School.” 

The leadership gift is the third substantial gift from the Thomas Foundation to the School of Nursing. Inspired by the earlier death of his wife, George D. Thomas established the Theresa A. Thomas Foundation upon his death in 1975. It has been dedicated to supporting health care in Virginia. In 1988, the Thomas Foundation established the Theresa Thomas R.N. Scholarship Funds at the VCU School of Nursing, endowing accounts in perpetuity in Theresa’s name and assisting many talented students pursuing careers in nursing, just like the fund’s namesake.

In 1999, the nursing school received a $500,000 gift from the Thomas Foundation to endow and establish the Theresa A. Thomas Endowment for Outreach Services. At the time, it was the second largest gift to the school, ranking behind only the foundation’s 1988 gift. The Thomas Endowment for Outreach established a distinguished professorship – the school’s first fully endowed professorship – to advance the outreach service of the school’s Community Nursing Organization.

A new nursing education building and center for nursing science will allow VCU to double undergraduate enrollment leading to original licensure as RNs and expand graduate enrollment in nursing by 25 percent and to develop additional strategies to meet the future health care needs of Virginia and the nation. The new state-of-the-science facility will be a deliberately designed education site for nursing with labs for basic science research and simulation centers for advanced clinical training and classrooms and lecture halls that exploit the latest teaching technologies. The new school is envisioned to have a Community Outreach Nursing Center – a dedicated space for clinical service outreach – that will expand one of the school’s missions and engage students to develop a propensity to serve. Additionally, the school will have designated space to support continuing growth of the research activities that establish the evidence for effective nursing care.

One of 84 comprehensive nursing schools in the country, the VCU School of Nursing traces its history back to 1893. Ranked 48th among America’s best graduate schools by U.S. News & World Report and ranked 26th among nursing schools in NIH funded research, the School of Nursing is a resource for nurses and nursing throughout Virginia. 

“Throughout the School's long history, when nurses looked for answers to their questions and solutions to problems, they have looked to VCU,” Langston said. “We hope with this new building and center for nursing to continue this time honored tradition.”