Department: Retrospect
The Gardens, According to Plan
Learn how the gardens of Grounds have changed—and stayed the same—from Jefferson’s original plans.
Summer 2018
Tom the Builder
Thomas Jefferson was a visionary leader--and a meticulous construction manager.
Spring 2018
The Founder’s Secular Vision
Jefferson’s University of Virginia was to be a modern, secular, science-centered university taught by scholars of distinction, with the students expected largely to govern themselves.
Winter 2017
A Classroom as Big as the Lawn
Through architecture, Jefferson hoped students would gain a sense of design, order and beauty.
Fall 2017
Politics, by Any Other Name
Coy Barefoot (Grad '97) recounts how the University had to overcome determined opposition to come into existence.
Summer 2017
Thomas Jefferson’s Prayer for the Future
The Magazine kicks off its series of retrospective pieces commemorating the UVA Bicentennial with a look back at Jefferson's dreams for his University’s future.
Spring 2017
A Flight Forgotten
The Aviator was crafted to recognize UVA alum and French Air Service pilot James McConnell, whose plane went down in France in 1917. But it’s not your typical WWI memorial.
Fall 2016
Good Science
In a series of experiments in a lab on Grounds in 1977, pharmacology professor Alfred G. Gilman made a breakthrough that won him a Nobel Prize.
Summer 2016
Labs of Yore
Faculty and alumni remember some true relics of University history: computer labs.
Spring 2016
Human Computer
Caroyl Beddow Gooch's careful calculations of astronomical measurements helped McCormick Observatory become one of the world's top observatories in the mid-20th century.
Winter 2015
Peculiar Properties
Tour of some of the mysterious, historic—and empty—properties owned by the University.
Fall 2015
The Pioneer
Bernard Mayes had a long list of achievements before he even came to UVA But on Grounds, he is perhaps best remembered as a Cambridge gentleman in a tweed jacket who broke down barriers for gay students and colleagues alike.
Summer 2015
Admiral of the Antarctic
Before embarking on a naval career that would send him to the North and South poles, Rear Adm. Richard E. Byrd spent a year studying at UVA.
Winter 2014
Ringing the Carillon
Fall 2014
Ringing the Carillon
If you thought the sounds of the University Chapel's bells are made by an expert ringer toiling inside the steeple, think again.
Fall 2014
Back to the Future
Only some of Manning's ideas came to be, but he defined a way of thinking about growth at the University and raised important questions about building values.
Summer 2014
Flag of Honor
The flag that hangs in JPJ Arena once covered the casket of a Vietnam veteran.
Spring 2014
Laying the University’s Dogs to Rest
In 1939 and 1953, students gave grand funerals for two beloved University dogs.
Fall 2013
“The Hand That Held the Dagger”
FDR delivers his famous “hand that held the dagger” speech in Mem Gym.
Summer 2013
The School of Athens
One of Raphael's most famous frescoes has enjoyed its own renaissance at the University.
Spring 2013
The Celestial Dome
Thomas Jefferson envisioned the Rotunda dome room not as a library but as a planetarium for teaching astronomy.
Winter 2012
1817: The First Meeting of the Board of Visitors
View the minutes from UVA's first BOV meeting including Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.
Fall 2012