Science helps us understand the world around us.  It is a process for learning about nature, and it is focused on creating knowledge that discovering solutions to society’s problems. If the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21 has demonstrated anything, it is the importance of science to the health and welfare of all people.  As we emerge from this pandemic, we do so with the help of science and because of science.

In these challenging times, the application of science to so many pressing problems has never been more essential.  These problems include:

  • Climate change, including coastal flooding and increasingly destructive storms;  
  • Sustainability, including food and water security, protection of the environment, the loss of biodiversity, and clean / low-carbon energy;
  • National and personal security, including nuclear non-proliferation, cybersecurity, social media, and data privacy;
  • Human health, including the elimination of infectious, chronic and drug-resistant diseases, disparities in health care, and healthy aging.  

In the College of Science, we are committed to tackling these and other problems.  We are devoted to Virginia Tech’s land-grant mission: generating knowledge, making discoveries, and educating the next generation of citizens and scientists to improve the human condition.  

We do this by combining deep knowledge in the fundamental scientific disciplines with a willingness to work together in new ways that bring together traditional scientific disciplines.  We apply cutting-edge technologies and the latest methods, including the use of modern data science tools and practices, in and across our disciplines.

In the College of Science, we also conduct basic research for which there may be no immediate application. It is this research that advances our fundamental understanding of the natural, physical, social, and quantitative sciences, upon which future discoveries and innovations so often depend.  

The heartbeat of the College of Science is its people – faculty, staff, and students – who are passionately engaged in research, teaching, and learning.  In the College of Science, we are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion.  We support Virginia Tech’s Principles of Community.  We welcome and respect all people in our quest to advance science for the betterment of humanity.

Please join us on our journey to discover, create, inspire, inform, and improve the future!

Ron scanned name

Ronald D. Fricker, Jr.

Interim Dean, College of Science

January 4, 2021