Update from Interim Provost Brie Gertler to Faculty, November 2025

Dear Faculty Colleagues, 

Fall is always a busy time at the University, and this fall has been particularly eventful. In the five weeks since my last all-faculty message, much has taken place across Grounds. 

Emergency Alerts and Resources 

Emergency alerts were issued on Monday afternoon after what was later deemed to be a false report of an active attacker on Grounds, prompting considerable anxiety for our students, faculty, staff, and visitors. I am grateful to our colleagues in the Department of Safety and Security (DSS) and their regional partners, all of whom responded to the call not knowing what they would encounter. Many of you were teaching when the alerts went out, and I have heard reports from grateful students about how their professors provided clear instructions and helped to maintain a sense of calm in the classroom, studio, or lab.  

I encourage you to review the Emergency Alert Guidance for Instructors, which includes FAQs about what to do in specific situations such as a Run-Hide-Fight or Shelter in Place alert. The DSS website offers resources to help you think ahead. As Interim President Mahoney reminded us, UVA has support resources including FEAP for faculty and staff and CAPS and Timely Care for students. 

Federal Government Issues 

President Mahoney announced on October 22nd that the University has signed an agreement with the federal government related to civil rights law. Information about this agreement is available on the Federal Information site. That site also includes regularly updated FAQs about the impact of federal policy changes and other developments at the federal level. 

One such development is the federal government shutdown, which has created hardships for families across the country, including some members of the UVA community. Our colleagues in Student Affairs and Student Financial Services are providing affected students with short-term emergency loans and other forms of support. If a student shares concerns about finances or meeting their basic needs, please refer them to these resources. 

Despite the shutdown, the University’s financial position remains stable. Federal student financial aid for the fall semester was in place before the shutdown began, and we continue to receive drawdowns to reimburse the University for research expenses incurred on previously awarded grants. All PIs should continue to submit proposals and reports on time, spend carefully, avoid large equipment purchases, and obtain dean/vice president approval for hiring. Please notify the Office of Sponsored Programs and your unit’s research administrator immediately if you receive specific instructions from a sponsor.  

Life Sciences and AI  

We have had exciting news this fall in the life sciences, the culmination of years of work by many people. AstraZeneca announced that it will build a new manufacturing facility near UVA’s research park at North Fork, Eli Lilly announced plans to build in Goochland County, and Merck broke ground on a new pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in Elkton. Last week, I participated in an event in Richmond where these three companies committed to invest up to $120M in the Virginia Center for Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, a new education and workforce training initiative that will be a collaboration between UVA and other Virginia public universities, community colleges, industry partners, and state government. This partnership will complement the work of UVA’s Paul and Diane Manning Institute for Biotechnology, which marked a milestone last month in the construction of its facilities at Fontaine Research Park. 

Artificial intelligence is another rapidly expanding research area for UVA. I am pleased to announce that Henry Kautz and Ryan Wright will serve as co-directors of a new AI Research@UVA initiative. This initiative was inspired by the work of the 2024 Provost’s Task Force on AI Research and builds on the work led by Scott Acton and Yael Grushka-Cockayne, who served as the provost’s special advisors on AI as we assessed the nature and extent of AI research across Grounds. AI Research@UVA will expand and coordinate research efforts, foster interdisciplinary research leveraging AI, and increase the visibility and impact of UVA’s AI-related research.  

Lou’s List, Hoos’ List, and Stellic 

Many of you are familiar with Lou’s List, a custom resource built and maintained for years by Lou Bloomfield, Professor Emeritus of Physics. Lou retired in 2023 and will decommission Lou’s List later this month. I deeply appreciate Lou’s extraordinary contribution. Recognizing how important Lou’s List has been to the UVA community, my office has collaborated with ITS to create Hoos’ List, a modern, UVA-branded resource that mirrors much of the functionality of Lou’s List. These sites will operate concurrently until mid-to-late November, when Lou’s List will officially sunset.  

While Hoos’ List provides an easy way to browse course offerings, Stellic is UVA’s official advising platform. Stellic enables students to plan courses, explore majors, and connect with advisors and helps advisors collaborate across units to support students throughout their academic journey.  

Personnel Updates 

I am delighted to share that Paul Cherukuri has joined us as the Donna and Richard Tadler University Professor of Entrepreneurship and UVA’s inaugural Chief Innovation Officer. In this role, Paul will continue developing the University’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, UVA Innovates, building on the foundation that University Professor Mike Lenox created. I encourage you to reach out to Paul if you are interested in pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities at UVA. 

In my last message, I mentioned that President Mahoney and I were discussing the timing of searches for the next deans of the McIntire School of Commerce and the School of Architecture. I held listening sessions with faculty and staff in both schools and, informed by their input, we made different decisions about the timing of dean searches for these two schools.  

McIntire faculty and staff broadly favored delaying a search to create a sense of stability for the school and praised the leadership of Interim Dean Amanda Cowen. I am very pleased that Dean Cowen has agreed to extend her appointment as interim dean until June 30, 2027. The School of Architecture is in a different place, as Dean Malo Hutson has decided to step down at the conclusion of his term on June 30, 2026. Many Architecture faculty and staff felt strongly that we should proceed with a search this year. We will launch the search this month, and prospective candidates will be informed that we expect that a new president and provost will be selected before this search reaches the finalist stage. Leena Cho, who chairs the Department of Landscape Architecture, will co-chair the search committee with me.  

Other Timely Updates 

• Please consider nominating one or more of your faculty colleagues for Teaching, Research, and Public Service Awards to recognize their exceptional contributions. 
• Global Week at UVA will showcase the University’s education abroad programs, research, collaboration, and services across the world from November 8 through 16.  
• This weekend is Family Weekend at the University, and the UVA Arts community will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Fralin Museum of Art.  
• Veterans Day is next Tuesday, November 11. Because of the federal government shutdown, our ROTC cadets are not permitted by their service branches to conduct their annual 24-hour vigil and Veteran’s Day ceremony. I hope that you will take a moment to thank a veteran — including those among our students, faculty, and staff — for their service. 

As Thanksgiving approaches, I am again reminded of how grateful I am to be part of this remarkable and caring community. Thank you for all you do to help our students learn, advance discovery, serve patients, and make UVA the extraordinary place that it is.