Dr. Henry Hibbs

From the beginning

We're older than you think. The Monroe Park Campus traces its roots to 1917. The university was officially founded in 1838, when the Medical College of Virginia was established as a medical department of Hampden-Sydney College.

The birth of a foundation
1917
Seven Richmond residents recruit Henry Hibbs to organize a professional school for social work. Dr. Hibbs was offered an $1,800 annual salary, although he would have to raise the money himself. His first office, he recalled, was "a great barn-like room furnished with an old banquet table set up on wooden horses for a desk."

Alumni make their first gift
1925
Alumni literally find a home for faculty and students. They raise enough funds to buy a permanent residence for the school at Founder's Hall. For eight years, RPI had moved from place to place around the city.

From humble beginnings ...
1928
The School of the Arts opens its doors as a remodeled loft of a horse stable behind Founder's Hall.

1939
The business program is launched, with early emphasis on retail store operations and secretarial science.

1953
RPI issues a pamphlet titled, "An Entirely Different College," because it arranges its programs of study around occupations or professions.

1964
The School of Education is formed.

1965
The College of Humanities and Sciences is established.

... to a great university…
1968
Richmond Professional Institute and Medical College of Virginia merge to establish Virginia Commonwealth University.

RPI Foundation changes its name to VCU Foundation to reflect its expanded mission to support the Academic (now named Monroe Park Campus) and MCV Campuses.

… that continues to grow
Since 1994, VCU has spent $1.1 billion in new facilities, dressing up the Monroe Park Campus and revitalizing a lengthy stretch of the decaying Broad Street corridor. On the books: The $196-million Monroe Park Campus Addition for the business and engineering schools, a new Brain and Neuroscience Institute at the VCU Medical Center and other signature projects.

Exploiting its location as an urban university, VCU has woven a dense network of ties to the business community, city government and surrounding neighborhoods. VCU’s Fourth President Eugene P. Trani and the university played a key role in developing the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park.

VCU has revamped its academic organizational structure, converting MCV Hospitals into a quasi-independent authority, building strong ties between both Richmond campuses and emphasizing interdisciplinary study in fast-growing fields. Sponsored research spending, concentrated in the life sciences, reached $185 million in 2004.

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