Mission and history

Official VCU mission: Why we’re here

Virginia Commonwealth University and its academic health sciences center serve as one national urban public research institution dedicated to the success and well-being of our students, patients, faculty, staff and community through:

• Real-world learning that furthers civic engagement, inquiry, discovery and innovation
• Research that expands the boundaries of new knowledge and creative expression and promotes translational applications to improve the quality of human life
• Interdisciplinary collaborations and community partnerships that advance innovation, enhance cultural and economic vitality, and solve society’s most complex challenges
• Health sciences that preserve and restore health for all people, seek the cause and cure of diseases through groundbreaking research and educate those who serve humanity
• Deeply engrained core values of diversity, inclusion and equity that provide a safe, trusting and supportive environment to explore, create, learn and serve

History: How we came to be

Way back — we’re talking more than 175 years ago — in 1838, VCU was known by another name. We were the Medical College of Hampden-Sydney, later becoming the Medical College of Virginia. It wasn’t until 1968, when we merged with Richmond Professional Institute, that we were given the name Virginia Commonwealth University. But one thing is for sure: We have never stopped making history.