Investing in the Alma Mater of the Nation
Dear William & Mary Community,
I write to share my regular fall update on William & Mary's strategic plan, launched in 2021 to ensure the university would exit the pandemic strong. As we near the United States Quarter Millennial, we are building intentionally on our legacy as the Alma Mater of the Nation. Investments of time, creativity, and resources in four thematic areas align our distinctive strengths with near-term opportunities and challenges:
- Data:
W&M's School of Computing, Data Sciences & Physics launches in fall 2025 with inaugural Dean Douglas "Doug" Schmidt '84, M.A. '86. - Democracy:
W&M strengthens democracy through our Better Arguments framework, student self-governance, Gates Hall groundbreaking, and discoveries at the Williamsburg Bray School. - Water:
Jane Batten's HON '17, L.H.D. '19 historic $100 million gift positions W&M's Batten School & VIMS as a global leader in coastal resiliency and marine sciences. - Careers:
A top 10 public university for internships, W&M empowers student career success with an impressive 86% growth in internship funding from 2023 to 2024.
A full recap of exciting stories and achievements for each area may be found below. In this transformative work, we are guided by William & Mary's commitment to the human beings who come here to learn and work together. We are investing in our beautiful campus in areas that they value most: welcoming learning, living, and working spaces that help us grow personally and professionally.
Above all, we hope our far-flung friends and family will visit soon — to see for yourselves how William & Mary is flourishing.
Sincerely,
Katherine A. Rowe
President
Democracy
Students at William & Mary today advance a centuries-old tradition of passionate civil engagement. The university has long led the nation in student voter registration. Grounded in that bedrock, in 2021, William & Mary launched a Better Arguments curriculum – led by students, faculty and staff – that serves as a national model for building community across differences. (Our broader campus community enthusiastically joined in, including over 70% of W&M faculty, staff and leadership boards in the past year.) We recognize that it is the role of a great university to hold open space for respectful dissent, so we can grow in understanding together. At William & Mary, we walk this talk, as you can learn from our stories and updates.
Data
Dramatic changes in technology and careers make William & Mary's wide-ranging strengths in computational and data science increasingly powerful as part of a liberal arts and sciences curriculum. We are honored to welcome Douglas "Doug" Schmidt '84, M.A. '86, an internationally recognized scholar with over 30 years of distinguished academic and government experience, as our inaugural dean for a new school that will open in 2025. Under his leadership, the school will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of these vital fields.
Careers
"Applied Learning for All" is our vision for access to work-based learning that is compensated, credited and coached. Long a leader in undergraduate research, William & Mary is now recognized as a top 10 public university for internships; internship opportunities saw an impressive 86% increase in support from 2023-24. William & Mary's One Network connects alumni on a global scale. Nearly 7,600 members have joined to date, for career and industry networking. Join One Network.
Water
Besides human talent, the most valuable global resource of the next 50 years will be water – who has too much, and who has too little. This year, a historic $100 million gift from Jane Batten HON '17, L.H.D. '19, the largest in our university's 331-year history, established the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences. This investment positions W&M's Batten School & VIMS as global leaders in tackling pressing challenges like sea-level rise and flooding. W&M is also set to debut Virginia's first Bachelor of Science in Coastal & Marine Sciences at a public university in July 2025. Explore our university's renowned expertise in science-driven solutions.
