Message from President Kyle

I am proud to unveil the redesigned Magazine of Radford University. Recently we surveyed you, our readers, to find out what interests you most. In response, we offer in the following pages more in-depth stories about the achievements of RU alumni, faculty and students, updates on new construction and remembrances of your college years.

Your suggestions inspired us to weave the past with the present as we look to the future. For example, the completion of the new College of Business and Economics (COBE) building, with its cutting-edge technology, was an opportunity to recount the history of COBE. Renovation of campus residence halls inspired alumnae to recall their student days and share often humorous memories. We also include in this issue an inspiring story of parents whose profoundly deaf child learned to "hear" because of a groundbreaking RU education program. And we hope to entertain you with a narrative about a ’90 alumnus who found success as an actor, thanks to his RU training.

To help you navigate these pages, we have updated the format of the magazine and organized it by topic so you can turn quickly to sections of particular interest to you. Popular features like Upfront and Class Notes still anchor the magazine but now have a new look.

We hope you will enjoy reading this issue as much as we have enjoyed publishing it for you. Let us know what you think at editor@radford.edu. We welcome your suggestions and are always pleased to hear from you.

Momentous changes are happening here at Radford with our academic programs, our capital projects and our growing and diverse student population. We have added new degree programs in both our undergraduate and graduate divisions. And, in February, we earned national recognition from The Princeton Review, which listed Radford University in "The Best Value Colleges: 2013 Edition." Through the pages of this magazine, we strive to keep you, our alumni and friends, informed and up to date.

With warm regards,

Penelope W. Kyle