Virginia Military Institute’s Omicron Kappa Chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, has been named an honor chapter for its outstanding activities in academic year.

Col. Jeffrey S. Smith, professor and head of the Department of Economics and Business at Virginia Military Institute, is featured on the personal finance website, WalletHub.

Lt. Col. Stephanie Hodde, professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute, will be featured on the public radio program, With Good Reason starting Saturday, Aug. 26 through Friday, Sept. 1. 

Col. Atin Basuchoudhary will be featured on the public radio program With Good Reason Aug. 19-25. On the episode, entitled “The Many Indias,” Basuchoudhary discusses the third largest religion in the world – Hinduism – and its staying power while other religions have died off.

Maj. Molly Kent, assistant professor of biology at Virginia Military Institute, will be featured on the public radio program, With Good Reason starting Saturday, Aug. 5 through Friday, Aug. 11.

Capt. John E. “Ned” Riester Jr. ’78, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Virginia Military Institute, is retiring after 29 years.

Col. Ryan R. Holston, professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science and the Jonathan M. Daniels ’61 Chair for Academic Excellence recently published his first book titled, “Tradition and the Deliberative Turn: A Critique of Contemporary Democratic Theory.”

Virginia Military Institute welcomes Dr. Melissa S. Krawiec (née Williams) ’01, as the new Institute physician, 25 years after she signed the matriculation book August 19, 1997, as a member of the first coeducational class.

Col. Robert “Bob” Phillips ’87, chaplain at Virginia Military Institute, is retiring after seven years of encouraging the development of interpersonal faith, and providing spiritual and emotional guidance to the Corps of Cadets.

Members of the VMI community continue to expand academic opportunity and impact across various fields of study. Recent activities include honor society inductions, ethics bowl competition, and collaborations in cyber research.