About Dr. Crutcher
Academic Excellence
During Dr. Crutcher’s tenure, the University built on its high level of academic excellence. New academic spaces, programs, and curricular initiatives further strengthened the quality of our faculty and the academic experiences of students now and in the future. Signature accomplishments include establishing the Faculty Hub to cultivate cross-disciplinary interactions among faculty and creating The Richmond Endeavor living-learning experience for first-year students.
Scholarships and Fellowships
Dr. Crutcher made it a priority to help more students compete for prestigious national and international scholarships and fellowships. A signature accomplishment of his tenure was creating the Office of Scholars and Fellowships, a hub for helping students explore and pursue the many undergraduate and post-graduate opportunities available to them. Thanks to this effort, the University has been a top Fulbright-producing school in both the student and scholar categories for three years in a row. And, it has opened the doors for many more Richmond students to pursue a wide range of other highly competitive national and international awards.
Critical Language Scholarships in 2021—the most in UR’s history
Richmond students named Rhodes Scholar finalists in 2021
Inclusive Excellence
A hallmark of the Crutcher administration was a commitment to looking more closely at our past, to fostering honest conversations about what it tells us, and to moving toward a future in which all members of the University community can thrive. Through a number of new initiatives, programs, and facilities, Dr. Crutcher inspired the UR community to work together to make Richmond a welcoming place for people from all backgrounds, identities, viewpoints, and experiences — including personally establishing and leading mentoring groups to cultivate a sense of belonging among Richmond students.
Performance Highlights
Honoring Drs. Ronald and Betty Neal Crutcher
Reach & Reputation
Among Dr. Crutcher’s first priorities was increasing the national reputation of the University and overall awareness of the quality of the academic experience at Richmond. He established the institution’s first Division of University Communications, which created and launched a number of new communications strategies that are extending Richmond’s reach and reputation across a wide range of audiences. Applications for undergraduate admission also reached new heights during Dr. Crutcher’s presidency — including an all-time record for the class entering in fall 2021.
U.S. News & World Report ranking—the highest ever
Applications for undergraduate admission for 2021 entering class—the most ever
Photo Highlights
Inspiring Facilities
The University of Richmond’s campus is an inspiring place to learn and live, and Dr. Crutcher’s tenure saw the creation of several important new spaces. The new Well-Being Center has put Richmond on the leading edge of well-being in higher education. The new Queally Athletics Center provides state-of-the art practice and academic space for our student-athletes. And the Spider Solar facility makes Richmond the first institution in the southeast to match 100 percent of its electricity needs with a single solar power source.
Free Expression
Dr. Crutcher believes strongly that academic freedom and free expression are essential to delivering on our educational mission and fostering a vibrant intellectual community in which new knowledge emerges and ideas flourish. That belief became action with the creation of the Free Expression Statement, a set of guiding principles meant to characterize the University’s commitment to free expression and open inquiry as an academic community. It also echoed across campus in programming such as the Sharp Viewpoint Speaker Series, which was created to present competing views on topics crucial to our nation and world.
Selected Writings
President Ronald A. Crutcher is interviewed in this segment, which has aired on nearly 40 additional PBS outlets.