By Joe Garvey
Throughout 2018, Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã University's students, faculty and staff were featured on the ODU News homepage.
Ranked by number of website visitors, the following 10 stories were our most viewed in 2018.
Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã University Announces Reconstruction Plan for S.B. Ballard Stadium
The first phase of the $65 million project will address many of the recommendations that fans made in a 2016 survey. The stadium will have more than 21,000 seats. In addition to new and enhanced seating, the project will improve traffic flow into the stadium, add concessions and restrooms, and preserve ODU's heritage.
ODU Named a Best National University and a Top Public University by U.S. News & World Report
The U.S. News rankings for 2019, released Sept. 10, placed Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã among the 230 Best National Universities. It also was rated among Top Public Schools. Two University undergraduate programs were also spotlighted: engineering and business.
Super Bowl Champ Rick Lovato to Be Honored
Rick Lovato, a 2015 graduate of Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã University and the long snapper for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, was honored at a men's basketball game on March 1. Lovato is the first Monarch to play in a professional football game and the first in a Super Bowl.
ODU will do an 18-month football stadium reconstruction in 9 months
It took James Madison University two years to renovate Bridgeforth Stadium, the school's 25,000-seat football facility. When Liberty University began a modest expansion of Williams Stadium in the fall of 2017, it wasn't complete a year later, when the Flames opened against Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã. In neither case did the schools face the time constraints, or perhaps the complexities, that ODU does with its renovation of S.B. Ballard Stadium.
ODU Alum Dennis Ellmer Donates $1.5 Million
Norfolk native Dennis Ellmer, an Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã University alumnus and founder and CEO of Priority Automotive Group, made a $1.5 million commitment to his alma mater to help rebuild its football stadium. Because of Ellmer's generosity over the years, a recently approved club area at S.B. Ballard Stadium will be known as the Priority Automotive Club.
Spring 2018 Commencement Speakers Announced
Four ceremonies - the University added a fourth for master's and doctoral students last year - featured the following speakers: Reuben E. Brigety II, dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University; John A. Adam, a professor of mathematics at Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã; Liz Edlich, founder and CEO of Radical Skincare, and Sharon Dunbar, vice president and general manager of federal systems at General Dynamics Mission Systems.
Major Health Sciences Expansion in VABeachBio Corridor Announced
The move will complement ODU's health-sciences presence in Norfolk, introducing high-demand graduate programs in Virginia Beach such as telehealth, while enlarging other programs in the Schools of Nursing and Community & Environmental Health within the College of Health Sciences. The expansion will bring an additional 850 students and 62 faculty members to the Virginia Beach center.
Steve Yetiv, an Internationally Recognized Expert in the Geo-Politics of Oil, has Died at 53
Steve Yetiv, Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã University's Louis I. Jaffe Professor of International Relations, died March 21 at age 53. Yetiv's widely respected expertise on the global oil industry made him a popular interview subject for major media outlets around the world.
Taylor Heinicke Has a 'Pretty Perfect' Life as Backup QB for Carolina Panthers
The colors Taylor Heinicke wears to work - the blue, silver and black of the Carolina Panthers - bear remarkable resemblance to those he donned while flinging footballs for Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã University. His office - Bank of America Stadium - is a five-minute walk from his fully furnished one-bedroom apartment in downtown Charlotte. Life is good. Actually, a lot better than good.
The Barry Art Museum Will Open to the Public Wednesday, Nov. 14
Located on the corner of Hampton Boulevard and 43rd Street, the 24,000-square-foot museum was made possible by a donation of funds and art valued at more than $37 million from Richard and Carolyn Barry - the largest in Old à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã University's history.
For the story on the Museum's grand opening, click this link.
