Skip to main content

Focus on Faculty

Col. Ryan Holston headshot, with WGR and VMI Logos.

Holston Featured on 'With Good Reason'

April 17, 2026

Col. Ryan Holston will discuss the book he co-edited with Justin Garrison, “The Historical Mind: Humanistic Renewal in a Post-Constitutional Age,” on an episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason,” that will first air April 18.

Col. Dan Barr ’74 stands beside the statue of conquistador, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, in the lobby of his alma mater, Cabrillo High School in Lompoc, California, after being inducted into the hall of fame.

Barr Breaks Own Record

March 25, 2026

Two years after he set multiple powerlifting records, Col. Dan Barr ’74, professor emeritus of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Military Institute, has once again achieved new heights.

Mattie Smith’s poem as it appears with Andras Bality’s paintings at Longwood Center for the Visual Arts.

Poet Laureate and Artist Unite to Celebrate Virginia

March 13, 2026

Two Virginians — one a poet and the other a painter — have united in blending visual and literary art forms to enhance their creative expressions and to celebrate Virginia 250.

Col. J. Patrick Rhamey, professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science, examines the overwhelming majority of analyses explaining the motivations for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine being not only wrong, but leading to terrible predictions of Russia’s inevitable success.

Rhamey Publishes Article

March 5, 2026

Col. J. Patrick Rhamey, professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science, examines the overwhelming majority of analyses explaining the motivations for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine being not only wrong, but leading to terrible predictions of Russia’s inevitable success.

Dr. Duncan Richter, professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies and holder of the Charles Luck III ’55 Institute Professorship at Virginia Military Institute, has recently authored his seventh book.

Richter Publishes 7th Book

February 16, 2026

Dr. Duncan Richter, professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies and holder of the Charles Luck III ’55 Institute Professorship at Virginia Military Institute, has recently authored his seventh book.

Maj. Mattie Webb, assistant professor in the Department of History

Webb Named IGA Fellow

February 12, 2026

Maj. Mattie Webb, assistant professor in the Department of History at Virginia Military Institute, was recently named a nonresident fellow with the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group (IGA), a nonprofit research and public education organization focused on geopolitics.

Lt. Col. Tim Passmore recently published an article addressing the effect of populist government on international cooperation in International Studies Quarterly.

Passmore’s Research Published

January 26, 2026

Lt. Col. Tim Passmore recently published an article addressing the effect of populist government on international cooperation in International Studies Quarterly, a peer-reviewed academic journal of international studies and an official journal of the International Studies Association.

Dr. Tanjina Afrin, associate professor in the Department of  at Virginia Military Institute, is featured on “Concrete Jungle,” an episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason.

Afrin Featured on 'With Good Reason'

January 24, 2026

Dr. Tanjina Afrin, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Virginia Military Institute, is featured on “Concrete Jungle,” an episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason,” that first airs Jan. 24.

Maj. Alison Burke, assistant professor and health professions advisor in the Department of Biology at Virginia Military Institute, recently had a research article published in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Biology Professor Publishes Article

January 22, 2026

Maj. Alison Burke, assistant professor and health professions advisor in the Department of Biology at Virginia Military Institute, recently had a research article published in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Lt. Col. Mark Boonshoft, associate professor in the Department of History.

Boonshoft to Co-Edit History Journal

January 14, 2026

Lt. Col. Mark Boonshoft, associate professor and Conrad M. Hall ’65 Chair in American Constitutional History at VMI, has been named co-editor of the Journal of the Early Republic, the quarterly publication of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).