This week in Highlanders in the News: Graduate student Genevieve Weaver is already earning accolades for her teaching; Geoffrey Preudhomme ’19 reports to the president; lighting designer Rebecca Montero ’05 gets a curtain call; and country music sensation Morgan Wade, a 2017 graduate of what is now Radford University Carilion, is headed back to The Harvester.

Fresh out of high school, Julia Buccola didn’t know what to expect from her upcoming college experience at Radford University. Reflecting back on those anxious feelings now four years later, right before she is set to graduate from Radford, the senior physics major from Roanoke, Virginia, knows now her time here was all about the experience.

Two hundred and fifty students participated in Radford’s most recent Wicked Festival, held on April 11, 2024. Students showed their work through elaborate posters while also engaging in conversations about their extensive research with fellow students, faculty, university administrators and others who walked through the event in Kyle Hall.

Radford University’s Waldron College of Health and Human Services held its ninth annual Interprofessional Symposium on April 11, offering a unique opportunity for students and faculty from various disciplines to learn from one another and explore the many ways in which they can work together to best provide care for the community.

“It’s been a journey,” said Rieder, a New Columbia, Pennsylvania, native who suffered devastating injuries in a car crash while in high school, but recovered and went on to study finance and accounting. Rieder will graduate from Radford next month. 

Radford University senior Troy Stallard is a busy man — and not just with his classes and fieldwork in the emergency services program. The Air Force veteran and first-generation college student sought out a variety of experiences while a Highlander with a larger goal in mind. Stallard plans on applying to medical school after receiving his diploma in May.

United States Sen. Mark Warner hosted members of the Radford University community, local elected officials and regional business leaders for a luncheon and discussion of economic development, infrastructure, community partnerships and entrepreneurship in the New River Valley at The Highlander Hotel Radford.

This year’s commencement speakers represent excellence as alumni, embodying leadership, service, philanthropy and accomplishment. Mark Pace ’92 will deliver the keynote address at the university’s undergraduate ceremony. Amanda Cox, MBA ’21, will deliver the keynote address during the graduate hooding ceremony.