UVA Today

What does it mean to be great and good?

It means to be excellent, but excellent for a purpose. Putting great minds to good use is how we fulfill our original, animating purpose – to serve.

It means preparing students to be citizen-leaders who themselves are guided by empathy, integrity, and truth.

It means faculty who both excel in scholarship and whose work has a lasting impact on students, on other scholars, business, and society.

It means bringing innovative medicine and research to the world while promoting the health of the communities in which we live.

It means realizing the true value of a university.

Doing what we do best, for the benefit of others, is where greatness comes from. Which is why, at the University of Virginia, we strive to be great and good in all we do.

We should strive not simply
to be great,
but also to be good,
recognizing that in the
not-too-distant future,
it will likely be
impossible
for a university to be truly
great if it is not
also good.

Jim Ryan
President

When great and good
come together,
it’s the opportunity to
do the best
and most meaningful work.

Melody Barnes
Executive Director, UVA Karsh Institute of Democracy