2023 Top 10: What Stories Captured Readers’ Attention

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The most viewed story of the year was the announcement of UVA’s new Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, a center that will bring cutting-edge medicine, jobs and economic development to the commonwealth.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, UVA President Jim Ryan, and philanthropists Paul and Diane Manning joined other state and UVA leaders for the groundbreaking event Dec. 9 for the state-of-the-art, 350,000-square-foot facility. 

Calling it a “historic moment,” Ryan thanked the different entities that collaborated on the project.

“I’m grateful to Paul and Diane Manning for their extraordinary generosity, to Gov. Youngkin and the commonwealth for their investment, and to all those on Grounds and across the state who have worked tirelessly to make this possible,” he said.

The facility is expected to be ready in late 2026.

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The year’s second-most-read story introduced an unlikely hero on the gridiron, 34-year-old Darden School of Business student and father of two Matt Ganyard.

Ganyard, a UVA Class of 2011 alumnus and United States Marine Corps veteran, earned a coveted spot on the Cavalier football team as a kicker. His “Cinderella story” captured the attention of the national media and UVA Today readers alike, racking up nearly 40,000 views.

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YouTube views sparked our third-most-popular story. Within hours of its release, Ryan’s April 1 spoof announcement detailing the dropping of the “A” in UVA caught the attention of many, quickly zooming up the chart of most-watched videos on YouTube and sparking a follow-up story UVA Today readers also had to read.

Stories of rankings, research and high-profile guests to Grounds also caught readers’ attention this year. Here’s a look at the rest of the Top 10 stories of 2023.

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The Princeton Review ranked UVA the best public college in the nation for financial aid for the third year in a row.

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In his new book, psychology professor Daniel Willingham provides tips and tricks to make learning easy.

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In the first two admissions phases for the Class of 2027, a record 56,439 people applied to UVA, a 10% increase over 2021.

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Sixty years after the November 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Americans continue to question the findings of the Warren Commission, spawning decades of conspiracy theories.

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Noted UVA alumna Tina Fey kicked off the return of the UVA President’s Speaker for the Arts Series, which resumed in April for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Readers dug into this “insider” list of good grub near Grounds.

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Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney accepted an appointment as a professor of practice with UVA’s Center for Politics in March 2023.

A big thank you to all the readers who clicked on these stories and thousands of others in 2023. Here we come, 2024.