Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ±

Determined and strong of character are two descriptors of a successful cadet at VMI, so when Andrew Kiddie ’29, who was diagnosed with deafness just before his second birthday, chose to come to arguably the hardest senior military college in the country. He used his disability as a motivator.

Eighteen Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ± Institute cadets joined approximately 5,000 participants at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) held at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond April 13-15.

Col. Atin Basuchoudhary, the John and Jane Roberts Institute Professor in Free Enterprise Business in the Department of Economics and Business at Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ± Institute, recently co-edited, “The Cambridge Handbook on the Economics of Terrorism.”

Maj. Chris Shingledecker, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ± Institute, is featured on “Eye in the Sky,” an episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason,” that first airs April 25.

Eight 1st Class commissioning cadets recently traveled to France through the Olmsted Foundation’s Undergraduate Program. One of the many assignments the cadets were given was to research the personal story of an alumnus who had died during the battle, and is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery.

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.

The Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ± Institute team won first place recently at the 2026 Seerist Intellithon in Reston, Virginia.

Connor Bott ’26, a mechanical engineering major at Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ± Institute, has designed a modern adaptation for an ancient devise with his honors senior thesis project, “Design and Analysis of an Electromechanical Marine Wreck Anchor.”

A contingent from Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ± Institute toured France during spring furlough thanks to the Olmsted Foundation’s Undergraduate Program (OFUP).

Ben Bowen ’26, an English major at Â鶹ŮÑÝÔ± Institute, introduced his honors presentation by disclosing that it is not intended to prove an esthetic point or make a literary argument.