Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (commonly called Virginia Tech) is a public land grant polytechnic university located in Blacksburg, Virginia, a city within Montgomery County in the southwestern part of the commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2000, Blacksburg has a population of 39,573, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Blacksburg’s Virginia Tech Corporate Research Park houses numerous companies including Honeywell Corporation, Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the National Weather Service.

It is a comprehensive university that is well known for its various science programs (giving it its polytechnic name) of agriculture, architecture, engineering, forestry, and veterinary medicine. The university also maintains a corps of cadets (military trainees).

It was founded in 1872 when the Virginia General Assembly bought the land and facilities from a religious school called Olin and Preston Institute. It was renamed the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. In 1896, after reorganizing its academic programs into four-year degrees, it was renamed Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute. The name changed again in 1944 to Virginia Polytechnic Institute. During the 1962 to 1974 tenure of President T. Marshall Hahn, the college became a fully accredited education and research university. In 1970 it was renamed to its current Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Virginia Tech (VT) was adopted in the 1990s as an equivalent name to the full name.

Virginia Tech is known for its research and academic programs. VT offers 60 bachelor degree programs and 140 master’s and doctoral degree programs through numerous colleges, including one of the most popular: the College of Engineering. It ranks 34th among national public universities and 77th among all national universities. Its College of Engineering ranks 9th among all undergraduate engineering schools at public universities and 17th among all accredited doctorate engineering programs.

In 2003, Virginia Tech attained international status in the computing world when it created the third fastest computer in the world. Made from 1,100 dual processor Power Macintosh G5s, the System X cost approximately $5.2 million.

The school’s newspaper Collegiate Times is located at: http://collegemedia.com/.

The home Web page of Virginia Bech is located at: http://www.vt.edu/.

The student-run Planet Blacksburg is located at: http://www.planetblacksburg.com/.

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