Academics
Exploration is at our core.
As a liberal arts university, students are encouraged to study what interests them, conduct research, and pursue global learning. Our hands-on curriculum is designed to expose you to all we have to offer and help you develop the skills you need to get the most out of your education.
One of the hallmarks of the W&L college experience is the accessibility of our faculty. With an 8 to 1 student to faculty ratio and 96% of classes enrolling fewer than twenty-five students, you can immerse yourself in courses while benefiting from the personal attention and guidance of your professors.
Areas of Study
Majors and Minors
We offer 36 majors and 41 minors and programs often found only at larger schools, including business, journalism, engineering and a top-tier graduate law school.
Educational Philosophy
A Liberal Arts University
We augment the liberal arts and sciences with offerings not commonly found at a small college. Our core curriculum, combined with the breadth of our course catalog, encourages students to make connections across disciplines.
The College
The College departments and programs represent the liberal arts core of the University, ranging from fine arts, humanities, certain social sciences, journalism and mass communications, natural and physical sciences, computer science, and mathematics.
The Williams School
W&L is the only top liberal arts college in the United States to claim a nationally accredited undergraduate business program. The Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics is distinctive among its peers -- offering a business education within a larger liberal arts curriculum -- and most students take some classes there, regardless of major.
The Law School
One of the smallest of the nation's top law schools -- and W&L's only graduate program -- the Washington and Lee University School of Law seeks to cultivate broad-minded, highly skilled, and honorable practitioners of law. Our law professors also teach undergraduate students alongside law students in courses affiliated with W&L's interdisciplinary Law, Justice, and Society program.
Academics Leadership
Students are encouraged to get to know and utilize their deans and administrators.
Lena Hill
Provost and Professor of English
- P: 540-458-8746
- E: lmhill@wlu.edu
In addition to her many duties as Provost, Hill researches and teaches courses primarily in 19th- and 20th-century African-American literature. She has written a number of books and articles on the subject.
Paul Youngman
Associate Provost and Redenbaugh Professor of German
Youngman teaches courses on German literature and language. His research focuses on the German cultural reception of various technologies. Youngman is also a U.S. Army veteran and the recipient of the Bronze Star with “V” device.
Leslie Wingard Cunningham
Associate Provost for Faculty Development and Professor of English and Africana Studies
As Associate Provost, Wingard Cunningham serves as a member of the provost's leadership team, working to cultivate a coordinated, intentional and robust effort to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion across Academic Affairs.
Chawne Kimber
Dean of the College and Professor of Mathematics
In addition to her duties as Dean of the College at W&L, Kimber is a member of the Mathematics Department faculty. Her research interests include ordered rings and groups.
Robert D. Straughan
Crawford Family Dean of the Williams School and Professor of Business Administration
Straughan teaches International Marketing Strategy and Sustainable Business. He has authored dozens of studies on sustainable business and cross-cultural business. He works closely with students with career interests in consulting.
Melanie Wilson
Dean and Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professor of Law
- P: 540-458-8502
- E: mwilson@wlu.edu
Melanie D. Wilson is the dean of W&L's Law School and the Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professorship in Law. She writes and teaches about issues of criminal procedure, focusing on the Fourth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment and prosecutors. Before entering academia, Wilson clerked for The Hon. Richard Freeman in the Northern District of Georgia and practiced law for 13 years in both the private and public sectors.