Year: 2011

Anthropologist explores modern Africa and black immigrant experience in America Jemima Pierre (Joe Howell/Vanderbilt) In her interactions with black immigrants over the years, Jemima Pierre said she discovered a surprising sentiment. “They told me, ‘I never knew I was black until I came to the U.S.’ I found that… Read More

Interfacial scientist thrives on moment of discovery Erin Rericha (Lauren Owens/Vanderbilt) Erin Rericha considers herself an interfacial scientist. The new assistant professor of physics explained that she has “a bit of a split personality.” “I am trained as a condensed matter physicist,” she said, “and I spent… Read More

Law professor sees progress where environmental and economic good meets J.B. Ruhl (courtesy of Vanderbilt University Law School) Environmental law and property law expert J.B. Ruhl said he considers himself part of the “radical middle” when it comes to helping craft solutions to controversial environmental issues. “Sometimes you need… Read More

Bioengineer builds robotics to make medical procedures easier Pietro Valdastri (John Russell/Vanderbilt) The prospect of a colonoscopy is about as unwelcome as a root canal, so it’s no surprise that it’s difficult to convince people to get regular screenings for colon cancer. But what if you could replace this… Read More

Political scientist looks at elections and why they matter Larry Bartels (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Larry Bartels, arguably the most influential political scientist of his generation, is fascinated with democracy – how it really works, who has the most influence and why the presidential primary election process has propelled one-time dark… Read More

A complete list of new faculty for the 2011-12 academic year Blair School of Music Dikeman Philip Dikeman, associate professor of flute B.M., Oberlin… Read More

Vanderbilt’s EAP helps employees find balance in their work and lives Ellen Clark (Susan Urmy/Vanderbilt) Ellen Clark’s first day on the job at Vanderbilt is stamped on her memory. It’s likely stamped on your memory, too. Clark, a licensed clinical social worker, had an official start date of… Read More

A rooftop view of a Vanderbilt LifeFlight helicopter making its approach. (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt) I recently updated my Facebook status to read “I’m thinking of going off the grid.” I wasn’t planning to disappear into the wilderness sans smart phone to live off the land. But I was experiencing a… Read More

Tracy Barrett (Vanderbilt) Tracy Barrett, senior lecturer in Italian, has written Dark of the Moon, a re-telling of the Theseus myth for young adult readers, published by Harcourt Children’s Books. Leonard Bickman, the Betts Chair and professor… Read More

Coach Dan McGugin with his son, Leonard. (Photo courtesy of The Banner Collection, Nashville Public Library) In 1904 Dan McGugin, an Iowa native who played football while earning a law degree at the University of Michigan, wrote to Vanderbilt asking for its vacant head coaching job. Vanderbilt hired him,… Read More

Lyne Bingham was photographed at J-J’s Market and Café, Nashville, Tenn. (John Russell/Vanderbilt)     Lyne Bingham’s gestures say a lot, whether she’s in the midst of a lively conversation or conducting a symphony orchestra. Such expressiveness and easy sociability in a person with Asperger’s syndrome might come as… Read More

UPDATE 10/12/11, 1 p.m. Vanderbilt Medical Center has unofficially beaten the world record! As of 1 p.m. 9,370 faculty, staff, students and volunteers have been vaccinated for influenza. The current world record for the most vaccinations given in an eight-hour period is 6,215, held by Kaiser Permanente. Read More

Make your gift today. Vanderbilt employees have a rich tradition of going beyond their daily work to help those less fortunate. Faculty and staff pledged more than $925,000 in gifts last year to the Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities. This year, employees can give to the… Read More

The fourth annual DigitalVU month is under way. The month of workshops, open houses, lectures, discussions and more is designed to share information on all things online, from social media, to video, to programming topics and more with members of the Vanderbilt community. View a current listing of… Read More

Photo courtesy of Kjell Oberg The Vanderbilt Neuroendocrine Center is hosting talks by renowned endocrine tumor expert Kjell Oberg of Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden, Oct. 17-19 on the Vanderbilt University Medical Center campus. Oberg, chairman of the Centre of Excellence for Endocrine Tumors, is… Read More

Vanderbilt University will host director Michael Moore at Langford Auditorium Tuesday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. All tickets for the event are sold out. Read More

Image courtesy of Human Resources (Vanderbilt University) Open Enrollment is Oct. 1-14 and it is your opportunity to elect the coverage that suits your needs for 2012. This year, we are having an active enrollment, which means that you will need to make benefit elections. Even… Read More

Drug-like molecules described by Vanderbilt researchers could lead to Parkinson's treatments with fewer side effects. Read More

This Week on VUCast: Why a Vanderbilt disease expert says the medical thriller “Contagion” may be closer to reality than you think [ watch full video of Dr. Creech and more information about vaccines ] Why it’s worth going to… Read More

First Lady Michelle Obama addresses the National Science Foundation's Career-Life Balance initiative event in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) On Monday, Sept 26, when First Lady Michelle Obama hosted an event at the White House to announce… Read More