Month: August 2013

PHOTO BY STEVE YOUNG   During our Vanderbilt Alumni Association-sponsored  “Cuba Libre” trip in March, we visited an organic farm—they even cultivate their own worms—in the  Alamar district on the outskirts of Havana. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans live there in a huge housing project of prefabricated concrete… Read More

Credit: John Russell Eagle-eyed observers and Luddites accustomed to marking time by a campus landmark were the first to notice something amiss in early June. The clock atop Kirkland Hall’s tower had stopped keeping time. Until then, the clock’s motor, installed in 1966, had run continuously for… Read More

Three of Vanderbilt’s graduate and professional schools have new deans. M. Eric Johnson rejoins Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, while Linda Norman takes the top job at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing and the Rev. Emilie Townes leads… Read More

The old coal smokestack will be dismantled as Vanderbilt moves to a natural-gas power plant. (Credit: Joe Howell) Vanderbilt will replace its coal-fired cogeneration facility, converting to natural gas to meet power needs of the university and medical center. The university’s Board of Trust approved… Read More

Pastor Rob Taylor, center, poses with Mark Schoenfield, chair of Vanderbilt’s Department of English, right, and his son, Michael. The Schoenfields performed CPR on Taylor after he collapsed near his home. (Credit: Steve Green) Mark Schoenfield, chair of Vanderbilt’s Department of English, and his family… Read More

Credit: DOUG ROSS John Lutz began work at Vanderbilt April 15 and hasn’t come up for air since. Lutz, an information technology and financial management expert who most recently served as president of IBM Canada, is Vanderbilt’s first vice chancellor for information technology. Lutz’s areas of responsibility… Read More

Capt. Joseph “Dick” Robertson, a barge pilot on the Mississippi River, has worked for Ingram Barge Co. for 41 years. The Vanderbilt Sleep Center is partnering with Ingram Barge to provide sleep apnea screening, treatment and coaching for its employees. (Credit: KEVIN LORENZI) While at the helm… Read More

Tennesseans strongly support charter schools, but their feelings about school vouchers are more divided, according to a poll from the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Vanderbilt. “A solid 66 percent of those polled support charter schools,” says John Geer,… Read More

Guatemala has become a hub for service-learning opportunities that benefit both Vanderbilt students and the local population. (Credit: Armen Henderson) Vanderbilt’s expanded commitment to research and sustainable development in Guatemala took a giant step forward this past spring with the opening of a Guatemala City field station… Read More

During Sasser’s stint as ambassador to China, he was trapped in the embassy for four days after Beijing erupted in violence following an inadvertent American-led NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. (Credit: Greg Baker - AP/Wide World Photos) James R. Sasser, former U.S. senator and… Read More

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other digital learning platforms are the focus of a new institute being launched this fall. The Institute for Digital Learning will be led by Douglas Fisher, associate professor of computer science and computer engineering at the School of Engineering. It will be… Read More

Credit: SUSAN URMY Vanderbilt Libraries and two student groups that help adoptable dogs teamed up between final exams last spring. “Smooch a Pooch” offered students the opportunity to greet, hug and leash-walk dogs in need of loving homes. The event took place outside the Central… Read More

Everybody Has a Story is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, FYE, iTunes and Walmart, as well as at Children’s Hospital in The Friends Shop. A compilation of songs written in music therapy sessions at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and recorded by… Read More

A partnership with Vanderbilt University and Nashville-based Ingram Barge was formed in order to study sleep deprivation in Ingram’s employees and address the issues of pilot fatigue and public safety on the waterways. Patience Bridges, sleep program coordinator at the Vanderbilt Sleep Center, is quoted. Read More

Fisk and Vanderbilt's Bridge Program mentors talented minority students pursuing advanced science degrees. Keivan Stassun, professor of astronomy and director of the Fisk-Vanderbilt Masters-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, is quoted. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Institute for Software Integrated Systems (ISIS) was awarded a $9.3 million contract to develop a collaborative software so that other non-government teams could design a new amphibious tank for the Marine Corps. Sandeep Neema, research associate professor of electrical engineering, is quoted. Read More

For their senior design project for the School of Engineering, six Vanderbilt students created the KidSense Car Seat System. The system detects if a child has been left unattended and if the environment has become dangerously hot or cold. Co-creator Chelsea Stowell, BE’13, is quoted. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers reprogrammed a humanoid robot and an XBox Kinect to help autistic children improve their abilities to engage in social interactions. Nilanjan Sarkar, professor of mechanical and computer engineering, is quoted. Read More

  2013, Third Wheel Press Charles R. Scott, BA’90, and his children—Sho, age 12, and Saya, age 6—are cycling the Lewis and Clark Trail this summer. While they’ll journey the first 1,500 miles by car in order to complete their adventure during the school break, they’ll ride… Read More

Vanderbilt University seeks to be on the leading edge of the MOOC field with the opening of its Institute for Digital Learning. Read More