Year: 2013

Credit: MARGARET BERG BY ROY BLOUNT JR., BA’63 If you don’t know Professor Vereen Bell—and you probably do if you’ve taken English courses or been involved in student media at Vanderbilt within living memory—what can I tell you? I have been friends with him for… Read More

Credit: MURPHY BYRNE AND BOSLEY JARRETT Sponsored by the Vanderbilt Masala-South Asian Cultural Exchange, the annual festival of Holi is celebrated on Wilson Lawn. A Hindu tradition that welcomes spring, Holi is often called the festival of colors. At the event students threw colored powder… Read More

Credit: JOHN HERSEY Tennessee reaps enormous benefits from Vanderbilt’s presence in the state, according to a report that measures economic activity for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012. Analysis prepared by Austin, Texas-based TXP Inc. reports that Vanderbilt, the second-largest private employer based in the state,… Read More

Expelled from Vanderbilt in 1960, James Lawson returned as a distinguished visiting professor nearly 50 years later. (Credit: Neil Brake) The Rev. James M. Lawson Jr. has donated a significant portion of his papers to Vanderbilt Libraries’ Special Collections. Lawson joins several other important civil rights figures… Read More

Opportunity Vanderbilt is the epitome of a community effort. As of April 2013, the initiative has received nearly $150 million to support undergraduate scholarship endowment, thanks to the generosity of alumni, parents and other supporters. Undertaken in 2008, Opportunity Vanderbilt is the biggest investment in financial aid in Vanderbilt history. Read More

Audiologist René H. Gifford, left, adjusts the external sound processor worn by patient and study subject Ally Sisler-Dinwiddie, AuD’07. Having her cochlear implant remapped has made a huge difference in her quality of life, says Sisler-Dinwiddie. (Credit: John Russell) Imagine hearing the words and tone of your… Read More

Credit: John Russell After eight years at the helm of Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, James W. Bradford Jr. will exit as dean when the academic year closes. Bradford was named Owen’s fifth dean in 2005 after having served as acting dean… Read More

Credit: Vanderbilt University The former deputy general counsel of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security arrived at Vanderbilt in March to become the university’s new general counsel. Audrey J. Anderson, who previously was a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm Hogan and Hartson LLP, brings a… Read More

Credit: ISTOCKPHOTO Although tuberculosis infection rates are falling, nearly 9 million new cases were reported worldwide in 2011 and 1.4 million people died from the disease, according to the World Health Organization. More than 10,000 new cases and about 500 deaths were reported in the United States… Read More

Credit: Steve Green Peabody College of education and human development is the nation’s top graduate school of education for the fifth consecutive year, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report for 2014. Peabody bested programs at Johns Hopkins University (No. 2) and Harvard (No. Read More

Credit: Steve Green The movie theater at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt was one of three areas turned into a temporary patient unit to care for dozens of children exposed to carbon monoxide at a Nashville school in January. The hospital swung into… Read More

Charlie Chaplin image from the 1924 Léger–Murphy film (Courtesy of Anthology Film Archives) Robots and Riots BLAIR SCHOOL PREMIERES HISTORIC PIECE On April 7 the Blair School of Music’s percussion ensemble VORTEX presented the Southeastern U.S. premiere of American composer George Antheil’s Ballet… Read More

Coach Franklin and others celebrate the signing of wide receiver Jordan Cunningham (Credit: Joe Howell) Signed, Sealed, Delivered Vanderbilt football signs best recruiting class in school history Head Football Coach James Franklin and his coaching staff signed what recruiting experts regard as the best class… Read More

Credit: TODD DAVIDSON New Wave of ‘Superbugs’ Poses Dire Threat | Deadly Bacteria That Resist Strongest Drugs Are Spreading | Drug-Resistant Bacteria and Lack of New Antibiotics Could Signal Catastrophe We’ve all seen the ominous headlines—and heard the warnings from our own health care providers—about the dangers of antibiotic… Read More

Credit: JIM FRAZIER/illustration source A study comparing outcomes among prostate cancer patients treated with surgery versus radiation therapy found differences in urinary, bowel and sexual function after short-term follow-up—but those differences were no longer significant 15 years later. The study, led by first author Dr. Matthew Resnick,… Read More

Credit: JESUS ABURTO Is an angry judge a bad judge? Not necessarily. “Anger is the quintessentially judicial emotion,” says Terry Maroney, professor of law and co-director of Vanderbilt’s program in social justice. “It involves appraisal of wrongdoing, attribution of blame and assignment of punishment—precisely what… Read More

Credit: KAT CHADWICK There may be a biological basis for separate doll and dump-truck aisles in the toy store. In a study of baby mice, researchers at Vanderbilt and the University of Southern California found that males and females respond differently to the hormone arginine-vasopressin (AVP), which… Read More

Credit: GARY WATERS Prison Time Cuts Life Expectancy For every year spent in prison, overall life expectancy decreases two years. A new study by Evelyn Patterson, assistant professor of sociology, looked at New York parolees released between 1989 and 2003 and found a 15.6 percent… Read More

CREDIT: Adam Kuykendall/University of Maine Lu Zeph believes people with disabilities have both a civil and a human right to develop their abilities in an inclusive community. “The disability rights movement is rooted in the Civil Rights Movement,” she states. Both faced similar opposition, she says, and… Read More

Credit: JR ANDERSON Deena Dill is probably one in a million—a busy actress and producer who’d rather work light-hearted sitcoms and game shows than become the next Meryl Streep. “Game shows are certainly not a niche most people in the industry gravitate toward, but it’s what I… Read More