Year: 2020

The past decade in particular has been marked by a dramatic increase in music cognition inquiry, as about 100 laboratory groups around the world, including at Vanderbilt, are working across disciplines to understand music’s relationship to the brain, behavior and health, and to develop effective intervention strategies. Read More

Because of continuing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, Reunion 2020 General Chairs Karen Fesmire, BS’80, and Bill Fesmire, BA’80, have announced the postponement of Reunion 2020 until the fall of 2021. Read More

Kenneth Epps, rear admiral and deputy chief of staff for fleet ordnance and supply in the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, understands the importance of logistics in today’s military. Read More

Even at 104 years old, Helen Sterling, BA’36, MA’38, handled aging with optimism and grace. Her affection for her alma mater motivated her to include the university in her estate plans. Thanks to her $1.6 million bequest for unrestricted support at Peabody College and the College of Arts and Science, her legacy at Vanderbilt endures. Read More

Michael Ainslie has a knack for seeking out—and solving—difficult problems, as he writes in his new book A Nose for Trouble: Sotheby’s, Lehman Brothers, and My Life of Redefining Adversity. Read More

Sara Lissa Hutchison Hampshire died May 2, 2020, in Nashville after a brief battle with cancer. She was 71. Read More

William F. “Bill” Malone, a public administrator who took part in one of Florida’s biggest Everglades restoration efforts, oversaw the construction and remodeling of dozens of schools, and came out of retirement to lead Palm Beach County’s schools as superintendent, died May 3, 2020, at age 77. Read More

Martha Nann Priddy Patterson, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who specialized in benefit and tax issues for large firms and wrote an influential book on financial planning for working women, died April 23, 2020, in Rockville, Maryland. She was 71. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, her father, Thomas “Cotton” Priddy, was a… Read More

Watching his aunt struggle with bipolar disorder, Asa Briggs traded in his legal aspirations to pursue a career in mental health care. Read More

The Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board of Directors announces its 2020 alumni award recipients. Read More

Dr. David Patterson, BA’81, MD’85, is proof the Vanderbilt experience doesn’t have to end after graduation. Patterson has served Vanderbilt as a trustee since 2013. He also is a member of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Board of Directors, and past president of the Vanderbilt Medical Alumni Association. Read More

The Vanderbilt University Alumni Association Board of Directors announces new leadership and the addition of six new members. Read More

A new longitudinal study published in the Journal of Educational Psychology from Vanderbilt’s Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth finds that there are no negative effects on the long-term well-being of gifted youth from academic acceleration such as skipping grades, graduating early, or a combination of advanced educational placement methods. Read More

Tremendous engagement and volunteer opportunities are available for alumni. Please check into them at vuconnect.com. Read More

Open Enrollment is your annual opportunity to elect the benefits that best meet your needs. All benefits-eligible employees should complete Open Enrollment Oct. 19–Nov. 2 for calendar year 2021 benefits. Read More

As the new academic year approaches, Vanderbilt's faculty heads of house are revealing some things about themselves in this special portrait series. Meet Celso Thomas Castilho, associate professor of history and faculty head of Memorial House. Read More

The multicellular, 3-D structure of human pancreatic islets — the areas of the pancreas containing hormone-producing or endocrine cells — has presented challenges to researchers as they study and manipulate these cells’ function, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have now developed a pseudoislet system that allows for much easier study of islet function. Read More

A protein linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disease that causes muscle weakness, may be a key to treating fibrotic disease of the kidneys and other organs, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported recently. Read More

Under Jack Elder, EdS’73, the Tennessee Special Olympics program became recognized as one of the strongest and best managed. For athletes then and now, after five decades, Special Olympics is a chance to prove what they can do when given the opportunity. Read More

As the new academic year gets underway, Vanderbilt’s faculty heads of house are revealing some things about themselves in this special portrait series. Get to know Rosevelt Noble, senior lecturer in sociology and director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center and faculty head of Stambaugh House. Read More