Vanderbilt’s residential college experience is a special aspect of student life at the university that is rooted in authentic connection and engagement. Undergraduate houses and colleges are led by faculty who live with their families and pets in special suites within the residence halls and lead programming to create another vibrant layer of learning and community. Meet the university’s newest faculty heads of house and heads of college in this special series.
Jesse Spencer-Smith is associate dean for partnerships and innovation in the College of Connected Computing, chief data scientist and interim director for the Data Science Institute, and professor of the practice of computer science. He is faculty head of Sutherland House on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons.
Spencer-Smith teaches courses on artificial intelligence and leads a team of data scientists and researchers in collaborations across academia, health care and industry to advance AI and data-driven insights.
Name: Jesse Spencer-Smith
Residential College: Sutherland House
Years at Vanderbilt: 6
Hometown: I’m bicoastal—I claim Seattle, Washington, and Jacksonville, Florida.
Favorite song: There are so many! I’m currently enjoying the songs from the film Sinners. For Nashville music, I’ve been listening to Tabitha Meeks’ “Girl of the Hour”—it’s tremendously catchy.
Favorite book: Again, there are many! One book that I loved when I was first starting college was The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges. Other recent favorites are Babel by R.F. Kuang and James by Percival Everett. I’ve also been enjoying re-reading the Murderbot series by Martha Wells.
Favorite food: I love spicy Nashville hot fish (same as Nashville hot chicken, but for us pescatarians).
Favorite spot on campus: It’s a tie between The Commons dining hall (I love running into students!) and the Data Science Institute.
What are you most looking forward to for the upcoming academic year: Meeting new students and hearing about their interests, plans and hopes.
Why did you want to be a faculty head of house: I’ve loved being on college campuses ever since I was a 10-year-old staying on campuses with my father for conferences. Teaching and doing research at Vanderbilt have been amazing, but living on campus has brought me into the center of it all and made me more fully part of the community of students, faculty and staff. Vanderbilt students are amazing, and it’s a privilege to help make a home for them at Vanderbilt.
What do you value about the residential college experience: I treasure the deep, lifelong and life-changing connections between students, faculty and staff.
Advice for students coming to campus: Take a breath. You have a whole community behind you as you dive into an entirely new stage in your life. Be open, be brave and reach out for a helping hand when you need it!
What do you love about working at Vanderbilt: To be at Vanderbilt is to make an impact on students’ lives and on the broader world. Vanderbilt manages to pull off a remarkable trifecta: to be a top-tier university, to be a supportive community invested in all students succeeding and to be an institution with global reach.
Anything else you want people to know about you: I teach and work in applied AI and want to make sure students can make the best use of it to accomplish all they wish. I’m always happy to talk about AI!
- Read about other faculty heads of house in this special series
- Learn more about Vanderbilt’s residential colleges
