Author: Jim Patterson
Mind’s Eye: Vanderbilt performing arts groups put on a show for first-year students
Nov. 7, 2019—During their first week at Vanderbilt, first-year students are met with an overwhelming number of organizations vying for their attention. However, the Vanderbilt Performing Arts Community grabs the interest of new students the old-fashioned, time-tested way: They put on a show. VPAC has been producing the Spotlight Showcase for several years to demonstrate the breadth...
Accolade: Mel Chin named ‘genius’ artist
Nov. 7, 2019—Visionary artist Mel Chin, BA’75, was named Sept. 25 among the class of 26 MacArthur Fellows for 2019. Given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and known colloquially as the “genius” grant, the fellowship honors “extraordinary originality” and comes with a no-strings-attached grant of $625,000, to be distributed over five years. Chin,...
Dr. John Oates: Iconic leader, physician, scientist
Nov. 7, 2019—Dr. John Oates, an internationally known physician at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and a founder of the discipline of clinical pharmacology, died July 30 in Nashville after a short illness. He was 87. The Thomas F. Frist Sr. Professor of Medicine, he founded the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at Vanderbilt in 1963 as a...
Accolades
Nov. 7, 2019—Michael Alec Rose, associate professor of composition, had the premiere of his musical drama, Lolly Willowes, based on the novel by Sylvia Townsend Warner, in April at the MATCH–Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston. In July he was interviewed about the work and his life as a composer by Nashville Public Radio. His Seventh String...
Emerita Faculty Leader Continues to Inspire through Opportunity Vanderbilt Scholarship
Nov. 7, 2019—It wasn’t the unfamiliarity of a new city or the intimidation of a new faculty position that stood out to Fräncille Bergquist when she first came to Vanderbilt in 1977. The new professor of Spanish was taken aback by the rolling hills and green trees of Middle Tennessee—a stark contrast from the dry, flat landscape...
Virginia Shepherd and Charles Brau: Promoting STEM Education
Nov. 7, 2019—Virginia Shepherd knew in eighth grade that she wanted to become a scientist. Her education and training eventually led to a tenured research scientist position at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Nashville’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Shepherd’s passion for science education grew after she attended a national meeting where top scientists encouraged participation in the...
Simon Mayfield “Dick” Dickerson, BA’63: “Connected to Everybody”
Nov. 7, 2019—Simon Mayfield “Dick” Dickerson of Franklin, Tennessee, died Sept. 20. He was 79. A graduate of East Nashville High School and George Peabody College for Teachers (now Vanderbilt Peabody College for education and human development), he was president of the student body and “Mr. Peabody.” A career educator, he also was the founder and president...
Heidi Nieland Hall: Gifted Storyteller
Nov. 7, 2019—A communications leader and champion for STEM research at Vanderbilt, Heidi Nieland Hall died Sept. 25 in Nashville from metastatic colorectal cancer. She was 49. Hall, an honored reporter and editor for decades, left The Tennessean to join the Vanderbilt School of Engineering communications team in August 2014. In 2017 she joined the Vanderbilt Division...
Martin Katahn: The Rotation Diet
Nov. 7, 2019—Martin Katahn, a retired psychology professor and best-selling author who wrote The Rotation Diet and other books promoting healthy weight loss and lifestyle, died Sept. 17. He was 90. Katahn, who was known to his family and friends as Dick, was born in Utica, New York, in 1928. He began performing with the violin at...
The Art of Imaging: VUIIS, Fine Arts Gallery bridge science and art to create 3D artifacts
Aug. 20, 2019—When the Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science installed a new state-of-the-art PET/CT scanner in early 2018, the team probably never imagined it would be used for an art exhibition. Recently, however, VUIIS partnered with the Vanderbilt University Fine Arts Gallery to scan and create replicas of ancient Mesoamerican artifacts for a hands-on experience in...
Ceramics Capstone
Aug. 20, 2019—Clay artist Susan DeMay’s retirement exhibit showcases a three-pronged approach to ceramic art From the day in 1977 that Susan DeMay, MS’79, arrived at George Peabody College for Teachers to study with artist and professor Michael Taylor in the basement ceramics studio at East Hall, her journey as a ceramic artist has followed three paths....
In the Spotlight: Matthew Baker’s innovative literary work grabs Hollywood’s attention
Aug. 20, 2019—Matthew Baker, MFA’12, never expected to see his work inspire a Hollywood bidding war. When an agent contacted him in 2017 about pitching his story “The Transition” as a film property, he recalls that it “almost seemed like a prank.” At the time, he was working on his second collection of stories, and his ambitions...