Jim Patterson

Xiaoyan Jiang, MBA’01, is helping to ensure that Owen Students can expand their educations by traveling abroad. (Chad Driver) Xiaoyan Jiang, MBA’01, is a strong believer in the transformative power of international travel. While working in global business, she logged addresses in Nashville, Cleveland, Tokyo, Hong Kong and… Read More

Photo courtesy of University of Mississippi Medical Center Dr. Blair E. Batson, the first chair of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, died Nov. 26, 2018. He was 98. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of… Read More

Elizabeth Lee “Betty” Klepper, a retired scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center in Pendleton, Oregon, died at her home Oct. 26, 2018. She was 82. Born in Memphis, Klepper attended school in Tennessee and graduated summa cum laude in chemistry as… Read More

Photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee Being a student at the Blair School of Music kept Dana Kelley busy, but being a professional musician in New York City adds a whole new meaning to the word. Kelley is violist with the Argus Quartet, the Juilliard School’s quartet-in-residence, which played on the… Read More

Photo by Neil Brake The Rev. Donald F. Beisswenger, a Vanderbilt Divinity School emeritus professor who lived out his faith as a dedicated community activist—serving six months in federal prison for a nonviolent protest—died Nov. 26, 2018. He was 88. As a professor of church and community, he… Read More

Claudia Spence Jack, public defender for Tennessee’s 22nd Judicial District, died Nov. 9, 2018. She was 75. A native of Columbia, Tennessee, she graduated from Auburn University in 1965 with a bachelor of science degree in English education, then earned her master’s degree in education from Auburn… Read More

Ecclesiastes, left, and Ramsey are working together to rejuvenate and transform a long-neglected, 25-block New Orleans corridor that stands in the shadow of an elevated expressway constructed more than 50 years ago. Photo by Greg Miles When Nyree Ramsey visited New Orleans in 1995, three words came to… Read More

Works by Middle Eastern women artists build bridges of understanding Mother, by Emirati artist Maitha Demithan, was created by the process of scanography, using digital scanners to generate images and then collaging the images together. In the exhibit catalog the artist states that the piece depicts a mother as… Read More

Photo by Ashley Hylbert Shortly after graduating from law school, Bailey Spaulding got a harebrained idea: She’d open a brewery and name it the Jackalope Brewing Co., after the mythical rabbit–antelope hybrid that she believed in as a kid. Seven years after the business was launched in Nashville’s… Read More

Photo by Tomas Loewy Dean Whiteside, BMus’10, of Miami—shown conducting that city’s New World Symphony PULSE concert—is the 2017–18 winner of the American Prize in Conducting in the Professional Orchestra division. After earning his undergraduate degree at Blair, the New York City native trained in Vienna at the… Read More

Natalie Vlach, BMus’18. Photo by Joe Howell As a young girl, Natalie Vlach, BMus’18, fell in love with her electronic keyboard. Unlike some childhood infatuations, however, Vlach’s passion for piano endured and deepened, leading eventually to her winning the Linde B. Wilson Scholarship at the Blair School. “Blair… Read More

courtesy of AETN.com Florence Price was the first African American woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra—in 1933. Bringing together the European classical tradition in which she was trained and the haunting melodies of African American spirituals and folk tunes, Price’s music has experienced… Read More

Photo by Philip Franck In October, Vanderbilt University Theatre opened its 2018–19 season with The Language Archive by Julia Cho, a comedy that explores what is lost and found in the gaps between what is meant and what is said. “One of the most interesting aspects… Read More

Joshua Moore is the voice of the Versify podcast. Photo by Anne Rayner When listeners tune in to Nashville Public Radio’s Versify podcast, they’re greeted by the voice of host Joshua Moore, a second-year master of fine arts candidate in Vanderbilt’s creative writing program. Versify—which can be found… Read More

James Sandlin, a former Sarratt Student Center director who worked tirelessly to expand cultural offerings on campus and to improve the quality of life in Middle Tennessee, died Sept. 19. Sandlin, 77, passed away at his home in Unionville, Tenn., after a brief illness. Sandlin, who earned… Read More

Photo by Peyton Hoge Reunion 2018 is in the books! More than 5,000 alumni and guests gathered on campus Oct. 11–13 to celebrate with lifelong friends, relive cherished memories, and reconnect with their alma mater. Friday, Oct. 12, was a picture-perfect fall day on campus as the lingering… Read More

NBC and MSNBC news anchor Willie Geist, BA’97 (center) poses with fans at the tailgate. More than 5,000 Vanderbilt alumni and friends traveled from destinations around the country for an unforgettable weekend centered on the Vanderbilt vs. Notre Dame football game Sept. 15 in South Bend, Indiana. The… Read More

Jack Wei-chieh Lin is making an impact on global investors. In May he was appointed managing director and head of Asia Pacific client coverage for MSCI Inc., a leading provider of indexes and portfolio construction as well as risk-management tools and services for global investors. MSCI’s clients rely… Read More

There’s a tremendous pride in learning that our classmates have found success in their fields. These moments are common for Vanderbilt graduates because our fellow alumni work at the forefront of industry and innovation, and cultivate positive change. They remind the world that Vanderbilt prepares students for success… Read More

Photo by Shia Levitt Garrett Spiegel long intended to make the design of custom-fabricated orthotics and prosthetics easier and quicker, especially in parts of the world with limited medical resources and high need. His company, Standard Cyborg, which he co-founded in 2015 with Jeffrey Huber, now has a… Read More