Author: Jim Patterson
Nicole Feliciano, BA’92, Putting Moms First
Feb. 19, 2019—As a working mother of two daughters, Nicole Feliciano, like countless other moms, would love to have an extra hour in the day. “You become more purposeful about how you spend your day after kids come along because you have less time, energy and money,” she says. “You need to be intentional about the things...
Dr. Blair E. Batson, BA’41, MD’44, Role Model for Child Health Care
Feb. 19, 2019—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 Medicine, said Batson’s importance to the health of children in the state “cannot be overestimated....
Elizabeth Lee “Betty” Klepper, BA’58, First in Soil Science
Feb. 19, 2019—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 Founder’s Medalist for Vanderbilt’s College of Arts and...
Claudia Spence Jack, JD’83, Public Defender
Feb. 19, 2019—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 the following year. She began her career in...
Dana Kelley, BMus’12, Music from Within
Feb. 19, 2019—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 Blair Concert Series last September. She also recently joined the...
Rev. Donald F. Beisswenger, Faith into Action
Feb. 19, 2019—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 taught for nearly three decades at the Divinity School. Beisswenger became...
Mind’s Eye: New Perspective
Nov. 19, 2018—Works by Middle Eastern women artists build bridges of understanding Stereotypes are hard to escape when pondering the Middle East, especially those applied to women. Misconceptions about the hijab and abaya, the head scarf and black robe that many women wear, and about the status of women in Islamic culture pervade the West’s understanding of...
Transforming Community: Nyree Ramsey, BS’97, MEd’00, and Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, BS’96
Nov. 19, 2018—When Nyree Ramsey visited New Orleans in 1995, three words came to mind: “This is home.” “I loved the culture, the food, the sense of community—all things intergenerational,” she says. “My father was a musician, an immigrant from Jamaica, and my mom comes from a close-knit artistic family in New York. I understand that sense...
Bailey Spaulding, JD’09, Something’s Brewing
Nov. 19, 2018—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 Gulch neighborhood, Jackalope makes 6,500 barrels of suds, including the flagship...
Accolade
Nov. 19, 2018—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 University of Music and Performing Arts, where he graduated with distinction....
A Family Legacy Inspires Students
Nov. 19, 2018—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 is an incredible place,” Vlach says. “I’m so grateful to the Wilson family for...
Impression
Nov. 19, 2018—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 of working on The Language Archive was wrestling with the questions the play...