Reagan Villet

When people choose from a large set of options, there is likely one that aligns closely with their particular preferences. When there are fewer options, their choice is less likely to reflect a strong opinion—they're just choosing the one that is any amount closer to what they think. This can be misinterpreted, researchers say, as deep enthusiasm. And it can lead to polarization, because people tend to not consider how many options were available when forming an opinion about others' choices. Read More

Each semester, the Divinity School invites a member of the clergy, a nonprofit leader, or a social justice activist to be “in residence” with its community. Rep. Harold Love, Jr., the Spring 2026 Practitioner-in-Residence, has served as a dedicated public servant in the Tennessee House of Representatives since 2012, representing the 58th District Read More

Vanderbilt investigators are invited to submit pre-proposals for the 2026 NIH S10 Shared and High-End Instrumentation Grant programs, which support the purchase of state-of-the-art shared research equipment for NIH-funded research. Pre-proposals are required for institutional review and approval before submission to the NIH, with a university deadline of April 1 ahead of the NIH’s June 1 deadline. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Center for Global Democracy is the new U.S. institutional home for the Comparative Study of Election Surveys, a leading global resource for understanding elections and democratic governance. This move strengthens Vanderbilt’s leadership in global democracy research, building on three decades of international collaborations and the CSES’s reputation as the premier source of comparative electoral survey data. Read More

Each fall, Vanderbilt University welcomes a cohort of more than 1,600 new first-year undergraduate students. As new students learn what it means to be a member of the Vanderbilt community, they participate in an extended orientation program called Vanderbilt Visions—small seminars with 18–20 students designed to support their transition to college life, foster community connection and introduce them to the wide range of resources available to support their success. Each Visions group is facilitated by a faculty member and an upper-division peer mentor, known as VUceptors, who work together to model dynamic and meaningful faculty-student engagement. VUceptors support first-year students throughout CommonVU Orientation and during the six-week Vanderbilt Visions program.  Read More

Following the recent winter storm and widespread power outages, Vanderbilt University is opening the David Williams II Recreation and Wellness Center to faculty, staff, students and members of the larger Nashville and Middle Tennessee community in need of a safe, warm place to rest and recharge.  Read More

In 2024, as Opportunity Vanderbilt celebrated its 15th anniversary, Trustee Robert “Bob” Levy, BA’72, and his wife Diane S. Levy demonstrated their continued commitment to student access through a transformative $1.1 million matching gift initiative. The program, which inspired 22 alumni from the graduating classes of 2000 to 2025 to make their first endowed gifts to the university by establishing Opportunity Vanderbilt scholarships, reached its goal more than four months ahead of schedule by August 2025. Read More

This year’s AlertVU spring full-scale test will take place on Jan. 29—earlier than in previous years. To better align with operational and preparedness efforts, Vanderbilt will conduct the annual spring AlertVU test in January from now on. Read More

New drug discovery institute brings together AI, genomics, systems biology and translational research to accelerate cures for major diseases. Read More

Field work led by Associate Professor Tiffany Fracchia recently solved an 80-year-old mystery for the family of a missing World War II soldier. In 2022 and 2023, Fracchia and her students excavated remains from the site of a 1944 B-17G crash near Neron, France. They were later identified by the Department of Defense as U.S. Army Air Force 1st Lt. Gerard J. Melofchik of New York, and his family finally held a memorial for him in November. “Hearing that we were able to bring some peace and answers to another military family … was really rewarding for me,” said Alyssa Bolster, BA’22. Read More

Law Professor J.B. Ruhl will spend four weeks at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center in 2027, developing ways cities can adapt to climate change. The center, which has hosted notable leaders like Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and author Maya Angelou, works to inspire collaboration that transcends political affiliations, professions and national borders. The residency is a joint effort with the UCLA School of Law and the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. Read More

Cells lining crucial structures in the kidney are full of mitochondria—parts of the cell that help it do its job. The cost of doing that job, though, can be damage to the mitochondria, which then cripples the cells and leads to poor kidney function. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found that the protein Rac1 kicks cell repair into high gear to help the body remove and replace damaged mitochondria. Their work was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; Assistant Professor Fabian Bock is among the paper’s authors. Read More

The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching have announced the institutions that earned the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement for 2026, and Vanderbilt University is among them. This is Vanderbilt’s first time receiving the classification. This designation honors institutions that are deeply committed to working alongside their communities. It recognizes colleges and universities that build strong, mutually beneficial partnerships; connect community engagement to teaching and learning; and apply their knowledge and resources to help address real-world challenges.  Read More

A new year brings a fresh start—and Personify Health is stepping into 2026 with exciting updates designed to better support your well-being. With enhanced features and updated point opportunities, it’s now easier (and more rewarding) to prioritize your health and wellness in the year ahead. You now have access to more tools, more personalized content and more ways to earn rewards.   Read More

Beginning this month, 250 Conversations on America: Civil Discourse in Action will bring together students, faculty, staff, alumni and the broader community for a wide-ranging series of public events and smaller conversations across Vanderbilt’s Nashville and New York City campuses. Led by Dialogue Vanderbilt, the initiative will serve as the university’s signature contribution to the national celebration, modeling how to “agree and disagree better” at a moment of profound civic complexity. Read More

Effective Nov. 18, 2025, Vanderbilt University deployed a dedicated REDCap instance, separate from Vanderbilt University Medical Center. University REDCap users who have projects on the VUMC instance should take immediate action to migrate them to the VU instance, or archive projects that are no longer needed. Read More

Vanderbilt University has announced plans to establish an academic campus in San Francisco beginning in 2027, subject to necessary regulatory approvals. The planned campus expects to serve about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students and support sustained faculty, staff and academic activity. It represents the next step in Vanderbilt’s strategic growth and builds on the university’s recent expansions in New York City and West Palm Beach by extending Vanderbilt’s distinctive academic model into one of the world’s leading centers of creativity, technology and entrepreneurship. Read More

Each spring the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs partners with the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association to recognize postdoctoral fellows who demonstrate excellence in research, service, mentorship and a commitment to the postdoctoral community. Further, faculty mentors who demonstrate willingness to share expertise and advice with our postdoctoral fellows are also celebrated.   Read More

The Greater Nashville Tech Council has announced the finalists for the 2026 GNTC Awards, highlighting exceptional talent from the Vanderbilt faculty, staff and alumni community. These awards honor innovation and excellence within Middle Tennessee’s the technology sector. Following over 200 public nominations across 15 categories, a panel of tech leaders and industry peers has selected the top three finalists in each category. Read More

The collected papers of celebrated humorist Roy Blount Jr. are now housed at Vanderbilt University’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. Blount, a 1963 graduate of Vanderbilt, donated the collection in late 2024. Read More