Epilogue

When Jennifer Janes arrived at Vanderbilt Blair School of Music in 1998, she had two career paths in mind—veterinary medicine and teaching piano at the college level. Her abiding interest in horses and veterinary medicine eventually won out. Today, Dr. Janes is an associate professor of veterinary anatomic pathology at the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Read More

Anighya Crocker, BMus’21, came to Vanderbilt as a multiracial, first-generation college student with big dreams to serve the community through public office and music. His Vanderbilt experience as a double major in Law, History and Society and music performance has helped him to hone both of those dreams. Read More

Tommy Oswalt, BA’20, did not come to Vanderbilt with a mapped-out plan for his major. That initially made him nervous, but the first-generation college student jumped in with an open mind and a passion for building community—paving the way for a successful career. Read More

San Francisco-based venture capital firm Bee Partners now boasts two Vanderbilt graduates among its leadership: Founder Michael Berolzheimer, BS'00, and Kira Noodleman, BA'08, who recently was promoted to partner and now leads the Denver office.    Read More

Jim Schifman, BS'90, and his wife, Melissa, launched Project Hive Pet Company last year, selling dog toys and treats that directly contribute to rebuilding bee habitats. Their beehive-themed dog toys are sustainably manufactured in the United States and the company donates 1 percent of gross sales to the Bee and Butterfly Habitat Fund, which works with private, public and corporate partners to help establish and manage pollinator habitats on their lands. Read More

Chris Webb, BE'90, is the CEO and co-founder of Foresight Augmented Reality, a cutting-edge technology that allows those with visual impairments to live more independently. Read More

At the beginning of 2022, the School of Medicine launched a $5 million Dean’s Scholarship Challenge to help ensure that tomorrow’s leaders in medicine are educated at Vanderbilt. The success of the early months of the effort has prompted the university to boost the available matching funds by $5 million. Read More

Imani Ellis, BA'12, went from being an NBC page to vice president in 10 short years. As the NBCUniversal’s vice president of communications, she leads a team that creates comprehensive press strategies and media campaigns for unscripted shows across the NBCU portfolio.  Read More

Angela Boutté, PhD'05, has been no stranger to breakthroughs in brain research and medical care. In January 2022, she became director of clinical chemistry for renegade.bio, a San Francisco-based public benefit corporation working to make diagnostic testing accessible to all. In 2019, she founded Aries Biotech to assist other brain disease and injury researchers with fine-tuning their work. Read More

The research of New Testament scholar Richard Batey, BD'58, PhD'61, into the ancient city of Sepphoris in Galilee broadens ideas about Jesus and gives a new perspective for understanding the Gospels. Read More

Marice Wolfe, of Nashville, the first woman to serve as Vanderbilt’s university archivist, died Jan. 3. She was 86. Read More

Gilbert Stroud Merritt Jr., of Nashville, died Jan. 17. He was 86. A Nashville native, he was a major figure in the legal community in Nashville and the state of Tennessee, and he served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit for 44 years.  Read More

Joseph “Yusef” Fontaine Harris III, founder and owner of Alkebu-Lan Images, Nashville’s only independent, Black-owned bookstore and a cornerstone of the North Nashville community for more than 35 years, died Jan. 3. Read More

Joyce Searcy grew up in segregated Yazoo City, Mississippi, where going to the public library would have meant entering through its back door.  Today she is the first Black person to serve as chair of the Nashville Public Library board. Read More

At halftime of Vanderbilt’s 5 p.m. matchup with LSU on Feb. 5, Vanderbilt Athletics honored former Vandy great Shan Foster with a jersey retirement ceremony.  Read More

In his long U.S. Navy career, Michael Brasseur, BS'97, has had numerous command postings, including his latest as a full commodore. Based in Bahrain, he commands Task Force 59, the Navy’s first unmanned task force dedicated to securing the waters around the Arabian Peninsula. He directs a team dedicated to rapidly harnessing the power of unmanned and artificial intelligence integration to promote the free flow of commerce in the area. Read More

Dr. Erika Dillard, BS’01, received her M.D./Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, then founded Memphis-based PopCheck Technologies Inc., which uses artificial intelligence-driven monitoring technology to help prevent clots in surgical patients recovering at home. Read More

Julie Ditty Qualls of Ashland, Kentucky, a member of the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame who helped the women’s tennis team reach unprecedented heights and distinguished herself as a professional player, died Aug. 31, 2021. Read More

Terence Van Heflin, of McDonough, Georgia, minister, pastor and groundbreaking Vanderbilt student-athlete, died July 9, 2021. He was 62. Read More