Fall 2019

Sophomores Amber Yun and Jared Schmidt, and junior Joe Pehrson of Vanderbilt University Theatre scream as they perform a scene from Catharsis, by sophomore Natalie Martinez-White, during the August Spotlight Showcase for first-year students. Photo by Anne Rayner During their first week at Vanderbilt, first-year students are met with an… Read More

Chin, shown creating in his workshop, is known for his large-scale art installations. Photo courtesy of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation 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. Read More

The opera The Ghosts of Gatsby, by Joshua McGuire, left, andEvan Mack, was staged in October at the Blair School. Photo by David Pike Many of history’s greatest musical collaborators have pursued a creative approach perhaps best described as “you wash, I’ll dry.” Mozart was more than happy to… Read More

Webb—with his dogs, Daisy (as in Buchanan, from The Great Gatsby) and Zelda (as in Fitzgerald)—at Longshore, the Connecticut estate that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald. Photo by Jim Swaffield As a boy in Westport, Connecticut, Richard Webb, BA’85, was haunted by the ghosts of artists. His affluent waterfront town, about… Read More

Photo by John Russell 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… Read More

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… Read More

Vanderbilt Alumni Impact the World Dan Lovinger One of my great pleasures as president of the Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board is to highlight some of the Commodores who are leading positive change in the lives of people around the world. When Justin Miller, BS’09, was a student at Vanderbilt, he… Read More

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… Read More

Elizabeth Hawkins, BA’86, and Bill Hawkins, BS’82, hosted the Nashville Summer Send-Off Party this summer. They are the parents of Charlie Hawkins, BA’18, and Eliza Hawkins, Class of 2021. This summer Vanderbilt’s welcoming, supportive community celebrated together at 52 Summer Send-Off Parties held in 31 states and three other countries. Read More

Charles Brau and Virginia Shepherd, photo by Susan Urmy 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… Read More

Each year the Vanderbilt Travel Program offers exciting opportunities for alumni, parents and friends. The 2020 lineup features 24 trips, including a scenic Japanese cruise, a journey through Vietnam, and fresh itineraries for popular European destinations. The shining highlight of the program is the addition of Vanderbilt faculty members. Currently,… Read More

Vanderbilt University Special Collections and Photo Archives 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… Read More

Photo by John Russell 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… Read More

Photo by John Russell 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… Read More

Self-driving cars. Ride shares. Electric bikes and scooters. The future of transportation, experts say, won’t include just one mode, but instead many. Depending on your point of view, that’s either a welcome relief or a nightmare. Read More

On the night of Nov. 21, 2014, Becca Campbell, a 26-year-old woman from Florissant, Missouri, died of whiteness. Read More

The beauty of Vanderbilt’s campus was on full display Oct. 18–19, as more than 4,800 alumni and guests celebrated Reunion and Homecoming Weekend. Read More