Issues

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

Althea Thomas has hit the ground running as she looks to build the track and field program into something special. Read More

As Vandy United’s $300 million athletics investment campaign upgrades Vanderbilt Stadium and enhances the fan experience, the goal is the same as it was a century ago. From concerts to commencements to presidential speeches and to football games that still define autumn, the stadium remains a place for the Vanderbilt community to come together and celebrate. 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

Kate Daniels has long been captivated by the connection between writing and the healing process. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, Daniels worked as a nurse’s aide at UVA Medical Center while she was in the process of applying to graduate school. The job was grueling,… 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

Carsen Smith, BA'18, is the co-author of "Alien Summer #1" with James S. Murray of TV's "Impractical Jokers." The book, released March 15 by Penguin, is a middle grade reader and the first in a sci-fi series with female characters at the forefront and a tone that’s more funny than scary. Read More

Recent books written by alumni of Vanderbilt University Read More

Bobbe Gorin “Beegie” Long Adair, renowned pianist and bandleader and retired adjunct lecturer in jazz improvisation at Blair School of Music, died Jan. 23 in Franklin, Tenn. Read More

Jabari Brown is the first recipient of the Maggie Corbin Minority Baseball Apprenticeship at Vanderbilt, a privately funded internship for a minority candidate who wants to coach baseball as a profession. Read More

Josie Earnest Barnes, BS'10, former VAnderbilt student-athlete and current associate head coach of the Commodores bowling team, won the 2021 U.S. Women's Open in dramatic fashion in August, edging Singapore's Cherie Tan 198-194 in a tense 10-frame contest. Read More

A poem by Mark Jarman, Centennial Professor of English, emeritus, whose most recent books are the poetry collection The Heronry and the essay collection Dailiness: Essays on Poetry. “The Arrow Paradox” appeared in the June 2021 issue of The Atlantic. 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

Prolific bestselling novelist James Patterson, MA’70, and country music legend Dolly Parton have collaborated on a novel, Run, Rose, Run, to be published March 7 by Little, Brown and Co. Read More

New research from Sandra Rosenthal, Jack and Pamela Egan Professor of Chemistry and professor of pharmacology and chemical and biomolecular engineering, suggests that the rate of change in solar insolation—that is, the amount of solar radiation that reaches the ground over a specified time in a given location—has a greater impact on these depressive disorders than routine seasonal changes in sunlight. Read More