Summer 2014

As we have traversed these past 10 years after college, each relationship plays a part in our lives, whether as an active participant or as a meaningful memory. Through these interactions we may find a few people who link themselves intricately to our lives—those rare “lifelong friends.” Read More

For the second year in a row, students from Vanderbilt’s Aerospace Club won NASA’s annual Student Launch rocketry competition, beating out teams from 31 other universities, including Cornell, Northwestern and Notre Dame. Read More

The contributions of Quarterman and her graduate students to our understanding of the Middle Tennessee cedar glade ecosystem and the comeback of the critically endangered Tennessee coneflower are just part of her well-deserved legacy. Read More

New books from Vanderbilt writers Read More

John Seigenthaler died July 11 at the age of 86 after a life that saw him serve as special assistant to U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy; suffer a brutal beating by segregationists while attempting to aid 1960s Freedom Riders; become a founding editor of what is now one of the nation’s largest newspapers, USA Today; and win the respect and admiration of generations. Read More

As a first-year student at Vanderbilt in 1951, Lee Ann Allen sat on the hillside and watched senior Charlie Hawkins pitch for the Commodores. There were no dugouts and no stands, just simple wooden benches for each team. She fell in love with Charlie—Vanderbilt’s first All-SEC baseball player—and then with Vanderbilt baseball. Read More

Vanderbilt’s Academic Strategic Plan, which will guide university investments in faculty recruitment, capital planning, academic programs and philanthropic priorities during the next decade, was unveiled by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos Aug. 21 at the Fall Faculty Assembly. Read More

Fran Hardcastle’s impact on Vanderbilt ranges from the formation of a children’s hospital-within-a-hospital with the Junior League, to telephones in waiting rooms, sleeper chairs for parents, and fundraising for needs all over campus. Read More

On March 31, 1981, Secret Service agent Jerry W. Parr was head of the detail protecting President Ronald Reagan during a speech at the Washington Hilton. When would-be assassin John Hinkley Jr. opened fire, Parr shoved Reagan into a waiting car and ordered him taken to George Washington University Hospital—actions credited with saving the seriously wounded president’s life. Read More

Head Coach Tim Corbin was named National Coach of the Year by Collegiate Baseball on June 27, two days after winning Vanderbilt’s first-ever men’s national title. Read More

John Norwood's home run propelled the ’Dores to a 3–2 victory in the deciding game of the College World Series, giving the university its first-ever national championship in any men’s sport. Read More

Rosenberg, MA’73, PhD’76, is vice president of São Paulo's Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, the wealthiest soccer club in Brazil. Read More

The mission of Bryant's nonprofit organization, Black Girls Code, is to reach out to minority girls age 7 to 17 from all socioeconomic levels, and teach them about computer technology—from creating websites and writing computer applications to crafting computer games and working in robotics. Read More

What follows is a guide to some of the places that reflect the Vanderbilts’ enduring legacy. Numerous structures remain standing, many of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, while others fell victim to the wrecking ball long ago. Still others live on, not because of any family connection, but because of the cachet of the Vanderbilt name itself. Read More

Much of the tranquil beauty that imbues today’s campus was engendered by architect Edward Durell Stone's plan. Read More

I enjoyed Seth Robertson’s article “Flight Path” in the Spring 2014 issue, which chronicled Doug Parker’s career culminating in his running the world’s largest airline, American Airlines Group. What a great accomplishment for Mr. Parker. It is very reassuring to have a Vanderbilt graduate [MBA’86] in such an important position. Read More

After the horrific mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2011, a conservative commentator claimed that “guns don’t kill people—the mentally ill do.” Metzl believes this attitude is based on misconceptions about mental illness and violence that obscure larger issues about gun violence in America. Read More

Our appetite for “world’s greatest” data has only grown through the centuries, stoked in recent years by electronic media, instant feedback and infographics. Read More

Vanderbilt signed 101 licensing agreements with industry partners during fiscal year 2014, nearly 20 more than the record total set last year. Many transactions were in medical diagnostics, health care information technology, pharmaceutics, oncology and biotechnology. Read More

For more than 20 years, Vanderbilt Sports Medicine has maintained a relationship with Metro Nashville Public Schools to ensure excellent care is provided to local athletes. Vanderbilt is now the official sports medicine provider to all 15 Metro high schools. Read More