MyVU News

Dilemma, by Jane Huffman, has been selected as the 2026 winner of the Vanderbilt University Literary Prize. The prize, which is awarded to the sole author of a full-length poetry collection, reflects the university’s ongoing commitment to discovering new voices and supporting the arts as transformative and essential to society. The recognition includes the publication of the winning manuscript in print, electronic and audio formats by Vanderbilt University Press, a $10,000 honorarium, an invitation to read in the esteemed Gertrude C. and Harold S. Vanderbilt Reading Series at Vanderbilt University and a one-week residency on campus to engage students and local writers in the Nashville community. Read More

Dr. Charles Allen Brau, a distinguished physicist, educator, and researcher, passed away on June 7, 2026, surrounded by family. He devoted his life to family, education, and expanding the frontiers of physics and its application. Read More

With the United States marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Vanderbilt professor and historian James P. Byrd offers perspective on the role of religion in the nation’s founding and its enduring influence on American life. Read More

Annual parking zone assignments for the 2026–27 academic year are now available to eligible faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars who participated in Parking Open Enrollment in early June. Read More

When EA SPORTS College Football 27 launches July 9, millions of gamers will hear the sounds of college marching bands performed by an ensemble that included 18 Blair School of Music students, faculty and alumni. Read More

Turns out it’s better to be three out of 12 than six out of 24, even though they’re technically the same thing. In a recent paper co-authored with Uri Barnea of Bocconi University and Alice Moon of Georgetown University, Associate Professor of Marketing Jackie Silverman examines how people evaluate rankings when they know both the option’s position and the length of the list. The core finding codifies what many of us are guilty of: preferring options ranked within shorter lists over options with equivalent relative standings in longer lists. Read More

For graduate students and postdoctoral fellows contemplating their next career steps, the possibilities can seem both exciting and overwhelming. The Vanderbilt University Office of Biomedical Research Education and Training’s 2026 Annual Career Symposium offered a roadmap to those possibilities, bringing together alums and professionals from across the biomedical enterprise to demonstrate the breadth of careers available to scientists beyond the traditional academic pathway. Read More

At the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, researchers are advancing neuroscience discoveries through molecular biology, pharmacology, drug discovery, and more. Their work seeks to understand how the brain functions in health and disease, identify new therapeutic targets, and develop innovative treatments for conditions ranging from Alzheimer’s and addiction to depression and epilepsy. Read More

For the 2026–27 academic year, the Curb Center will begin accepting applications for Creative Inquiry Grants on July 1, 2026. Grant applications are open to Vanderbilt University undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff. Learn more about the Curb Center’s Creative Inquiry Grant Program. Read More

Meet the researcher who pioneered ways to protect online medical data and is training the next generation to advance tech in health and protect your privacy. Read More

Adugna Olani, senior lecturer in economics (Vanderbilt University) The Vanderbilt community is mourning the death of Adugna Olani, senior lecturer in economics, who died June 15, 2026, at the age of 45. Olani was a revered professor and mentor who had been teaching at Vanderbilt since 2018. Olani was… Read More

Jad Abumrad, Distinguished Research Professor of Communication of Science and Technology and creator of award-winning series like Radiolab, More Perfect, Dolly Parton’s America and Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, set out in life to be a composer. Perhaps a poet, maybe a fiction writer, but it was music, Abumrad said, that was “running through me constantly.” Read More

Beginning with the fall 2027 semester, New Content Experience will be the default content design in Brightspace. New Content Experience is a more modern, intuitive design for the Content area of Brightspace courses. Since the Content page is the most used tool by faculty and students, the update brings improvements and better usability to Brightspace courses. New Content Experience provides better support for mobile devices for students and an improved instructor workflow for adding materials to courses.  Read More

On June 3, Vanderbilt University’s College of Connected Computing and Blair School of Music hosted an inspiring gathering at Vanderbilt University–New York City, bringing together alumni and friends to explore the future of music in the digital age. The evening highlighted the intersection of the arts and technology, underscoring Vanderbilt’s commitment to fostering and amplifying radical collaboration and innovation across disciplines. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s College of Connected Computing is launching a new Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence; a fully online degree built for working professionals across every field who want to influence how artificial intelligence is used in their organizations. Read More

The world’s preeminent scholars of early American history convened at Vanderbilt University June 11–13 for the Omohundro Institute’s 29th annual conference, hosted by the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries. This premier gathering for historians and researchers who focus on American history through the early 19th century featured cutting-edge research, panels and workshops covering “Vast Early America”—that is, North America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic world. Read More

A new exhibit at the Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries celebrates America’s semiquincentennial—the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence—by exploring the United States’ formative years. 'Forging a Nation' will be on view through December 2026. Read More

The collaboration reflects a shared commitment to advancing respectful, community-engaged research and supporting Indigenous knowledge preservation. Read More

Class is almost in session, Commodores!  As excitement builds for the academic year, now is the perfect time to stock up on essentials and celebrate becoming part of the Vanderbilt family.  The Vanderbilt Incoming Families Shopping Guide is a curated collection of apparel, headwear, accessories, residence hall essentials and game day favorites for new… Read More

Martin Egli, the Richard N. Armstrong, Ph.D. Professor of Innovation in Biochemistry and a professor of biochemistry at the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, delivered a Kairos Lecture on May 28. Egli’s work, which has resulted in over 300 publications and two influential nucleic acid textbooks, has advanced strategies to stabilize RNA for therapeutic applications, including siRNA. He has received major honors and extensively served his department and the university. Read More