Passages

Stewart, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities and professor of religious studies, emeritus, died on Oct. 6, 2024, in Nashville. He was 70. Read More

Wiesmeyer, associate professor of molecular biology, emeritus, died on Oct. 4, 2024, in Nashville. He was 92. Read More

Charlotte Froese Fischer, a pioneer in the field of atomic structure calculations and an emerita research professor of computer science at Vanderbilt University, died Feb. 8, 2024. Read More

James R. Sasser, BA’58, JD’61, was a three-term U.S. senator from Tennessee and ambassador to China. (Ann Rayner/Vanderbilt) James R. Sasser, BA’58, JD’61, a former three-term U.S. senator from Tennessee and ambassador to China, died Sept. 10 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was a statesman who loved Tennessee… Read More

K.C. Potter, JD’64, dean emeritus of residential and judicial affairs, died Aug. 26. Potter had an indelible impact on the life of the university and its students over more than three decades of service; he was 85 years old. Read More

Helen Iola McClellan Manoogian, nursing missionary to the Middle East and founder of a nursing school in Lebanon, died March 16, 2024, in Richmond, Virginia. She was 102. Read More

John Lachs, professor emeritus of philosophy and Centennial Professor Emeritus, died November 14, 2023, in Nashville. He was 89. Read More

The Honorable Richard H. Dinkins, JD'77, who served on the Tennessee Court of Appeals from 2008 until his retirement in 2022, died October 1, 2023, in Nashville. He was 71. Read More

Joseph Cunningham, 82, an accomplished administrator and professor at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, passed away peacefully on March 8, 2024, at his home in Lake City, Pennsylvania. Read More

Dr. Stahlman, professor of Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, is credited with establishing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) the nation’s first newborn intensive care unit to use monitored respiratory therapy in babies born with damaged lungs. Read More

Mitchell A. Seligson, Centennial Professor of Political Science, professor of sociology, emeritus, and founder of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) Lab died June 1, 2024, in New York City. He was 78. Read More

The Rev. James Morris Lawson Jr., a leader of the Civil Rights Movement who trained scores of activists during his time in Nashville—many of whom went on to prominence—and whose expulsion from Vanderbilt in 1960 led to national headlines and prompted some faculty members to resign in protest, died Sunday, June 9, in Los Angeles. He was 95. Read More

Auer, senior lecturer of Asian studies, emeritus, died May 16, 2024 at age 82, as a result of complications from Parkinson’s disease. Read More

Joseph J. Cunningham Joseph Cunningham, 82, passed away peacefully on March 8, 2024, at his home in Lake City, Pennsylvania. Cunningham was an accomplished administrator and professor at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development. Upon moving to Nashville in 1969, Cunningham joined the Peabody College faculty as an assistant… Read More

Thomas Weiler, professor of physics and astronomy, emeritus, died December 17, 2023, after enduring a progressive neurodegenerative variant of Parkinson’s disease. He was 74. Read More

David Hercules, Centennial Professor of Chemistry emeritus, who served as the chair of the Department of Chemistry for eight years, died January 20, 2024, after a battle with cancer. He was 91. Read More

John C. Kornblum, distinguished ambassador in residence and writer in residence for the Max Kade Center for European & German Studies, died Dec. 21, 2023, in Nashville. He was 80. Read More

Dennis G. Hall, Vanderbilt’s first associate provost and later vice provost for research, dean emeritus of the Graduate School, professor emeritus of physics and professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science, died Jan. 6 in Nashville. Read More

Obituary for Kenneth Lewis “Ken” Roberts, BA’54, JD’59, of Nashville, emeritus member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust and an active and engaged leader in the Nashville community. Read More

Joseph C. Hough Jr., who led the Vanderbilt Divinity School from 1990 to 1999, died May 15 in Claremont, California, after a long illness. He was 89. Read More