Passages

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

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

Terrance Dean, assistant professor at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, died Aug. 11 after an illness. He was 53. Read More

William J. Adcock, BE’50, the first Vanderbilt basketball scholarship recipient and a member of the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame, of Kirkwood, Missouri, died July 29, 2022. Read More

Marice Wolfe, of Nashville, the first woman to serve as Vanderbilt’s university archivist, died Jan. 3. She was 86. Read More

Gilbert Stroud Merritt Jr., of Nashville, died Jan. 17. He was 86. A Nashville native, he was a major figure in the legal community in Nashville and the state of Tennessee, and he served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit for 44 years.  Read More

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

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

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

Former Vanderbilt University University Designer and book designer, Gary Giel Gore, of Nashville died March 28. He was 89. Read More

Andrew Howard Nichols, senior director of higher education research and data analytics at education nonprofit The Education Trust, died Jan. 26 of brain cancer. His studies of educational gaps and financial aid regularly revealed inequities affecting low-income and minority students. Read More

Vanderbilt Medical School Class of 1956 alumna Alice Hackney Altstatt of Finksburg, Maryland, died Jan. 10. She was 95. Read More

Melvyn Ivan Semmel of Santa Barbara, Calif., a researcher, educator and 2007 Peabody Distinguished Alumnus, who helped shape the nation’s understanding and policies relating to students with disabilities, died Feb. 25. Read More

Patricia Gail “Trish” Champion Frist, BA’61, of Nashville, who had a great impact as a philanthropist and business advocate, died Jan. 5. Read More

Annie Beatrice “Bea” Martin, a retired teacher and administrator who was committed to education, outreach and social justice, died Oct. 11, 2020. She was 87. Read More

James Richard Tuck of Nashville, retired associate general counsel of the National Life and Accident Insurance Co. and charter member of the Nashville Metropolitan Council, died Aug. 20, 2020. He was 102. Over his long life, he was part of some key stories in the 20th-century history of Nashville. Read More

Iris W. Buhl, a longtime community educator, volunteer and philanthropist in Nashville, died Aug. 11, 2020. She was 77. Read More

After decades influencing political and social change, both locally and nationally, Memphis attorney James S. Gilliland died Feb. 24. He was 86. Read More