Q & A
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Stirring Up Success: Five Questions for Betsy Ayala, BA’99
Elizabeth “Betsy” Sanner Ayala, BA’99, is the executive in charge behind many popular TV shows across the Warner Bros. Discovery portfolio of networks. After joining HGTV in 2016 and advancing her career to head Food Network in 2022, she now oversees the creation, production and release of all Food Network programming and operations. Read MoreOct 1, 2024
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Q & A: Understanding Quantum Potential
Jad Abumrad, Distinguished Research Professor of Communication of Science and Technology and creator of Vanderbilt’s Quantum Potential series, talks to Vanderbilt Magazine about this groundbreaking project, described as a collection of wild but precise portraits of the scholars, scientists and students at Vanderbilt who are finding new ways to understand the world—and change it. Read MoreApr 22, 2024
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Growth Opportunity: Volunteer co-chairs Steven Madden and Mark Mays discuss the Dare to Grow campaign
In April, at the outset of its yearlong Sesquicentennial celebration, Vanderbilt launched a bold giving campaign called Dare to Grow, which aims to empower and support students, advance pathbreaking discoveries and promote radical collaboration across the university. As its volunteer co-chairs, trustees Steven Madden and Mark Mays will help bring the campaign’s goals to life. Read MoreJun 20, 2023
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7 questions with Corey Thomas, president, CEO and director of cybersecurity tech firm Rapid7
On Feb. 3, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to appoint Vanderbilt Board of Trust member Corey Thomas, BE'98, as one of 14 new members of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Here Thomas shares his thoughts on leadership, success and workplace culture. Read MoreFeb 17, 2023
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Stories Worth Telling: Professor Paul Kramer discusses how narrative journalism can lead to positive social change
Vanderbilt Magazine talks with Associate Professor of History Paul Kramer about his Writing for Social Change course, in which students complete their own pieces of social reporting on issues that matter to them, and why this kind of writing is, as he says, “necessary for any kind of substantial democracy.” Read MoreOct 3, 2022
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Q&A: Blair professor recounts recording experience on Elvis Presley album
As the summer blockbuster Elvis hits movie theaters June 24, Vanderbilt professor Kathryn Plummer relives an early career opportunity to play with the legend—and discusses how her experiences recording with some of the music industry’s greats translate into a unique teaching tool in the classroom. Read MoreJun 23, 2022
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Landmark Case: Professor Jim Blumstein reflects on the enduring significance of his Supreme Court voting rights victory 50 years later
In 1970, soon after moving to Nashville to join Vanderbilt’s faculty, New York native Jim Blumstein filed suit against the State of Tennessee after he was prevented from registering to vote. Here he reflects on the landmark voting rights case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Read MoreMar 21, 2022
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Science and Strategy: Dr. Alex Jahangir draws on lessons from trauma surgery and management classes to lead Nashville’s response to COVID-19
As head of the Metro Nashville Coronavirus Task Force, Jahangir has helped coordinate local health systems and community groups, addressed the city at daily media briefings, set up COVID test sites and advised policymakers on combatting the virus, all while maintaining his normal duties at Vanderbilt. Read MoreOct 25, 2021
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C. Cybele Raver discusses her aspirations as Vanderbilt’s new provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs
Raver, an esteemed developmental psychologist who began her tenure as Vanderbilt’s provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs on July 1, 2021, talks with Vanderbilt Magazine about her path into higher education leadership and her aspirations to leverage the university's strengths to help solve the major challenges of today and those facing future generations. Read MoreJun 30, 2021
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Parental Perspective: Parents Abby and Jon Winkelried offer valuable insights for Vanderbilt leaders
Abby and Jon became involved in the Parents Leadership Committee, later serving as co-chairs for the 2011–2012 Vanderbilt Parents Campaign. Jon, now a Vanderbilt trustee who is co-CEO of TPG Capital and the former co-president of Goldman Sachs, joined the Board of Trust in 2012. Read MoreApr 22, 2021
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Trailblazing alumna Dorothy Phillips discusses her career as a chemist, importance of diversity in the physical sciences
Dorothy J. Wingfield Phillips, BA’67, the first African American woman to receive an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt and a member of the inaugural class of Vanderbilt Trailblazers, recently was interviewed by the American Chemical Society about her career as a chemist and the importance of making the physical sciences more inclusive for women and underrepresented minorities. Read MoreOct 2, 2020
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Lasting and Meaningful Change: NFL executive Adolpho A. Birch III, JD’91, discusses diversity on campus and athlete activism
Birch, the new chief legal officer and senior vice president of business affairs for the Tennessee Titans, recently was named chair of a new Vanderbilt Board of Trust ad hoc committee that is partnering with university leadership to evaluate and recommend policies around equity, diversity and inclusion. Here he discusses the work of the committee, the rise in athlete activism, and his favorite Nashville sports memory. Read MoreSep 10, 2020
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News and Interviews: ‘Sunday TODAY’ host Willie Geist, BA’97, reflects on the pandemic, his podcast, and the pride he takes in Vanderbilt
Geist answers questions about working in the media during this tumultuous news cycle, launching his Sunday show, and his strong affinity for Nashville and the Commodore community. Read MoreJun 18, 2020
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What We Trained For: Medical school class president speaks about moving forward during pandemic
As the Vanderbilt campus braced itself to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through a series of proactive measures in March, School of Medicine class president Varun Menon, MD'20, shared some thoughts on his experience of being a medical student during the unprecedented outbreak. Read MoreMay 5, 2020
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Trust Issues: Q&A with Tiffany Erwin Moller, BS’89, on rehabilitating companies accused of misconduct
Moller has served as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, handling cases of financial fraud and other white-collar crimes. She also was the first-ever chief of compliance and oversight for the New York City Police Department, where she helped reform its policies. Read MoreFeb 17, 2020
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The Perfect Ingredient: Joe Ariel, BA’99, draws on nostalgia for the success of his nationwide food delivery business
Ariel taps into the emotions evoked by his customers’ favorite foods through Goldbelly, delivering one-of-a-kind regional dishes nationwide from more than 450 partnering businesses. Read MoreNov 7, 2019
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Call of Duty: Q&A with Gary H. Cheek
Gary H. Cheek, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, joined Vanderbilt in April to direct the newly created Bass Military Scholars Program, established in 2018 with a $25 million gift from the Lee and Ramona Bass Foundation. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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‘Promise and Potential’: Q&A with Kito Huggins, BS’96, JD’99
Huggins, a former student government president and Posse Scholar, continues to drum up enthusiasm for Vanderbilt nearly 30 years after arriving on campus. Read MoreMay 20, 2019
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On Watch: Vanderbilt alumna works to give a voice to victims of human rights abuses
As the global initiatives director for Human Rights Watch, Worden curates and implements international outreach and advocacy campaigns and is now mobilizing the world of sport to tackle global abuses. Read MoreFeb 19, 2019
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Record Highs: Q&A with Mitch Glazier, JD’91
Glazier discusses the evolving business model of the music industry—one that’s gone from selling tens of millions of CDs in thousands of stores to now getting billions of streams from just a handful of companies—and what music listeners can expect on the horizon. Read MoreNov 19, 2018