Releases

Civil rights movement leader the Rev. James Lawson will highlight the fall 2009 semester programming of Vanderbilt Divinity School when he delivers the annual Cole Lectures Oct. 15-16. Read More

Vanderbilt University's class of 2013 ranks as the school's most academically prepared and most diverse class in school history, with the most competitive selection process. More than 19,353 students applied, up from 16,944 last year. Of the 1,599 students enrolled in the class, 86 percent came from the top 10 percent of their graduating class. A total of 167 were valedictorians or salutatorians, 187 National Merit Scholars and 12 National Achievement Scholars. Read More

Academically talented 7th through 10th graders will have a chance to expand their horizons, intellectually and socially, in an overnight Vanderbilt program this fall specifically designed for gifted students. Applications are currently being accepted for the program, Weekend Academy at Vanderbilt University or WAVU, which will take place Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 10-11. Read More

Questions of identity surrounded Michael Jackson in life and death. A Sept. 21 panel discussion at Vanderbilt University will focus on larger issues of identity and diversity through the lens of the late pop star's life and career. Read More

[Media Note: Vanderbilt has a 24/7 video and audio studio with a dedicated fiber optic line and a radio ISDN line. Use of the TV studio with Vanderbilt experts is free, except for reserving fiber time. High-resolution photos are available by request.] Read More

Vanderbilt University political scientist Bruce Oppenheimer will discuss the continued expansion of presidential power and its impact on Congress during the school's annual Constitution Day program on Sept. 23. Read More

Neal Tate, a professor and chair of Vanderbilt University's Department of Political Science who provided strong leadership during a successful rebuilding of the department, died on Sept. 13, 2009. Tate, 65, had been recovering from major surgery. Read More

Dhavan V. Shah, an expert on the social psychology of media influence on political judgment, will examine the impact of new media in his presentation "Network Nation: How Campaign Ads and the Internet Shape Participation" on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at 4:10 p.m. at the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. Read More

The novel H1N1 flu virus is a presence on the Vanderbilt campus, as it is on many U.S. university campuses, but it appears to be no more serious than the regular seasonal flu, Vanderbilt's chief student health official says. Read More

A documentary about the 1980s punk music scene in Los Angeles will begin the Vanderbilt University portion of the 2009-2010 Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers. Read More

Contributors to The Speech: Race and Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" will gather on Sept. 16 for a panel discussion on the topic "Is America Postracial?" Read More

William Turner, former Obama health care advisor, Betts Chair and Professor of Education and Human Development, Peabody College of Education and Human Development, is among several Vanderbilt professors available to comment on health care reform. Read More

Katherine Carroll, an assistant professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, will describe her experiences in Iraq during a Sept. 17 lecture in the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center. Read More

Tiki Barber, retired NFL Pro Bowl running back, philanthropist and NBC correspondent, will speak at Vanderbilt University's Langford Auditorium Tuesday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. Read More

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center led by Billy Hudson, Elliot V. Newman Professor of Medicine, Pathology and Biochemistry and Director, Vanderbilt Center for Matrix Biology, have discovered a new chemical bond in biological tissue, a fundamental discovery that helps explain evolutionary adaptation in the animal kingdom and may shed light on human disease. Read More

On Oct. 2, VU Gmail will become the exclusive email service for Vanderbilt University undergraduates. To claim their Gmail account prior to Oct. 2, students should visit http://its.vanderbilt.edu/gmail and follow the instructions. All remaining undergraduate mailboxes will be automatically directed to Gmail by Information Technology Services Oct. 2. Read More

Vanderbilt University's film series, International Lens, kicks off its season on Sept. 2 with Amnesty International's presentation of The Visitor, a drama that explores the implications of U.S. immigration policy. Read More

When citizens in the United States and Mexico are confronted by terrorist threats, they cope in ways that can put significant stresses on the nations' democracies, according to research by political scientists at Vanderbilt and Claremont. Read More

A unique collaboration between Fisk and Vanderbilt universities that is poised to become the nation's top source of Ph.D.s in physics and astronomy awarded to underrepresented minorities has received a major boost from three federal grants totaling $3.7 million. Read More

Vanderbilt University has hired Matthew Redd as its director of commencement. In this role, Redd will oversee the university's three days of events each year that culminate in Commencement exercises held the second Friday in May. Read More