Releases

A series of appointments to be effective June 1 will complete the restructuring of intercollegiate athletics that began last year at Vanderbilt, University officials announced today. The new appointments are the result of a thorough review that commenced in September 2003, when Vanderbilt announced a plan to ensure the integration of athletics into student and University life. Read More

The top students in each of Vanderbilt's nine undergraduate and professional schools were recognized with Founder's Medals during commencement exercises May 14. Read More

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice spoke to graduating seniors, rock band the B-52's performed, parents attended lectures and Chancellor Gordon Gee will deliver the commencement address on Friday as part of Vanderbilt University's expanded celebration of graduation activities May 12-14. Read More

Gov. Phil Bredesen has appointed Pat Levitt, director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development and professor of pharmacology, to the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities. Read More

A cap designed to cool the brains of babies born with oxygen deprivation during birth may prevent brain damage. Vanderbilt Children's Hospital researchers participated in the study of the device, "CoolCap," to cool the brains of full-term babies who were oxygen-deprived and had signs of brain damage within hours of birth. Read More

The recent discoveries of Vanderbilt archeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli and his colleagues who are unlocking the long-held secrets of the origins of the Maya will receive a national television audience this week with the broadcast of a National Geographic special. Read More

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will speak at Vanderbilt University's inaugural Senior Class Day on Thursday, May 13, at 10 a.m. on Alumni Lawn. Senior Class Day is an addition to Vanderbilt's graduation celebrations and is held the day before the University's Commencement exercises. Rice's speech will be webcast live. A link to the webcast will be on the Vanderbilt University home page at www.vanderbilt.edu. In case of severe weather, the event will be held in Memorial Gym on 25th Avenue South. Read More

A dozen faculty members who are retiring from Vanderbilt University this year will be honored during the May 14 Commencement ceremony when the University honors their years of service and bestows on them the title of emeritus faculty. Read More

Discoveries by Vanderbilt archaeologist Francisco Estrada-Belli will be the focus of a new National Geographic special, Dawn of the Maya, scheduled to air Wednesday, May 12, at 8 p.m. ET on PBS. Read More

Researchers, using a new combination of techniques, have discovered that dopamine levels in our brains vary the most in situations where we are unsure if we are going to be rewarded, such as when we are gambling or playing the lottery. Read More

A new vaccine to protect against anthrax infections will undergo clinical trial testing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and up to 11 other national sites in an effort to determine correct dosing formulas. Read More

Political science books fill one wall of Bruce Oppenheimer's office in Calhoun Hall at Vanderbilt University. Across the room, a comparatively tiny bookcase is stuffed with works like Roger Kahn's The Boys of Summer and three videotape installments of HBO's When It was a Game. Read More

In the spirit of cooperation between Tennessee public and private universities, Tennessee Tech University and Vanderbilt University are helping students prepare to face today's world of corporate buyouts, layoffs, greed and unethical practices with entrepreneurial skills and attitude. Read More

If it were a reality TV show, it might have been called "Making the Brand." For the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, it was a singular opportunity to engage students in a real-time, brand management case that would position the school for a new century and, in the process, give new meaning to the decades-old concept of "brand promise." Read More

According to business gurus, the smart money is on "smart" systems-those computer enhancements that pop up in everything from musical greeting cards to "smart dust" defense intelligence systems. However, much is lost in the translation when computers move out of the box into the physical world to form "smart" embedded systems. Read More

Engineers are known for making sure that all loose ends are tied up. For William Morrison, the one loose end was an unfinished master's degree in engineering at Vanderbilt University. Morrison will receive his degree May 14 not as a beginning to his career, but as a capstone. That's because at age 80, Morrison is finishing a degree he began when he was just 25. Read More

Vera M. Kutzinski has been appointed to lead an innovative center at Vanderbilt University which studies North, Central, and South America across political and disciplinary boundaries. Read More

The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development and the Autism Society of Middle Tennessee will host an opening reception for the "Art Through the Eyes of Autism II" art exhibit April 29 at 5 p.m. in the lobby of the Kennedy Center/MRL Building on Vanderbilt's Peabody campus. Read More

Helmut Walser Smith, a major scholar of German and European history, has been named the first Martha Rivers Ingram Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. Read More

A technical walkthrough for television outlets for the Condoleezza Rice/Senior Class Day event at Vanderbilt University will be held Wednesday, April 28, at 10 a.m. Read More