Spring 2011

On a chilly Friday night last November, the area underneath the wide expanse of the Jefferson Street Bridge in downtown Nashville became a scene of rare opportunity for the city’s homeless. Read More

Kristen Keely-Dinger, BS’98, remembers March snow falling on the streets of New York, the sounds of babies crying and people screaming, and the stench of urine in the housing projects as she carried hot meals up flight after flight of stairs. As a Vanderbilt sophomore who had signed up for… Read More

By Bonnie Arant Ertelt As university traditions go, music has charms to do more than soothe the savage breast. In fact, music has the ability to invoke nostalgia for the old “alma mater,” pump up school spirit at athletic events, and stitch together collegiate memories in ways that override the… Read More

Do you know the name of the popular hangout shown in this 1953 photograph? Go here to find out if you’re right. Read More

Chef James Bistro, dedicated in 2008 as part of Rand Dining Center, is named in honor of Chef Bill James and his 39-year career at Vanderbilt. James started working at Vanderbilt in 1954 as a pot washer, and worked his way up to Certified Executive Chef and assistant director of… Read More

A range of never-before-offered career resources for alumni is being rolled out, thanks to a strategic partnership between the Vanderbilt Alumni Association and the Vanderbilt Career Center. This collaboration, which began informally in 2009 with the creation of the Career Moves program, seeks to better serve the needs of alumni… Read More

New Head Football Coach James Franklin (flanked by former Alumni Association President Karen Fesmire, BS’80, and Memphis Chapter President Julie Maroda, BA’82, MEd’84) attended an educational event sponsored in February by the Memphis Vanderbilt Chapter that featured a lecture about the history of Motown music by Vice Chancellor David Williams… Read More

Mike Dorr, BS’99, MBA’05, talks with seniors Victor de Paiva Buischi (left) and Diego Fernandez Barbara (center) at a recent “Opening Dores” event focused on careers in finance. “Opening Dores” is a series of informal, intimate on-campus dinners—20 of them are planned for this year alone—at which alumni offer advice… Read More

This year the expanded Vanderbilt travel program offers a little something for everyone. From seasoned Vanderbilt alumni travelers to those who have never taken a Vanderbilt trip before, trips are designed to fit any lifestyle, educational travel interest and budget. Each trip pairs unique educational opportunities with the exceptional destinations… Read More

In my interactions with Vanderbilt faculty, students and staff, I always emphasize that alumni are the university’s largest, most diverse, and potentially most powerful resource. With 130,000 individuals in 143 countries, we’re the living brand of Vanderbilt, with the potential to be strategic partners in Vanderbilt’s pursuit of excellence. In… Read More

“From the day I was born, I began to learn my lessons.” —Lillian Smith, Killers of the Dream   In any self-portrait from the ’50s, you’d have to see the me that was not me: the black girl trudging along the side of the road while I whizzed… Read More

Richard Chenoweth, BS’79 RICHARD CHENOWETH, BS’79 In 1814 the U.S. Capitol building was burned by the British, destroying what Thomas Jefferson had called “the handsomest room in the world”: the Hall of Representatives, which had been completed just a few years earlier by architect Benjamin Latrobe. Sadly, no visual… Read More

W. Hibbett Neel, BE’63 W. HIBBETT NEEL, BE’63 “When you love what you do, it’s not work,” says Hibbett Neel. “I still get excited about coming to the office and helping to improve my community. If there’s ever a point when I’m not excited about it, then I’ll quit.” Neel,… Read More

Six-year-old cancer patient Alex Kallas checks out the playroom at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. The cure rate for childhood cancers has more than doubled in the past 20 years, from approximately 30 percent to about 75 percent. The longest-running fundraising event for the Monroe Carell Jr. Read More

Mrs. Quarles was about the best teacher there was in East Tennessee—patient and demanding while teaching us how to take apart sentences and examine their symmetries, which I really did enjoy doing. She was a tough lady, but I knew she loved me, and she knew I loved her class. Read More

Rana DiOrio, JD’91, wasn’t planning to create a children’s media company when she left her job in 2008. She was working in investment banking at the time, and it was, as she puts it, “not a fun place to be, with the economic recession coming in like a freight train.”… Read More

Lyndsey Goodman, BS’01, is both a captain in the Air Force Reserve and a jazz singer. The cockpit of a half-million-pound aircraft and a nightclub stage certainly seem worlds apart. Yet Lyndsey Goodman, BS’01, is at home in both. During the past decade, Capt. Goodman, an Air Force Reserve pilot… Read More

The Servant of Two Masters, an 18th-century farce by Carlo Goldoni, was presented by VUT in February. Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso may not seem the most relatable of characters for college-age theatre. Catch the cultural giants on the verge of breakthrough, however, and modern students suddenly find themselves joining… Read More

In the days before bank failures, stock-market tumbles and worldwide economic malaise, a college diploma—especially one from a top university like Vanderbilt—was a one-way ticket to financial security. These days, however, graduates are faced with less-than-certain job prospects. America’s 50 million Millennials represent the most educated generation ever, but they… Read More

“From a young age I knew what I wanted to do, and I’ve been fortunate enough to find opportunities to do it,” says Michael Goldfarb. When you first meet Michael Goldfarb, his soft-spoken demeanor and infectious enthusiasm immediately impress you. When you ask what it is that motivates him, his… Read More