Spring 2019
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Recent Books, Spring 2019
The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation (2019, MIT Press) by Gerald C. Kane, Anh Nguyen Phillips, Jonathan R. Copulsky and Garth R. Andrus, EdD’88 Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that… Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Chancellor’s Letter: What Comes Next
It has been an honor to serve you during these past 11 years, and to devote more than three decades of my life to an institution so capable of driving enormous change. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Dear Chancellor Zeppos: Readers offer their gratitude and well wishes
Following the news that Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos plans to step down in August, many Vanderbilt alumni, parents, and supporters of the university reached out with letters of gratitude and well wishes. Below are just a few of the numerous messages received in the weeks since the announcement was made. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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In the Weeds: Vanderbilt alumni and researchers are working to understand the wider implications of marijuana use
Bernie Ellis, BA’71, heard the helicopters before he saw them. Within minutes they converged, whirring, over his blueberry farm south of Nashville, as 10 federal agents drove up in four-wheelers. The moment he had always feared had arrived: He was being raided. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Heart of Gold: Remarkable life of David Williams II celebrated
David Williams II was remembered as a courageous vice chancellor, outstanding athletics director, brilliant law professor, and devoted husband and father during a celebration of life service Feb. 15. Read MoreMay 23, 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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First Love: From TV to novels, Melissa Scrivner Love loves writing, first and foremost
Melissa Scrivner Love. Photo by Becca Murray Like many children who grew up in the 1980s, Melissa Scrivner Love, BA’02, was raised on James Bond films. That cinematic introduction to the KGB led her to double major in Russian and theater, and to consider two possible career paths: working… Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Chancellor’s Lecture Series: President George W. Bush
President George W. Bush spent the day at Vanderbilt on March 11, surprising a history class and visiting a student veterans club before speaking to a capacity crowd at Langford Auditorium that evening. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Dr. Constance Mobley, PhD’98, MD’03 Transplant trailblazer
Dr. Constance Mobley is among only 14 female African American physicians in the U.S. who are abdominal transplant surgeons. She directs the surgical and liver intensive care unit for Houston Methodist Hospital. Photo by Tommy Lavergne As a molecular physiology and biophysics doctoral student at Vanderbilt, Dr. Constance Mobley… Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Coming Out as Working Class: Class can be just as isolating as almost any other aspect of identity at a private college
When I come out to my students and colleagues as from the working class, I want to expand the idea of who or what a professor is, and I especially hope to give upwardly mobile students—those incarnations of my younger self—the example and language to find one another. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Song Stylist: Deanna Walker’s new podcast brings her “Blair Hit Songwriter Series” to the masses
Blair’s Deanna Walker, left, welcomes to her songwriting class Claude Kelly, middle, and Chuck Harmony of the duo Louis York. Photo by Steve Green Deanna Walker was initiated into the world of hit Nashville songwriting in the usual way. She suffered a broken heart. In the 1990s,… Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Passing the Torch: Chancellor Zeppos to step down
Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos has announced that he will step down as the university’s eighth chancellor Aug. 15 after more than a decade in the role. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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How to mind your manners—in 1890: Expert advice from English professor Cecelia Tichi
Just in time for the debut of a new television series this year on NBC exploring the Gilded Age, Cecelia Tichi, the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English, has published her latest book, What Would Mrs. Astor Do? (2018, NYU Press). Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Beyond the Horizon: A devastating childhood injury led Scott Muller, BS’94, to discover his passion for the great outdoors
Whether vying for gold at the Olympic Games alongside the world’s best slalom kayakers or helping lead the Clinton Climate Initiative to create a global consortium of cities focused on sustainability, Muller can trace the trajectory of his life’s work and passions back to formative experiences at the David Williams II Student Recreation and Wellness Center. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Tiny Dorm Concert: Toren Stafford
Toren Stafford, a 20-year-old sophomore studying voice at Blair School of Music, staged a “Tiny Dorm Concert” in Vanderbilt’s Morgan House in March. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Bree Horrocks: Center and researcher
Horrocks found a home with Vanderbilt women’s basketball, but it was her academic journey at the university that sparked a potential career path in LGBTQ+ advocacy. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Powerhouse: Jerry Stackhouse named men’s basketball head coach
After an extensive national search, Vice Chancellor for Athletics and University Affairs and Athletics Director Malcolm Turner announced April 5 that Jerry Stackhouse is Vanderbilt’s next men’s basketball head coach. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Impression: Pitch count
A new book from New York Times national baseball writer and Vanderbilt alumnus Tyler Kepner, BA’97, traces the history of America’s pastime through the perspective of pitchers. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Breaking Barriers: $2.5 million grant from Facebook CEO boosts researcher’s investigation into neurodegenerative disease
Vanderbilt researcher Ethan Lippmann, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has won $2.5 million as part of a wider grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to fund his work on neurodegenerative diseases. Read MoreMay 23, 2019
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Mind’s Eye: Piece by Piece
Detail of Middle Ground by Sophie Drouin and Rachel Sager Mosaic artists convene in Nashville, bringing two exhibits to Vanderbilt Mosaics were originally invented about 4,000 years ago to create durable and inexpensive flooring, but they quickly became more art than craft. A highly refined technique developed during… Read MoreMay 23, 2019