The Classes

Robert Walton, BE'68 ROBERT WALTON, BE’68 Bob Walton and his wife, Ann Petry Walton, MA’65, have a bat hospital in their dining room. They’ve had as many as 140 patients at one time—all with names. “You can tell them apart from their personalities,” says the retired electrical engineer. “Naming them… Read More

Left to right: J.P. Day (BE’07), Grafton Day (BA’09), Jeff Day (BA’81) and Liz Day at the new home they helped to furnish. On each episode of ABC’s popular Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the show’s designers and a cast of hundreds of volunteers race against time to transform—and often rebuild—the… Read More

Jasbina Ahluwalia, BA’91, MA’92 Making time for personal relationships while juggling the demands of a busy professional life led attorney Jasbina Ahluwalia down a new career path several years ago. The second-generation Indian American is founder of Intersections Matchmaking, which caters to single South Asian professionals nationwide. “Finding time for… Read More

Mark Loomis, BA’89 “When I was making my 3,000th copy on the second day of my first job, I realized the one course they didn’t teach at Vanderbilt was how to fix the copier,” says Mark Loomis. That first job, with ABC Sports, saw Loomis running errands, making lots of… Read More

Paul Manners, BA’42, and Joy Manners One teacher’s interest made all the difference in the life of Paul Manners. A native of Dover, Tenn., Manners grew up during the Great Depression and was the top student in his high school class. A high school English teacher, Lillian Bayer, encouraged… Read More

Welcome to “The President’s Corner,” a new column that will appear in each issue of Vanderbilt Magazine, along with the latest news from the Vanderbilt Alumni Association. As your association president I am committed to strengthening the university’s outreach to the global community of 120,000 Vanderbilt alumni. With… Read More

Hundreds of volunteers and professional staff worked thousands of hours to coordinate last October’s Reunion and Homecoming Weekend, which drew nearly 7,000 alumni, family members and friends to campus. Topping off the festivities were Reunion gifts from alumni totaling more than $41 million, with the Class of 1958 leading the… Read More

Four successful alumni led a panel discussion for current students Jan. 29, revealing the versatility of their Vanderbilt degrees. “Life After VU: Where My Vanderbilt Degree Has Taken Me” was the latest in a series of events designed to provide students with an alumni perspective of life after Vanderbilt. Read More

The Washington, D.C., Vanderbilt Chapter formed its own softball team and joined a local league consisting of 69 other university alumni teams. In the final tournament of 2008, the Vanderbilt team finished 17th out of 70. To find out about chapter events in your area, visit www.vanderbilt.edu/alumni/chapters. Read More

Current students and new graduates, who are facing one of the worst job markets in recent times, have a new resource that allows them to search for internships and first-time professional opportunities. The Vanderbilt Intern and Professional (VIP) Network—a secure, Web-based database of job postings and leads—has been developed by… Read More

Hundreds of volunteers worked thousands of hours — and Reunion 2008 topped all records. Nearly 7,000 Vanderbilt alumni, family and friends came back to campus in October. And they gave back, too. Reunion gifts added up to more than $41 million—exceptional generosity that’s already making a difference across campus for… Read More

Participants in the alumni trip to China in October 2007. Embark on a world of adventure in 2009 with family, friends, fellow alumni, and the Vanderbilt Travel Program. Sponsored by the Vanderbilt Alumni Association, 11 culturally rich destination packages are planned—each featuring a Vanderbilt professor who will offer an exclusive… Read More

The Office of Alumni Relations and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions have consolidated several alumni volunteer programs under one umbrella, Commodore Recruitment Programs—or CoRPs. This allows Vanderbilt to work more efficiently with alumni volunteers around the world. Through CoRPs, alumni are encouraged to register with the admissions office and select… Read More

Longtime Vanderbilt volunteer Billy Ray Caldwell, BA’85, has been elected to a two-year term as president of the Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board of Directors. He took office July 1. A member of the board since 2004, Caldwell is a former president of the Nashville Vanderbilt Chapter of the Alumni Association. Read More

Ben Hindman, BS’07, and Brody Davis, BA’07 “The best things in life are free … tours.” That’s the favorite quote of Brody Davis and Ben Hindman, entrepreneurs and founders of DC by Foot Tours. Their 90-minute “More than Monuments” tour is entirely tip-based. Former Vanderbilt fraternity brothers Davis, a… Read More

In April the first international “Vanderbilt and You” reception took place in Shanghai, hosted by A.J. Spaudie, BS’97, and Nancy Wang, MBA’05.   Heartfelt Thanks The Offices of Undergraduate Admissions and Alumni Relations owe a special thanks to alumni who have assisted with the student recruitment process by volunteering their… Read More

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Office of Alumni Relations teamed up a number of years ago to form the Alumni Recruitment Committee (ARC), an effort to involve alumni in the process of recruiting students for Vanderbilt. Over time the ARC’s success has led to expansion of the program,… Read More

Dr. Levi Watkins Jr., MD’70, associate dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and professor of cardiac surgery, is this year’s recipient of the highest honor bestowed upon an alumnus of the university: the Vanderbilt Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. First presented in 1996, the award recognizes an… Read More

Becca Stevens, MDiv’90Photo by Daniel Dubois On Sunday mornings, former prostitutes and drug addicts fill the pews alongside Vanderbilt faculty, staff and students for services at St. Augustine’s Chapel. They share their stories and take communion together, finding commonalities in what some would think are very different worlds. Read More

Sam McCleskey, BE’51 Photo by John Russell It’s a fact of life: For some people, earning a living means dealing with death. Sam McCleskey has spent most of his career as the country’s premier builder of mausoleums. The earliest mausoleum was built between 353 and 350… Read More