Vanderbilt Magazine

NATHAN FISK CLASS OF 2026 Majors: Economics, Business, HOD Hometown: Franklin, Tennessee “I’m a big skier, so I got Vail, Keystone and Sugar Mountain. I’m a big outdoorsy guy, too, so I have camping stickers and whatnot.”   LYDIA TAYLOR CLASS OF 2029 Majors:… Read More

Dear fellow alumni, As I prepare to transition from my honored role as president of Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board, I take great pride in the incredible, inspiring momentum we have built together. This journey has proven that we are truly stronger when we stand as one global community—One Vanderbilt. … Read More

Carl Manalo The distance from Carl Vincent Manalo’s high school in the Bronx to Vanderbilt’s campus was greater than the miles separating the two. “I was prepared with the grit and the persistence, and I was prepared enough to get into Vanderbilt, but there were certain things I didn’t know,”… Read More

Chancellor Daniel Diermeier (Elias Hassos) Vanderbilt was created in the wake of the Civil War to help heal the wounds of a divided nation—in the words of Cornelius Vanderbilt, to “contribute to strengthening the ties which should exist between all sections of our common country.” Now, as then, dialogue and… Read More

Renée Galá Growing up on a farm in Missouri, Renée Galá knew one thing for certain: She would go to college. Her parents prioritized education and ensured that Galá and her sister became the first in their immediate family to pursue higher education. Galá’s initial path led to a state… Read More

Olivia Miller Smith One of Olivia Miller Smith’s most thought-provoking undergraduate courses was called Prison Life. “We toured the Tennessee State Prison, a stark experience. All I could think about was the lost potential for those incarcerated,” she says.  Decades later, after working as a registered nurse at Vanderbilt… Read More

Alex Astrella, left, with the cast of his thesis film, “Free Play” When Alex Astrella was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 2, his parents were told that he had little chance of graduating high school or becoming financially independent. Today, he is a behavior therapist, a leader in… Read More

When Markus Schreyer joined Vanderbilt University as CEO of Vanderbilt Enterprises, he brought a world of experience—literally. His decades-long career in global hospitality took him from Tokyo to Marrakesh, Jaipur and Mexico City as he helped shape some of the most recognized luxury brands in the world. “What… Read More

Jack, a 9-year-old yellow Labrador retriever who joined Vanderbilt in 2018, was the university’s first community K-9 patrol partner to Sgt. Shaneithia Lewis, who has been a member of the VUPD team since 2014. Max, a 4-year-old beagle-basset hound, joined Vanderbilt in 2022 as a K-9 patrol partner to… Read More

Athletic Director and Vice Chancellor for Athletics Candice Story Lee sets on her on sights on what she wants Vanderbilt sports to be. Read More

Daniel Huddleston, BA’94 has translated eight Japanese science fiction novels. Read More

Mr. C’s current look blends tradition with game-day energy. (Vanderbilt) Cornelius Vanderbilt, whose $1 million gift established the university in 1873, earned the nickname “the Commodore” while building a vast transportation empire that included ships and railroads. The university’s athletes were nicknamed the Commodores as early as 1898 by… Read More

Late in 2025, Jennifer and Marc Lipschultz committed a landmark collection of nearly 5,000 photographs to the Vanderbilt University Museum of Art. Read More

Corey and Michelle Harris' gift for Pre-Vet Students, Athletics and Campus Life was inspired by their daughter's journey. Read More

At Vanderbilt, the future of AI isn't just a technical question — it's a moral one. Read More

When Vanderbilt University Provost C. Cybele Raver sits down with faculty to learn something new, her classroom isn’t a lecture hall or research lab—it’s the Quantum Potential podcast studio. Read More

For the first time in 16 years, Vanderbilt replaced summer reading with something more courageous: asking students to go out, talk and listen. Read More

When Jennifer and Marc Lipschultz committed nearly 5,000 photographs to the Vanderbilt University Museum of Art, they handed a group of Vanderbilt art history students a unique opportunity to step out of the classroom and into museum practice. Read More

Vanderbilt supports new faculty every step of the way—by connecting them with senior faculty who serve as mentors, observe their classes and provide valuable feedback, and proofread their grant proposals to make them stronger. These professors who joined Vanderbilt in the past few years shed light on how the university has helped them succeed.  Read More

At Vanderbilt, research doesn’t just live in the lab. It moves into the world in the shape of new tools, treatments and technologies that improve lives, support communities and expand what’s possible. Read More