Featured
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Conversation Pieces: If these items could talk…
At Vanderbilt’s Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries, the three-dimensional history of the university is collected and lovingly maintained by the staff of Special Collections and University Archives. Their mission is to “preserve the historical memory of the university”—memory that is found in the objects that, by their survival, attest to a timeline grounded in the space between West End Avenue and 21st Avenue South. Read MoreJun 6, 2023
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Little Sphere, Big Power: Students work to build miniature fusion reactor
The Vanderbilt Fusion Project, an initiative involving 40 undergraduates from 22 majors across three schools, is seeking to build a miniature nuclear fusion reactor—and make history. Read MoreMay 17, 2023
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A Path Forward: Amid an unprecedented mental health crisis, Vanderbilt research provides new insights, possible solutions
Psychologists and psychiatrists have sometimes struggled to keep up with the multiplying mental health challenges posed by the pandemic and other recent events, but through studies and interventions, Vanderbilt faculty members are providing new insights into the crisis—as well as the best evidence-based solutions for overcoming it. Read MoreNov 7, 2022
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Golden Ticket: Vanderbilt alumnus John Ingram’s vision for Nashville SC takes shape as the ‘Boys in Gold’ win over legions of soccer fans
This past May, despite skeptics, politics and a global pandemic, Ingram’s Nashville SC opened the doors of the largest soccer-specific stadium in North America: Geodis Park, a 30,000-seat facility. Already a success in the league, having made the playoffs in their first two MLS seasons while playing elsewhere, the “Boys in Gold” finally have a home of their own, where they hope not only to become a community institution but also someday lift trophies. Read MoreSep 9, 2022
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The Vanderbilt Ventriloquist: Alumna Megan Piphus Peace finds her voice as the first Black female puppeteer on ‘Sesame Street’
Megan Piphus Peace, BA’14, MSF’15, is an accomplished ventriloquist and puppeteer who has performed in front of audiences across the nation, including on The Tonight Show and America’s Got Talent. In 2021, she made history as the first Black female puppeteer to work on the long-running children’s television show Sesame Street. Read MoreAug 2, 2022
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The Front Lines of Forgiveness: Death row classroom experience challenges assumptions about mercy, justice
In two unique courses offered by the Divinity School, students explore issues around incarceration and punishment alongside 14 death row inmates at Tennessee’s Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Read MoreJun 23, 2022
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Re-engineering Boundaries: Whether in lacrosse or engineering, Bri Gross redefines what’s possible
Gross never let supposed boundaries get in her way on the lacrosse field—which turns out to be a good way to redefine what is possible in any field. At Vanderbilt, the honorable mention All-American is not only helping to shape a program emerging as a national contender but also pursuing a passion for engineering that will shape her future. Read MoreApr 19, 2022
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Serving Your Sibling: Anna and Michael Ross share their Vanderbilt tennis experience
If you play tennis against Vanderbilt this spring, you will likely see a Ross on the other side of the net. Men’s or women’s tennis, it doesn’t much matter. And whether it’s Anna, a junior, or Michael, a freshman, you’re also likely to be on the wrong end of the score. Read MoreApr 19, 2022
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A Life’s Work: Kate Daniels has built a writing and teaching career by combining a focus on healing and artistic expression
Kate Daniels has long been captivated by the connection between writing and the healing process. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, Daniels worked as a nurse’s aide at UVA Medical Center while she was in the process of applying to graduate school. The job was grueling,… Read MoreApr 11, 2022
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The Science of Poetry: Scientist and writer Jenny Qi finds meaning in the loss of her mother
Photography by Marc Olivier Le Blanc The opening poem in Focal Point, the debut collection by Jenny Qi, BA’11, navigates the fraught emotional space between a loving daughter’s grief over her mother’s death and a scientist’s clear-eyed inquiry into the disease-cancer-that caused it. Qi writes of “nights at a microscope in… Read MoreJan 27, 2022
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Teaching Across the Divide
Illustrations by Gary Bates From the Civil War to the battle over civil rights, the United States has seen levels of conflict in the past that have threatened to tear the country apart. But watching the violent attack on the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, Professor of Political Science… Read MoreJan 19, 2022
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Home Fires
Brothers André, Keith and Kevin Churchwell, who were together for 15 years at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, are among the most accomplished physicians and administrators in the country. All three credit their father, Robert Churchwell, the first Black reporter at the Nashville Banner newspaper, as the inspiration for their success. Read MoreDec 6, 2021
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The pioneer behind Shea Ralph: A mother and daughter’s basketball journey tells the story of a new era of equality
Years before Vanderbilt basketball head coach Shea Ralph’s generation helped set a standard for women who aspire and act to change the world through sports, her mother, Marsha Lake, traveled to the Soviet Union as part of a team that represented the United States on the world stage for the first time in the Title IX era. Read MoreNov 23, 2021
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Theory and Practice: Teeing up data to drive results for the Vanderbilt men’s golf team
Moments after Vanderbilt defeated Alabama to reach the final of the 2021 SEC Men’s Golf Championship at Sea Island Golf Club in Georgia, Scott Limbaugh served up a seemingly innocuous answer to a question posed in a television interview. “We liked our matchups a lot,” Vanderbilt’s head coach told the… Read MoreOct 7, 2021
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Faculty Innovators: Sheila Ridner and Barbara Murphy spearhead trials for first at-home head and neck lymphedema treatment device
Vanderbilt professors Sheila Ridner and Barbara Murphy have contributed to the development of a first-of-its-kind device to treat head and neck lymphedema, a chronic disease common after cancer treatment that causes fluid buildup in the body and can complicate normal functions. Read MoreOct 6, 2021
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Confronting a Complex Legacy
From The New York Times. © 2021 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Used under license. The last live performance I attended before the lockdown last year featured excerpts from Nkeiru Okoye’s gripping 2014 opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom. The score takes listeners… Read MoreSep 15, 2021
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Lessons Learned: Chancellor Daniel Diermeier draws on his academic expertise to explore Vanderbilt’s response to COVID-19
In a spirit of expanding our knowledge, I offer the following observations about how we made decisions as an organization, built trust within our community, and bolstered Vanderbilt’s reputation as an institution willing to confront difficult circumstances with hard work, compassion and commitment. Read MoreJul 27, 2021
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Electric Avenue: Vanderbilt alumni are helping steer General Motors toward a future driven by electric vehicle sales
General Motors' announcement that it would phase out combustion engines—the heart of its cars and trucks for more than 100 years—and move to an all-electric fleet by 2035 could have monumental implications for the global auto industry and broad efforts to combat climate change. The success of the initiative will depend on Vanderbilt alumni who hold key positions in the company. Read MoreJul 26, 2021
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American Soundtrack: A look inside the National Museum of African American Music
Vanderbilt’s partnership with the recently opened National Museum of African American Music promises the potential of community-building discussions involving music, race, history and storytelling. Read MoreApr 27, 2021
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Play Like You Mean It: For Darren Ambrose, building a premier soccer program starts with a passion for the game
By Graham Hays As an otherwise unremarkable women’s soccer practice at the University of Pennsylvania came to a close more than a decade ago, Darren Ambrose was frustrated. Maybe even ticked off.The Ivy League program’s coach at the time, Ambrose wasn’t mad about a defensive miscue, an errant… Read MoreApr 26, 2021