Epilogue

Photo by Daniel Dubois Barbara Tsakirgis, a noted scholar on ancient Greek domestic architecture as well as a strong community advocate for Nashville’s Parthenon, died Jan. 16. Tsakirgis, 64, had been diagnosed with ALS three years ago and died at her home. She was a professor of classical… Read More

Bradley in 1961. Photo by Joe Rudis/THE TENNESSEAN Harold Bradley, member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, famed guitarist, and cog in the family that led the ascent of country music in Nashville, died Jan. 31. He was 93. Bradley grew up in Nashville and took up… Read More

Everett H. Erlick, a distinguished veteran of the broadcast industry and longtime public servant, died March 8, 2019, at his home in Stuart, Florida. He was 97. As executive vice president, general counsel and director of the American Broadcasting Cos. Inc. for 25 years, his expansive portfolio… Read More

Dan Lovinger Few times in my life has this concept been more evident than while I was a student at Vanderbilt. With access to a broad range of ideas and perspectives, I quickly understood the importance of engaging individuals whose lives and stories could impact my own. At… Read More

Nicole Feliciano’s Momtrends blog helps “busy, style-starved women keep in touch with what’s hip and cool.” The website attracts almost 100,000 unique visitors each month. As a working mother of two daughters, Nicole Feliciano, like countless other moms, would love to have an extra hour in the day. Read More

Alan Hicks, BA’66, left, speaks with Strong Inside author Andrew Maraniss, BA’92, at the San Francisco Commodore Classroom event. The New York Times best-selling book Strong Inside shares the trailblazing Vanderbilt experience of Perry Wallace, BE’70. The story has resonated with alumni everywhere, and Commodore Classrooms events have provided… Read More

Sarah D’Amico, BS’16, takes a moment to put up her feet after a rewarding day of teaching. A classroom of elementary school students in New York City is receiving a well-rounded education thanks to their teacher, Sarah D’Amico, BS’16, who returned to her neighborhood after graduation to pass the… Read More

Entertaining a continent as populous as Asia is no small feat. Todd Miller, CEO of Hong Kong–based Celestial Tiger Entertainment, is doing it with aplomb. “You can think of Celestial as the HBO of Chinese movies,” he says. “We operate six core channels, all of… Read More

Judge Escobar outside the Justice A.A. Birch courthouse in Nashville. (John Russell) There were no road maps for Ana Escobar to follow when she was elected Nashville’s first Latina judge in August. Further, the self-described introvert had to step outside her comfort zone to run for the elective post… Read More

Xiaoyan Jiang, MBA’01, is helping to ensure that Owen Students can expand their educations by traveling abroad. (Chad Driver) Xiaoyan Jiang, MBA’01, is a strong believer in the transformative power of international travel. While working in global business, she logged addresses in Nashville, Cleveland, Tokyo, Hong Kong and… Read More

Alumni gather for November’s Vanderbilt University Networking Night in Beijing. Vanderbilt’s impressive worldwide community of more than 140,000 alumni was on display in November with the Alumni Association’s fifth annual Networking Night. More than 1,100 alumni representing a wide range of professions, ages and Vanderbilt degrees gathered on… Read More

Elizabeth Lee “Betty” Klepper, a retired scientist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center in Pendleton, Oregon, died at her home Oct. 26, 2018. She was 82. Born in Memphis, Klepper attended school in Tennessee and graduated summa cum laude in chemistry as… Read More

Claudia Spence Jack, public defender for Tennessee’s 22nd Judicial District, died Nov. 9, 2018. She was 75. A native of Columbia, Tennessee, she graduated from Auburn University in 1965 with a bachelor of science degree in English education, then earned her master’s degree in education from Auburn… Read More

Photo by Neil Brake The Rev. Donald F. Beisswenger, a Vanderbilt Divinity School emeritus professor who lived out his faith as a dedicated community activist—serving six months in federal prison for a nonviolent protest—died Nov. 26, 2018. He was 88. As a professor of church and community, he… Read More

Photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee Being a student at the Blair School of Music kept Dana Kelley busy, but being a professional musician in New York City adds a whole new meaning to the word. Kelley is violist with the Argus Quartet, the Juilliard School’s quartet-in-residence, which played on the… Read More

Photo courtesy of University of Mississippi Medical Center Dr. Blair E. Batson, the first chair of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, died Nov. 26, 2018. He was 98. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of… Read More

Ecclesiastes, left, and Ramsey are working together to rejuvenate and transform a long-neglected, 25-block New Orleans corridor that stands in the shadow of an elevated expressway constructed more than 50 years ago. Photo by Greg Miles When Nyree Ramsey visited New Orleans in 1995, three words came to… Read More

Photo by Ashley Hylbert Shortly after graduating from law school, Bailey Spaulding got a harebrained idea: She’d open a brewery and name it the Jackalope Brewing Co., after the mythical rabbit–antelope hybrid that she believed in as a kid. Seven years after the business was launched in Nashville’s… Read More

Natalie Vlach, BMus’18. Photo by Joe Howell As a young girl, Natalie Vlach, BMus’18, fell in love with her electronic keyboard. Unlike some childhood infatuations, however, Vlach’s passion for piano endured and deepened, leading eventually to her winning the Linde B. Wilson Scholarship at the Blair School. “Blair… Read More

Photo by Shia Levitt Garrett Spiegel long intended to make the design of custom-fabricated orthotics and prosthetics easier and quicker, especially in parts of the world with limited medical resources and high need. His company, Standard Cyborg, which he co-founded in 2015 with Jeffrey Huber, now has a… Read More