Spring 2019
Recent Books, Spring 2019
May. 23, 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 will help their organizations compete. This...
Chancellor’s Letter: What Comes Next
May. 23, 2019—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.
Dear Chancellor Zeppos: Readers offer their gratitude and well wishes
May. 23, 2019—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.
In the Weeds: Vanderbilt alumni and researchers are working to understand the wider implications of marijuana use
May. 23, 2019—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.
Heart of Gold: Remarkable life of David Williams II celebrated
May. 23, 2019—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.
Call of Duty: Q&A with Gary H. Cheek
May. 23, 2019—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.
Coming Out as Working Class: Class can be just as isolating as almost any other aspect of identity at a private college
May. 23, 2019—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.
Song Stylist: Deanna Walker’s new podcast brings her “Blair Hit Songwriter Series” to the masses
May. 23, 2019—Deanna Walker was initiated into the world of hit Nashville songwriting in the usual way. She suffered a broken heart. In the 1990s, Walker’s best friend went through a contentious divorce. An ugly custody battle ensued, which had a traumatizing effect on Walker’s 2-year-old goddaughter. “I just went home and started crying,” Walker recalls. “I...
First Love: From TV to novels, Melissa Scrivner Love loves writing, first and foremost
May. 23, 2019—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 for the CIA or acting. “Truthfully, though, I was in denial about the...
Chancellor’s Lecture Series: President George W. Bush
May. 23, 2019—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.
Dr. Constance Mobley, PhD’98, MD’03 Transplant trailblazer
May. 23, 2019—As a molecular physiology and biophysics doctoral student at Vanderbilt, Dr. Constance Mobley never had designs on practicing medicine. Her passions were in the lab. The young scholar was infinitely more interested in clinical research. “I wanted to discover how to cure everything in the world,” she says. “I was always interested in science, and...
Beyond the Horizon: A devastating childhood injury led Scott Muller, BS’94, to discover his passion for the great outdoors
May. 23, 2019—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.