Summer 2013
World of Difference
Aug. 22, 2013—By Kathy Whitney From Africa to Asia to South America, Vanderbilt is represented by hundreds of School of Medicine faculty members, medical students and alumni who leave the comforts of home to endure danger, political strife, homesickness, language barriers, and substandard living and working conditions for the greater good. Some have moved their families to...
Leap of Faith
Aug. 22, 2013—By Jennifer Johnston Although Crystal Finley, BS’13, entered Vanderbilt with a clear plan for success, her life mission would soon change when she became a volunteer mentor with Next Steps at Vanderbilt, a postsecondary program for students with intellectual or other disabilities. As a freshman at Vanderbilt four years ago, she joined Ambassadores, a “circle...
Play Nation
Aug. 22, 2013—By Brier Dudley Illustration above by Otto Steininger Forty years after Atari’s digital table tennis game Pong bleeped onto the scene and made video games mainstream entertainment, we’ve become a nation of video gamers. We’re playing games on phones, tablets, computers, game consoles, social networks, and even TVs connected directly to the Internet. | On...
Hot Spot
Aug. 22, 2013—Photo essay by Daniel Dubois, Joe Howell and John Russell Long ago in the Land of Commodores, the taking down of Commencement tents ushered in three long and languid months. Professors abandoned their neckties and headed to the cooler elevations of places like Beersheba Springs. Nashville children spent their days roaming free until twilight fell...
Editor’s Letter
Aug. 12, 2013—My Grandma Albrecht was an indefatigable snoop. Born in 1901, she married my grandfather when she was 18, and in 11 years they produced seven children—who in turn produced 25 grandchildren. Grandma not only knew all our birthdays by heart, but could tell you who had remembered (and forgotten) hers. She kept up with everything...
River of Dreams
Aug. 12, 2013—By Michael Pollack, Class of 2016 I had a recurring dream when I was a child. I would sit at my piano, close my eyes, and my living room would transform into a stadium or concert hall. One of my favorite artists would be onstage, and he would announce my name to the audience as...
Teach, Pray, Lead
Aug. 12, 2013—Divinity students, faculty and staff will welcome new leadership when the Rev. Emilie M. Townes is installed in August as the school’s 16th dean. She is also the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair and professor of womanist ethics and society. Townes, an ordained American Baptist clergywoman, most recently was an associate dean and...
Watershed Event
Aug. 12, 2013—By Brenda Ellis On April 10, 1963, the nuclear submarine USS Thresher departed Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, headed for a rendezvous with the submarine rescue ship USS Skylark, which would accompany it during deep-dive tests. Designed to hunt and destroy enemy Soviet vessels, the Thresher was the ultimate attack submarine for its time....
Fishy Business
Aug. 9, 2013—Attorney Chris Frohlich, BS’06, has parlayed a lifelong love of fishing into a thriving charter company based in Punta Gorda, Fla. When he’s not catch-and-release tarpon fishing for his own pleasure, he’s taking others out on the water or overseeing his staff of eight fishing guides. Photo by Perry James Locke. Read more about Frohlich.
How to study a skeleton: Expert advice from anthropology professor Tiffiny Tung
Aug. 9, 2013—Tiffiny Tung, associate professor of anthropology, is on familiar terms with the dead. She may not know their names, but she can tell you a surprising amount of information about how they lived—and even, on occasion, how they died. That they drew their last breaths more than 1,000 years ago makes it all the more...
Sylvia’s Ashes
Aug. 9, 2013—When Sylvia Hyman died Dec. 23, 2012, at age 95, the visual artist renowned for her strikingly realistic ceramic pieces realized her last request. She became a physical part of the medium she had practiced for more than 50 years. Several years before her death, she asked Susan DeMay, MS’79, senior lecturer in art at...
On Track: Student-athlete Kristen Findley
Aug. 9, 2013— If Kristen Findley had gotten her wish, she might never have set foot on a track, or at least not to compete. Growing up near the snow-capped mountains of Boise, Idaho, she dreamt of becoming a downhill skier one day. She was so taken with the idea, just about the only thing that could...