Vanderbilt Magazine

As steward of Vanderbilt's arboretum, University Landscape Architect James Moore works not only to beautify campus and preserve its botanical diversity, but also to study the resilience of campus trees to disease and better understand how they absorb heat and stormwater for midtown Nashville. Read More

Angela Boutté, PhD'05, has been no stranger to breakthroughs in brain research and medical care. In January 2022, she became director of clinical chemistry for renegade.bio, a San Francisco-based public benefit corporation working to make diagnostic testing accessible to all. In 2019, she founded Aries Biotech to assist other brain disease and injury researchers with fine-tuning their work. Read More

The spirit of “daring to grow” is inherent to our Vanderbilt way of life, and it extends to every member of our community. It is behind every groundbreaking discovery made by our faculty members, whether in the laboratory, clinic or conference room or within a single line of music or stroke of paint. It lives among our coaches and student-athletes as they continually raise the bar for their own accomplishments. It is exemplified by our staff members, whose dedication to our collaborative culture of excellence helps to create the environment in which we all thrive. And it is especially present among our alumni as they help one another to strive for, and achieve, new ambitions. At Vanderbilt, we learn for life. Read More

A poem by Bryan Byrdlong, BA'15 Read More

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 More

As the summer blockbuster Elvis hits movie theaters June 24, Vanderbilt professor Kathryn Plummer relives an early career opportunity to play with the legend—and discusses how her experiences recording with some of the music industry’s greats translate into a unique teaching tool in the classroom.    Read More

World champion axe thrower Mark Mirasol, MEd’17, aims for success as he builds a business around the up-and-coming sport. Read More

Former Ukrainian government minister Anna Novosad is creating educational opportunities for those navigating life in a war zone. She will share her experiences at a June 23 virtual event open to the Vanderbilt community. Read More

The research of New Testament scholar Richard Batey, BD'58, PhD'61, into the ancient city of Sepphoris in Galilee broadens ideas about Jesus and gives a new perspective for understanding the Gospels. Read More

The topic of burial is never easy, but for alumna Mallory McDuff, BS'88, the sudden deaths of her parents led her to realign her final wishes with climate change, community and family in mind. Read More

Jay Boyer, BA’95, is the founder and CEO of Castability, an app designed to demystify the art—or perhaps the science—of casting actors in productions.  Read More

U.S. Cyber Command Director Gen. Paul Nakasone, former President of Estonia Kersti Kaljulaid and a range of military and intelligence leaders, scholars, prominent journalists and private sector experts in cybersecurity, energy and finance convened at the Vanderbilt Summit on Modern Conflict and Emerging Threats May 4–5. Read More

Vanderbilt Blair School of Music is among the winners of "DownBeat" magazine’s 45th annual Student Music Awards. For the first time in school history, the program received four awards in the same year, bringing its total number of awards from the magazine to nine over the past four years. Read More

Quentin Millora-Brown, a senior forward on the men’s basketball team, had his best individual season this year. A starter in 30 games, he led Vanderbilt in blocked shots and was second in rebounding. Perhaps even more importantly, he helped create the culture of succes. Off the court, Millora-Brown knows that camaraderie alone won’t solve society’s most pressing issues, such as the climate crisis—a problem he is passionate about. But he believes the same team approach in pursuit of a larger goal will make a difference. Read More

Marice Wolfe, of Nashville, the first woman to serve as Vanderbilt’s university archivist, died Jan. 3. She was 86. Read More

Gilbert Stroud Merritt Jr., of Nashville, died Jan. 17. He was 86. A Nashville native, he was a major figure in the legal community in Nashville and the state of Tennessee, and he served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit for 44 years.  Read More

Joseph “Yusef” Fontaine Harris III, founder and owner of Alkebu-Lan Images, Nashville’s only independent, Black-owned bookstore and a cornerstone of the North Nashville community for more than 35 years, died Jan. 3. Read More

On the basketball court, Jordyn Cambridge excels at making those around her better. A point guard who played the most minutes for a team that reached the third round of this season’s Women’s National Invitation Tournament, she finished third in assists in the mighty SEC. Little wonder that the Nashville native gravitated toward human and organizational development at Vanderbilt. For as long as she has played basketball, she has studied the subtleties of human interaction. Read More

Joyce Searcy grew up in segregated Yazoo City, Mississippi, where going to the public library would have meant entering through its back door.  Today she is the first Black person to serve as chair of the Nashville Public Library board. Read More

At halftime of Vanderbilt’s 5 p.m. matchup with LSU on Feb. 5, Vanderbilt Athletics honored former Vandy great Shan Foster with a jersey retirement ceremony.  Read More