Vanderbilt Magazine

The Honorable Richard H. Dinkins, JD'77, who served on the Tennessee Court of Appeals from 2008 until his retirement in 2022, died October 1, 2023, in Nashville. He was 71. Read More

Joseph Cunningham, 82, an accomplished administrator and professor at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development, passed away peacefully on March 8, 2024, at his home in Lake City, Pennsylvania. Read More

The Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board of Directors has announced the 2024 recipients of its annual alumni awards. The honorees will be celebrated during Reunion and Homecoming Weekend Nov. 7–10. Robert Hatcher Robert D. Hatcher Jr., BA’61, MS’62, is the 2024 recipient of the Alumni Professional Achievement Award, recognizing Vanderbilt alumni… Read More

The Vanderbilt Alumni Association is pleased to announce new and returning alumni leaders to its board for terms effective July 1. The Alumni Association’s mission is to engage Vanderbilt alumni in the life of the university, encourage lifelong connections and support the university’s goals. “Vanderbilt alumni are fundamental in shaping… Read More

Vanderbilt track and field graduate student Veronica Fraley and alumna Lily Williams are among the 592 athletes who will represent Team USA this summer at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Read More

For NCAA champion and US Olympic team member Veronica Fraley and track and field alumna Beatrice Juskeviciute and Brooke Overholt, competing for country means being part of a community without borders Read More

The STARS College Network, a coalition formed in April 2023 by Vanderbilt University and 15 other prominent colleges and universities, will double in size after a year of landmark growth in creating opportunity for students from America’s small towns and rural communities, adding 16 new member colleges and universities this year. Read More

Tamara Baynham, BE'93, an active, long-standing alumni leader across the university, including leadership roles as president of the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni, member of Vanderbilt Alumni Association Board and of the Engineering Board of Visitors, was inducted into the School of Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni in April. Read More

Amanda Headley Piper (Anne Rayner/Vanderbilt University) “If you want to make a difference in the world, meet a need,” Amanda Headley Piper’s grandmother once said, and Piper heeded those words of wisdom. She is the first pediatric audiologist from her twin-island home of Trinidad and Tobago, where… Read More

A college education at a residential campus means more than a degree earned through successful completion of coursework and class projects. Student life beyond the classroom also provides a formative experience, and that is especially true for Sherry Chen, BA’15, who has served as president of the local Vanderbilt Chapter in Phoenix since 2018, connecting the community of Commodore alumni and parents. Read More

Because of a provision in a gift agreement to the Brooklyn Museum of Art made by philanthropist collectors George H. Sullivan and his mother, Mary Mildred Sullivan, in the early 20th century, nearly 3,400 prints are being added to Vanderbilt’s art collection after Brooklyn removed them from their collection in 2007. As they are researched and cataloged, these new works are initiating creative teaching, learning and exhibits with departments and colleges on campus and across Nashville. Read More

Patti White, BA'76, and her husband, George, recently funded the Black Box Theater in Rothschild College to honor their children, Frances White, BA'11, and George A. White, BA'19. Read More

To honor the legacy of Mary Churchwell and Robert Churchwell Sr., their son Kevin Churchwell, MD’87, and his wife, Gloria Respress-Churchwell, established the Robert Sr. and Mary Churchwell Undergraduate Scholarship, a fund that will provide generations of students with the gift his parents valued most of all: a Vanderbilt education. Read More

A panel of jurists selected Niu’s I Would Define the Sun, a collection of poems about resisting scarcity through language. The inaugural prize drew more than 300 submissions and honors Vanderbilt University’s strong connection to the arts. Read More

Dr. Stahlman, professor of Pediatrics and Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, is credited with establishing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) the nation’s first newborn intensive care unit to use monitored respiratory therapy in babies born with damaged lungs. Read More

Mitchell A. Seligson, Centennial Professor of Political Science, professor of sociology, emeritus, and founder of the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) Lab died June 1, 2024, in New York City. He was 78. Read More

The Nashville Innovation Alliance seeks to bring together public, private, civic and education institutions to collaborate on improving the region’s ecosystem for innovation and to research, develop and deploy technology and analytically based solutions to challenges facing Nashville and Davidson County. Read More

The 160,000-square-foot Oliver C. Carmichael College will join E. Bronson Ingram, Nicholas S. Zeppos and Rothschild as the final residential college in the West End Neighborhood, concluding 12 years of construction. The transformation of the West End Neighborhood is part of FutureVU, a framework for campus planning that embodies the university’s core values and holistic approach to its mission of teaching, research and service, while prioritizing inclusivity and sustainability. Read More

The Rev. James Morris Lawson Jr., a leader of the Civil Rights Movement who trained scores of activists during his time in Nashville—many of whom went on to prominence—and whose expulsion from Vanderbilt in 1960 led to national headlines and prompted some faculty members to resign in protest, died Sunday, June 9, in Los Angeles. He was 95. Read More

At a moment when universities across the country face severe leadership challenges, the Vanderbilt University Board of Trust has extended the contract of Vanderbilt’s chief executive, Chancellor Daniel Diermeier, through 2035, the board announced today. Read More