Vanderbilt Magazine

From an Alternative Spring Break trip to renovate houses with Habitat for Humanity, to a Home Depot–sponsored web-coding hackathon, to a semester of study abroad that took him to cities such as Madrid, Marrakesh and Istanbul—Robby Perry’s time at Vanderbilt exemplifies just how much you can pack into four years. Read More

What does it take to run a growing health brand with a positively focused social media presence while excelling at academics and maintaining a social life? For Los Angeles native Sloane Chmara, it’s all about wellness. Read More

It was at Vanderbilt that Alexandra Vierling found her passion for nursing. But the idea of working at the intersection of health care and education was a seed planted long ago. Read More

Gabriela Alvarado began her graduate program intent on studying something microscopic, but she ended up developing a passion for understanding the bigger picture of her research. Read More

A Facebook query seeking Vanderbilt students who were pilots led Riley Ferguson to two of her closest friends and the founding of AviaDORES, a campus organization with the mission of making aviation accessible to VU students. Read More

Aya Abou-Jaoude has always planned to become a physician. But she says an eye-opening Vanderbilt course last year about refugee resettlement helped affirm her ultimate goal: to pursue pediatric medicine, with a particular focus on refugee health. Read More

Ben Scheer jumps imagination-first into big projects, and he’s not afraid of a lot of trial and error. The human and organizational development and economics double major has worked on dozens of entrepreneurial endeavors that focus on solving problems through technology. Read More

Creative writing and computer science classes in middle school and high school inspired Jasper Lu to pursue a liberal arts education at Vanderbilt, where he could explore all his passions and identify connections between them. Read More

Like many medical students, Kathleen Gallagher knew by the time she’d finished high school biology that she wanted to become a doctor. It was the tragedy of Sept. 11, however, that launched her journey into trauma surgery. Read More

As the only child of a university biology professor, Ananya Sharma’s talent in science came naturally. Yet, while navigating a STEM-specialized curriculum in high school, she discovered an interest in women’s studies. Read More

During his college search, Jarryd Bethea sought an institution that would combine great academics, strong school spirit, and a community where he could make an impact. He found that and more at Vanderbilt. Read More

Evan Suzman, a cross country runner for the Commodores, likes to clear his mind with long, winding runs across campus. Off the course, the native New Yorker is a double major in history and child development, with a focus on the history of science. Read More

Rama Kumaran initially intended to study both science and flute when he came to Vanderbilt. He says he didn’t come expecting to know everything. “But I expected to do everything," he says. Read More

Bill-Kande Badi never imagined he’d pursue a career in film when he traveled more than 8,500 miles from his hometown of Pretoria, South Africa, to study at Vanderbilt. But then he signed up for Cinema and Media Arts courses and “fell in love with making movies.” Read More

Gastronomic Judaism as Culinary Midrash (2018, Lexington/Rowman & Littlefield) by Jonathan Brumberg-Kraus, MA’86, PhD’91 This book is about who and how one makes food Jewish. Brumberg-Kraus questions Jewish identity in particular, and identity generally as something fixed, stable, singular and unintentional and Jewish food choices as situational, often temporary, expressions… Read More

Encounters at the Edge of the Muslim World: A Political Memoir of Kyrgyzstan (2018, Rowman & Littlefield) by Eugene Huskey, BA’74 Holder of the William R. Kenan Jr. Chair in Political Science at Stetson University, Huskey’s research first took him to Kyrgyzstan in 1992, six months after Kyrgyzstan’s emergence as… Read More

At Vanderbilt, there is no shortage of exploration. Every day our talented faculty, students and staff are driven to make discoveries—not just for the recognition, but for the chance to move the dial, to permeate the boundaries, to affect our society at large and for the better. Read More

During the past 11 years, NASA has awarded the Vanderbilt rocket team eight payload design awards and five national championships. The team has won a total of 30 national and international awards and 16 regional awards. In addition, the Vanderbilt Aerospace Design Lab has launched an impressive number of graduates into roles at companies such as SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Rolls Royce, NASA and Northrop. Read More

The Frist Center for Autism and Innovation seeks to transform workplaces by developing new technologies based on the specific skills and talents of people with autism, effectively inspiring advances that can lead to meaningful employment and a fuller life. Read More

Three graduates and one current student have taken their passions to extreme levels—visiting every country on the planet, flying solo around the world, biking across the country, and walking the length of California. Read More