Vanderbilt Magazine

Rabbi Randall M. Falk was at the forefront of religious leadership in Nashville and made significant contributions to Jewish life, the civil rights struggle, community-building among the city’s increasingly diverse population, and to Jewish–Christian relations. Read More

Ellen Fanning joined Vanderbilt’s faculty in 1995 and served as chair of the Department of Molecular Biology from 1999 to 2002. Read More

Gifted children are likely to be the next generation’s innovators and leaders—and yet, the exceptionally smart are often invisible in the classroom, lacking the curricula, teacher input and external motivation to reach full potential. Read More

Recent work has shown that in addition to the reduction in stomach size, many metabolic and hormonal changes likely underlie the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery. Read More

Cancer researchers have been searching for biomarkers that indicate which patients should be treated aggressively and which patients can be followed through active surveillance. Now researchers at Vanderbilt and the University of Alberta in Canada have identified a biomarker for a cellular switch that accurately predicts which prostate cancer patients are likely to have their cancer recur or spread. Read More

Not enough has been done to protect the economy from the boom and bust cycles that brought the United States to the brink of disaster in 2008–09, says a Vanderbilt economist. Read More

The iPad may hold the key to enabling children with autism spectrum disorders to express themselves through speech. | Children hospitalized for pneumonia have similar outcomes, including length of stay and costs, regardless of whether they are treated with “big gun” antibiotics or more narrowly focused antibiotics such as penicillin. | It’s time to drop the requirement that inventions be “useful” in order to merit a patent, says Sean B. Seymore. Read More

Derek Mason, who served as associate head coach and Willie Shaw Director of Defense for the 2013 Pac-12 champion Stanford Cardinal, was introduced as Vanderbilt’s 28th head football coach Jan. 18. Read More

Alumni sports highlights: Jay Cutler, Dana Schwartz, Ryan Seymour, Zac Stacy and Jeffery Taylor. Read More

The newly renovated and expanded Vanderbilt Recreation and Wellness Center, formerly known as the Student Recreation Center, opened Jan. 13. Read More

Gregg Hecimovich, MA’93, PhD’97, began searching a decade ago for clues to the true identity of Hannah Crafts, author of a compelling story about a house slave who escaped to freedom. Read More

For 50 years, from its beginnings as Blair Academy of Music in 1964 to its expanded incarnation at Blakemore Avenue as part of Vanderbilt, the Blair School of Music has prepared students for the study of music as a human endeavor and as a performing art. Read More

The Mighty Sky, a musical collaboration from Nashville-based singer–songwriters Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff and Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory Director Rocky Alvey, received a 2014 Grammy Award nomination for Best Children’s Album. Read More

Bettie Page, BA’44, America’s favorite pinup queen, is featured in a recent documentary by Music Box Films and Academy Award–nominated director Mark Mori. Read More

Fritz Eichenberg’s technical expertise in the difficult and now somewhat obscure medium of wood engraving, combined with his discerning eye and passion for literature, does more than illustrate words on a page. Read More

Vanderbilt experts made 212 appearances on national and international broadcast outlets from the university’s VUStar studio in 2013, reaching more than 310 million viewers worldwide. Read More

Richard McCarty, a distinguished psychologist who has served as Vanderbilt University’s chief academic officer since 2008, is stepping down as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs in June, he announced in December. Read More

Annual figures available from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) show Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) ranked ninth in the nation last year among U.S. medical schools in total grant support provided through the nation’s medical research agency. Read More

Carolyn Dever will become provost of Dartmouth College July 1, 2014, after six years as dean of the College of Arts and Science. Read More

Khairul Kamarulzaman has taken advantage of semester and holiday breaks at Vanderbilt to travel across the United States. A short video that features some of his travel adventures and introduces a unique project recently captured InternationalStudent.com’s grand prize. Read More