Vanderbilt Magazine

The Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. “Listing is recognition of a property’s importance,” says Claudette Stager with the Tennessee Historical Commission, which administers the program in Tennessee. “Properties that are listed in the National… Read More

Tichi Cecelia Tichi, the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of English, has been named the 2009 winner of the Hubbell Medal, a lifetime achievement award presented by the American Literature Section to recognize significant advancements in the study of American literature. “The ALS executive committee is very excited about the choice… Read More

Odigie When singer-songwriter Denitia Odigie walked on stage at the POP Montreal International Music Festival, strummed her Ibanez acoustic guitar and began to sing, she became an international favorite, earning the title “Find of the Fest.” The gifted Odigie, BA’04, has impressed a growing number of fans and critics, inspiring… Read More

Music has been shown to offer distraction from pain for the seriously ill, as well as reduce stress and increase social interaction for patients and their families. Music in the Clinic (M.I.C.) is a volunteer program at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center that connects patients with this healing power of music. At… Read More

The “Second Stringers,” the Blair School of Music’s newest student string band, debuted on the on March 28 with the Mike Snyder Band. Matt Combs, adjunct instructor of fiddle and head of the fiddle program at Blair, directs the group. Pictured here from left to right are Rachel Baiman, Eva… Read More

Left to right: J.P. Day (BE’07), Grafton Day (BA’09), Jeff Day (BA’81) and Liz Day at the new home they helped to furnish. On each episode of ABC’s popular Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the show’s designers and a cast of hundreds of volunteers race against time to transform—and often rebuild—the… Read More

“So, what is med school anyway?” I could have brushed the question off. I could have answered sarcastically or changed the subject. But the assertive innocence of this 8-year-old girl compelled me to come up with a serious answer. She and her mother were patients at the Shade Tree Family… Read More

In 1996 the Vanderbilt Alumni Association began granting the Distinguished Alumni Award—not only to honor worthy recipients, but also to inspire students and alumni. You are now invited to submit nominations for the next award. The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes an alumnus/a whose accomplishments and contributions have had the… Read More

Vanderbilt has launched VUconnect, a new online community for alumni and students. Replacing Dore2Dore, VUconnect includes new and expanded features to help get you connected more easily across the country and around the world. With VUconnect, you can share your latest news, find old friends and classmates,… Read More

The Vanderbilt Alumni Association and the National Commodore Club have teamed up once again to sponsor tailgates at three away games during the upcoming football season. The three stops include Saturday, Sept. 26, at Rice University in Houston; Saturday, Oct. 10, for the Army game in West Point, N.Y.; and Saturday,… Read More

A yearlong slate of activities celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Association of Vanderbilt Black Alumni (AVBA) culminates Oct. 15–17 during Reunion and Homecoming Weekend. Bishop Walker The events kick off Thursday, Oct. 15, with a welcome mixer at the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, and will continue… Read More

The Alumni Travel Program visits India and the Taj Mahal in 2008. The Alumni Travel Program announces its schedule for 2010, offering the Vanderbilt community 11 all-inclusive getaways to diverse, culturally rich locales around the world. Each itinerary package is booked through trusted providers, and travelers are joined… Read More

Billy Ray Caldwell Commencement is a high point of each year for the Vanderbilt community, and our 2009 ceremonies May 8 were especially joyous. The skies above Memorial Gymnasium were overcast, but the gathering inside was warm and ebullient. Chancellor Zeppos handed diplomas to the 3,380 graduates of… Read More

The Robert Stempfel Jr. Collection of John Updike materials is on display in Special Collections at the Jean and Alexander Heard Library through August. The exhibit includes first editions of classic Updike books and ephemeral items like small-press editions of his stories created in limited numbers and signed by the… Read More

Jeanne Moses didn’t have a history of cancer in her family. She didn’t have symptoms—just backache and a bit of weight loss. Nothing unusual for a 45-year-old mother working two jobs. So she was stunned when her doctor delivered the news: Jeanne Moses—technical writer, theatrical costumer, daughter of the director,… Read More

Rodes Hart (left) and Orrin Ingram Rodes Hart and Orrin Ingram believe in Vanderbilt. As alumni, trustees, philanthropists and visionaries, they reflect on the opportunities—and challenges—of eliminating need-based loans and increasing scholarship endowment. Rodes Hart, who graduated from the College of Arts and Science in 1954 and now… Read More

The Vanderbilt Aid Society elected Elizabeth Boddie Elliston (above) as its first president and Mary Barbour Wallace (left) as its first secretary/treasurer. The “simple fare” served at their organizational meeting included chicken salad, scalloped oysters, beaten biscuits, sandwiches, individual ices and cakes, almonds, and pink and white mints. It began… Read More

The Zeta Beta Tau house as it appeared in the 1920 Commodore yearbook. (Courtesy of Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives) It was early December in Tucson, Ariz.—45 years and 1,600 miles from our undergraduate days at Vanderbilt. We came together, this graying group of sexagenarians, to recharge our… Read More

“My experiences as a NICU mom changed the way I practice medicine in a very fundamental way,” Judy Aschner says. When Dr. Judy Aschner was busy completing her third year of fellowship in neonatology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, a personal experience did more to shape the… Read More

Glacial melting. Amphibian and honeybee populations in precipitous decline. Ocean dead zones. Rain forests burned to make way for agricultural fields. Some days it’s hard to know which we should worry about first. Fortunately for the rest of us, the alumni you’ll meet here aren’t wringing their hands waiting for… Read More